2015 #17 Brusho Cards {by Catherine Johnson}

2015 Topic 17: Pigment Powders

Hi everyone Catherine Johnson from Inky Fingered Cat  to talk you through this set of cute cards I made using the Brusho crystals. My crafting style varies from day to day, but using Brushos pulled me straight back into clean and simple as using the vibrant colours I felt needed very little else. So I dug straight in and made some cards which allowed the JOFY stamps to shine!

Step One: I decided that the fun flowers in JOFY14 worked well for this style. I stamped them in Black Versafine and then clear heat embossed them. As long as you are quick the powder sticks to the ink. This gives more control than using a black embossing powder with Versamark although the end result is very similar.

JOFY14 

Step Two: Next I used a paintbrush to add water to the areas I wanted to have colour concentrated in. This is where the embossing helps to keep the areas separate. Onto this I sprinkled Gamboge Brusho crystals. The I tapped some of the Brilliant Red onto the craft mat and used the wet paintbrush to add that onto the petals and blend it into the Gamboge.

Step Three: Once the first layer of colour was dry, I sprinkled a little of the Yellow Brusho over the flower head and did a light spray of water to activate the colour and give the image a looser finish. I also used a tiny amount of Leaf Green and the paintbrush to add some colour to the stems. I finished off the panels with a black pen outline to create a faux layer, then mounted it onto the cardblank.

Step Four: The next card I gave more of a blast of water with the Turquoise, Yellow and Leaf Green Brushos sprinkled where I wanted the colour to land. This is definitely a hit and miss type of technique as there is little control over the final effect. But I love these loose watery blooms.

Step Five: For all the cards I made, I added the same image onto the envelope. I used Distress Inks to stamp the image in coordinating colours and then used some very water Brusho to colour the images with a paintbrush.

I am pleased with how these worked, but I have to say that a lot of the creating with Brushos crystals is by chance when looking for the splash of colour finish.  I have tried lots of ways of working with the Brushos, and the unpredictability is the joy of working with them.  Playing and experimenting is the joy!

Catherine

www.catiecuddles.wordpress.com

The embossed stamping adds lovely texture to the water coloured pigments Catherine, great clean and simple layout. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us ~ Gillian

We would love you to join in with challenge #17: Pigment Powders If you are inspired by any of our guests who blog with us over the fortnight, then please join in and link up your creativity HERE. 

All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Circles link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Sept 27th winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.