Bloom Girl Gardenia with Easy Background Tutorial

Hi my sweet Bloom friends. It's Lisa here with you today and I have a little tutorial today on how to create a fun background for any card, but ESPECIALLY your Bloom Girls (and upcoming Guys, too.) Here's the card I created using the technique:

1. Start off with watercolor paper. Jamie has awesome watercolor paper!! Did you know? She does! It's a beautiful, thick paper that is A4 sized. Just trim a sheet to 4 ¼ x 5 ½" and place Frog tape or other low-tack painter's tape around the edges.

2.  Using an acrylic block (mine was 1 x 7" long) rub a Gelato® completely all over one side. Spritz with water and then press (rather hard) onto the paper. Before removing the block, lift the block in different areas. This will give you a more watercolored look - more random.

3. Repeat the process for each color you wish to use. It's completely fine to overlap the colors and to let them drip into each other. (For this card 4 Gelatos® worked perfectly.)

4.  Prior to doing any stamping with your Bloom Girl it is important to allow the background to either air dry or heat set. **Do not get too close with your heat tool if you use a high temp embossing gun.**

5. I do stenciling and spraying PRIOR to stamping, which may seem weird. But I do this so I don't get too hung up on placement, It just feels more organic to me that way. I hope that makes sense. The times that I don't do it this way is when I'm using a texture paste or things that require layers.

6. Stamp Bloom Girl Gardenia using an Archival Ink. (I used Coffee by Ranger.)

(You can see the stencil over her facial area.)

7. Once the Bloom Girl is stamped the rest is really up to you and how you want to embellish and finish it up -- what you want to add to make it YOUR OWN. :) You can see my close ups to see what I added (and the product list, too.)

Another angle:

If you're more of a visual learner (some of us are - myself included!), here is a video I created with this same technique for Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft®.

I hope that you enjoyed this fun technique and will use it on one (if not MANY) of your next Bloom Girls!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used:
Prima:
Prima Bloom Girl Stamp (Jamie Dougherty Designs):  Gardenia – 980207
Jamie Dougherty A4 Watercolor Paper - 980269
Color Bloom Sprays:  Summer Sky, Vintage Metal – Gold Foil - 573805
Mica Flakes: Frosted, Gold Leaf – 961756
Glass Glitter, Gold Rush - 961657
Prima Stencil:  Checker - 960179
Prima Flowers:
*Prima Sugar Bloom Collection - 549053
*Talia Tempting - 574680
*Cartographer Adventurer – 574529
Bloom Typewriter Keys - 573065


Other:
Ranger Archival Ink – Coffee
Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft®:  PITT Artist Pen (Dark Sepia – 125), Gel Medium, Gelatos® (Iced Coffee, Cinnamon, Iced Chai, Gold Champagne), Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencils (Medium Flesh – 151, Cobalt Green – 156, Raw Umber – 180, Burnt Siena – 283).
My Favorite Things – Hot Fudge Cardstock