Bloggers Challenge -- Here Comes Sandy Claws...

Welcome to Friday! It's Blogger's Challenge day and it feels great to be back in the swing of things. Today's challenge was to Watercolor....and watercolor I did!

The crab was stamped, then masked, and the hat was stamped over it. Both were watercolored with Watercolor Pencils AND Watercolor Crayons, then layered on a red Nestibility scalloped square. I added a bit of liquid applique` to the hat and a bit of Crystal effects to the eyes to add interest.

The bottom (background) is a piece of white cardstock. Half was decorated with a Stampin' Up! Jumbo wheel, and the bottom was Cuttlebugged. I love how the coloring looks on the bottom! Here's it was done:

1. I inked 1/2 of the Mesh Cuttlebug Embossing Folder with Cocoa ink (the bottom half, so the bumps were colored).
2. I placed the paper face-down in the bug and only put 1/2 of the cardstock through the Bug. (This is an easy version of the Cuttlebug Smoosh Technique from the August 2007 Technique Junkie Newsletter).
3. Then I added red and brown watercolor crayon colors with my aqua painter to get the multi-colored background under the bumps. Dry with a heat tool, and Viola` - instant interesting background!

To finish, I inked the edges of the white piece, added the torn Cool Carribean strip, added a velvet ribbon and layered the background on red and Caribbean paper before popping the crab piece with pop dots.

I hope you like it as much as I do!!! I may make more of these to add to my Christmas Card stash -- my DH keeps adding names to the list!

All Stamps (c)Stampin' Up!