Stampin with Anita: International Highlights Winners Blog Hop

I was so honored and pleased to have been chosen #3 out of the Top Ten for Kylie Bertucci's July International Highlights. As a top ten winner, we are invited to participate in a separate blog hop with the theme of "Encouragement". I went with a "Donut Worry" card.

Here is the card which was picked #3. If you click on the image it will take you to my blog post.

For today's card, I knew I wanted to use the single donut image from the Birthday Goodness stamp set.

I started with a sheet for the Fluid 100 Watercolor paper and the amazing Pigment Sprinkles. They are a powdered watercolor which sprinkle out of the container with a "salt shaker" top. You simply add water, as much or as little as you like, to create your paint.

I have a travel watercolor pallet which I had used with the Pigment Sprinkles for previous cards and the watercolor paint had dried. It can be used over and over for the watercolor ink can be reactivated with water. More sprinkles can be added as needed. You can control the intensity by the amount of water used.

I taped the Fluid 100 paper to an acrylic board just around the edges of the paper and wet the area where I wanted color to flow. I dropped in all of the colors with a wet paint brush, except the Gorgeous Grape, and let the colors flow as they will. One dried, I created splatter with the Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker by flicking the tip onto the cap. It's a good idea to practice this on scrap paper and use a box to keep your splatter contained!

To create the donuts, I stamped the single image several times with Stazon Black and watercolored with the Pigment Sprinkles. Once dry, I ran it through my Big Shot with the circle shape (it is for a sun) from the Lakeside Dies. I didn't think I could fussy cut a good circle. I used the glue from the Fine Tip Glue Pen and coated the donuts to give it a glazed look.

Now came the fun part - create my own sentiment with the Make a Difference stamp set.

Just a warning - this stamp set is not for the feint of heart! I used the small block alphabet letters and tried with the Stamparatus to line them up. They are very small, sticky and fiddly. Finally, I decided just to use the Clear Block A and stamp the letters close together, Since I wanted to emboss with White Emboss powder, it was a bit tricky since Versamark doesn't show up on black. Each time I stamped a letter, I sprinkled the embossing powder on it, so I could see where I was stamping. I ended up setting the letter "O" down on my craft table, and of course, it got lost. I was just about ready to give up when I saw the zero was exactly the same as the "O" and I was able to complete "DONUT WORRY"!

Hopefully the "O" shows up sometime in the future stuck to something random. This set definitely takes practice - as least the small letters. But for those of us who enjoy creating our own sentiments, it is worth the practice.

The inside is from the Tasteful Textures stamp set and I felt perfect to go with a set of donuts and to encourage someone.

I hope you've enjoyed this card and I certainly appreciate you staying to the end! Here all are the blog hoppers from the Top Ten and I am sure it will be worth your time to check our their creative work:

To purchase any of the items shown today, or any Stampin' Up! products, here are links to my online store. Thanks again!

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