Monday 21 September 2015

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



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.

21 comments:

Kirsten said...

These are really lovely Catherine, great to see you on the PA blog.

becslb said...

Looks FAB Catherine!

Darcy Marshall said...

These are great.. love how you made such a messy product look so clean. I adore the matching envelopes.

Helen said...

Fantastic cards,Catherine!! I am so impressed at your cards, like Darcy says, clean and simple and Brushos don't seem a match made in heaven, but you did!!

Julie Lee said...

These look beautiful, rather like exquisite water-colours. xx

Unknown said...

Superbly wonderful!

Artmadnana said...

Ooh Catherine vthese are gorgeous. I love the simplicity of the image which always works with JoFy's stamps. Yet the brushos give them star quality. Love the colours!

Lauren Hatwell said...

Impressive containment of the gorgeous brusho's for a really great clean and simple look. I seem to get them EVERYWHERE when I use them :oD Well done Catherine. Lx

craftytrog said...

Beautiful cards Catherine, & great idea to make matching envelopes!
Alison xx

Ruth said...

Beautiful results, using one of my favourite stamp sets. Lovely Catherine! Ruth x

Deborah Wainwright said...

Love these cards Catherine, very pretty. Might have to borrow the marching envelope idea :) hugs Debs xx

Unknown said...

Clean and simple is my current go to style but I doubt I could achieve it using Brushos as you have. These are lovely!

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Tracey T said...

Wonderful post, love all your little tips, thankyou xxx

Mac Mable said...

The unpredictable nature of these pigments is what I am enjoying too. It never fails to surprise me, if I just walk away and revisit them later for the most part I love them! Sometimes I have to leave them overnight for me to love them!! Also enjoying all the new techniques (to me) that I am learning from yourselves. Surprised too to find that they can be controllable too...what a versatile medium. Loving the inspiration, thanks x

Notations of a Crafter said...

Gorgeous Catherine. Wonderful post. Thanks for the inspiration

ionabunny said...

These are really lovely. Feeling inspired. Hugz

Etsuko said...

Very beautiful!! Really the Brusho fits well to Jofy's image. xx

Susan Battensby said...

Your cards are fabulous, they just look like you water coloured them.

SCarol said...

Gorgeous, love these.

Unknown said...

Fantastic cards Catherine xx

Anonymous said...

Just revisiting my post and once again am humbled by the lovely comments. Thanks everyone. Plus it's been a few weeks since I played with Brushos... I sense thank you cards with brushos coming on! Catherine x