Wednesday 3 January 2018

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #151 - Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge


Welcome to the brand new year and to another Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I'm so happy we're starting the year with Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" challenge.  I began playing with my Brushos over the holidays and am anxious to show off the results.


But before I get around to showing off my card and telling you how I created it, I want to give a heartfelt welcome to our new Watercooler Artist, Helen Finlay.  You can read a short bio about Helen and see her photo over at the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge post.

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I had never heard about Brushos.  Well, that's not quite true.  I had read the name in passing when viewing the posts of quite a number of our participants but didn't look into it any further.  That is, until Stampin' Up! announced that five colours would be released in the new Occasions Catalogue.  Did I want them or not?  Well, I had seen some remarkable results featured by some awesome crafters, time to check them out more fully.

Brusho watercolour crystals are produced in Sheffield, England and are simply remarkable.  The tiny crystals "explode" with colour when sprayed with water or immersed in water.  Using them isn't just a matter of having a colour, dipping in your brush, and painting your image.  It can be that simple but it can be so much more.  For my card I first stamped my rose image from the Rose Wonder set, using Versamark and then heat embossed it with silver embossing powder.  Then, once that was set and hard, I sprayed the rose and leaves with water and tapped out a few crystals, green for the leaves and red for the rose.  I used a damp paint brush to spread the colour, leaving areas darker in places and lighter in others.  Once that had dried completely, I fussy-cut the rose and leaves and attached them to a piece of Heavy Whisper White which I had previously prepared by tapping out just a very few green crystals and then spraying them.  I like the resulting splatter effect.


The border of the Heavy Whisper White is also heat embossed using silver embossing powder as is the sentiment.  Once finished, the piece was mounted on a base of Heavy Whisper White.

I found the Brusho colours to be incredibly brilliant and am anxious to try them out with some other projects.  I hope you'll decide to try them out as well.

Please check out the wonderful creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week.

I'm also playing along with the CAS Watercolour Card Challenge for January since it's all about birthdays.

12 comments:

  1. Hello Heidi,
    your rose is really pretty. I have a set of the brushos but used it once only. I must get them out and have a real play with them. found a new challenge to boot too. Hugs ValeryAnne.

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    1. Welcome to our challenge. I hope we continue to inspire you and I'm looking forward to seeing your work linked up. The Brushos are definitely not a "one time and they've been mastered" type of medium. I imagine I'll be doing a lot of practising before I feel at their mercy.

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  2. Beautiful card Heidi. The brushos add a nice texture and colour to the background of your flower. What I really like about this card though is all the embossing, especially the outline. It really adds to it. Thanks for sharing and Happy New Years!

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    1. Thanks, Penny. I'm finding that I'm doing a fair bit of heat embossing lately, getting used to the Brushos. The colours are so radiant and I feel that they're going to take a lot of practise to get right.

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  3. Such an eye-catching card Heidi! That lovely red rose is so beautiful against the pretty speckled background. I love the intensity of colour you got with Brusho powders.

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    1. Thanks, Helen. I'm making "friends" with the Brushos but I can tell it will be a long journey together before I feel completely comfortable with them.

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  4. Gorgeous heat embossed and Brushos watercolored rose, Heidi. Your fussy cutting turned out beautifully. TFS and joining us at CAS Watercolour. Hugs...

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  5. I love these rich colors with the silver embossing, Heidi! A beautiful rose and I love the way you splattered! Thanks for sharing with us at CAS Watercolour!

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  6. Love the vibrant colours of your beautiful rose and leaves, Heidi. The silver embossing adds lots of shine. Thanks for sharing with us at CAS Watercolour!

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  7. welcome to the powdered ink world, it's so much fun. Love your fussy cut flower and those tiny flecks of colour is so pretty. thanks for joining us at CAS Watercolour :)

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  8. Such a lovely card, Heidi. I love the bold rose. I'd like to try Brushos sometime, but haven't been able to source them here yet!

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  9. so pretty...
    Thanks for sharing with us at CAS Watercolour.
    :) Karen

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