sketchy watercolored holly

Hello!  The current challenge at The Paper Players has been intriguing me all week.  It’s to create a clean and simple styled card and incorporate watercoloring into it.  Since the challenge closes this afternoon, I figured this morning it was now or never if I wanted to join in.  The current CAS(E) this Sketch! layout seemed to lend itself well to including a watercolored background so I’ve combined the two challenges in today’s card.  I started off with a wash of green ink on watercolor paper, which turned out pretty light, but that was OK because I didn’t want it to obscure the image.  Once it was dry, I stamped the holly image.  Then I used a damp paintbrush to trace over the lines, blending in all the little shading lines and softening the edges of the image.  I stamped a cherry colored ink pad on acetate and used the ink from there to color in the berries.  I accidentally tapped the brush over the cardstock as I was finishing up the berries, splattering a bit of the watered-down red ink near the bottom edge of the watercolor paper.  So I made a last-minute decision to add some more splatters randomly over and around the image.  I chose a green cardstock for the base and here’s the final result:

I realize it probably seems a little weird to have a Christmasy design in April, but none of the previous ideas I had came together very well for me.  It still makes a good card for me to stockpile for Operation Write Home.  Since there’s no sentiment on it, the person who chooses to send it can use it for any occasion during the holiday season.  And Christmas Eve is just 8 months away from today!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  All comments are read and appreciated!  (Well, not the spam comments.  They are read, but they are not appreciated unless the content or grammar strikes my funny bone – like the poorly worded one that talked about testing traffic lights.  LOL!)

Supplies:
Stamp: Christmas Blueprint 4 (Tim Holtz)
Cardstock: Garden Green (Stampin’ Up); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Other: paintbrush