Category: Inspiration

There are many Stampin’ Up! stamp sets that are retiring by June 2, 2020. I will miss several, including Let It Ride. I just love the horses! I used to go horseback riding as a kid in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my siblings. My Mom would drop us off at the stables near the base of the Sandia Mountains. After our horseback ride we would ride our bikes home. Fond memories!

This is a beautiful watercolor fun fold card. Don’t worry, it is pretty simple! It only looks complicated. I am not an artist. The stamp just lends itself to a nice watercolor.

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The card opens this way and there is plenty of space to write a little note inside.

Measurements: Early Espresso Card stock (CS): 6 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches with a score at 2 inches and 6 1/2 x 4 inches with a score at 3 1/4 inches; Soft Suede CS: 5 1/4 x 4 inches; Very Vanilla CS: 3 3/4 x 3 inches and 4 x 2 inches; Crumb Cake CS: 5 1/4 x 1 3/4 inches; and Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper: 3 3/4 x 3 inches.

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First I stamped the background with the Gallery Grunge stamp set using Soft Suede ink on the 5 1/4 x 4 inch Soft Suede CS. (I put a green scrap paper behind my card piece so I would not get ink on the table).

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Next I used a different stamp from the Gallery Grunge stamp set to stamp in Crumb Cake ink onto the 5 1/4 x 1 3/4 inch Crumb Cake CS.

Using Memento ink, stamp the horse from the Let It Ride stamp set onto the Fliud 100 Watercolor Paper. You will need to be sure you have plenty of ink on the stamp and hold the stamp down for 10 seconds to get a dark enough image. The watercolor paper absorbs the ink differently than the cardstock does.

Stamp the sentiment “Go for it!” in Memento ink onto the 4 x 2 inch Very Vanilla CS. Leave room around the sentiment so you can use a Scalloped Circle Punch.

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Now for some water-coloring fun! Turn the Balmy Blue ink pad upside down on the table. Push your thumbs down in the center, up and down, several times. Flip it over and open the ink pad. You should have an ink spot on the top of the inside cover.

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I like to watercolor with the Aqua Painter. To prep the Aqua Painter you will need to squeeze the barrel that is filled with water and get a few drops of water to come out on a paper towel.

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Put a few drops of water next to the ink spot (less is better). Use the Aqua Painter to mix a little ink into the drops of water. Start to apply the ink and water to the background in long strokes horizontally. Start light and gradually add color until it pleases you.

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Continue to add a drop of water, then mix in the ink and apply to the background until you have the background covered. Wash off the Balmy Blue ink by squeezing the barrel of the Aqua Painter and brush it onto the paper towel until the water is clear.

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Repeat the procedure with the Granny Apple Green ink. Apply to the grass. Be sure to clean the Aqua Painter before using the next color.

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Using the Crumb Cake ink, apply a thin wash to the entire horse.

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To get a darker ink with the Aqua Painter, do not squeeze out any water. Pick up ink from the middle of the ink spot on the very tip of the brush. Apply to areas that you want darker or shadowed. Again, I am not an artist, but I follow the artist’s lines and apply a darker layer of ink in that area. I also apply darker color to the legs that are on the opposite side of the horse. In my mind, these legs would be shadowed by the horses body.

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I used the Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker on the hooves.

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We are going to adhere the watercolor horse to the 6 1/2 x 4 inch scored at 3 1/4 inches Early Espresso CS. We will adhere it to the “front” of this little card with it turned backward. If you lay the card open to the table, you would adhere the horse to the left side.

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The 3 3/4 x 3 inch Very Vanilla CS will go on the inside of our backward card. If you lay the card face up (the horse will be on the back of the right side), adhere the Very Vanilla CS to the left side.

The backward little card should end up looking like this.

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Adhere the 5 1/4 x 4 inch stamped Soft Suede CS to the inside of the 6 1/4 x 5 /1/2 inch scored at 2 inches Early Espresso CS “card”. This is an odd looking “card” right now, but I assure you it will look great when we are done!

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Adhere the 5 1/4 x 1 3/4 inch stamped Crumb Cake CS to the front of the odd Early Espresso card. Now we will put the backward and the odd cards together.

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Adhere the back of the backward horse card to the center of the inside of the odd Early Espresso card. Now open the horse card and fold the front of the Early Espresso CS card under it.

Here is a “bird’s eye” view.

Use the 1 3/8 inch Scalloped Circle Punch to punch out the sentiment “Go for it!”.

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To make the sentiment stand out more, I sponged some Soft Suede ink around the edge of the scalloped circle. (If you need help preparing the sponge, look at my blog about sponging here.)

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Apply some Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals to the side and bottom as shown. This is because you want the card front to have a space to slide under the scalloped circle.

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Place the 1 3/8 inch Scalloped Circle on the bottom left corner and be sure the front piece will slice under it before you adhere it to the card.

Viola! You have a watercolor masterpiece! Well, maybe not, but it is a very special card! Any horse-lover would appreciate receiving this card!

Thanks for joining me. I hope you try this out. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look great the first time! Just stamp several horses on a piece of watercolor and have fun! Experiment!

The 2019-2020 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog will be good until June 2, 2020. If you would like to look at the “Last Chance Products” just go to my online store and click the tab in the left hand column. You can get to my store here.

If you need any assistance and/or want me to mail you a new 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog, leave me a comment on this blog or email me at: theresastreasures.az@gmail.com.

To purchase any of the products I used today, click on the photo below.

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