Swatched rainbow flowers

In true Minnesota fashion, our weather has flip-flopped again. The snow from a couple of weeks ago has melted, and this afternoon the temp is up to 74 degrees. Go figure. I'm going to try to get out and enjoy the sunshine for a bit this afternoon, so I have a quick blog post today.

Over the summer I ordered some handmade watercolor paints from a Canadian company called Beam Paints. (The company is owned by an indigenous woman, and I love the focus on safe ingredients and plastic-free packaging.) After I received the paints, I tested them out by swatching small rectangles of each color on a piece of watercolor paper. When I posted the swatches on Instagram, a friend commented to ask me what I was going to do with them.

My first thought was that I wasn't going to do anything with them because swatches are just swatches; they're purpose is simply to test colors. But as I thought more about it, I figured why not? So I turned those swatches into this card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh Cut Bouquet (Memory Box Inc.)
Paper: Solar White 110-lb card stock (Neenah), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Watercolor paints (Beam Paints), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Fresh Cut Bouquet dies (Memory Box Inc.), rectangle masking stencils (Taylored Expressions), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I looked through my stamp sets for some small flower and leaf images, and the Fresh Cut Bouquet set was perfect. Using black ink, I stamped as many images as I could fit on the various color swatches and then cut them out with the coordinating dies.

With all those little pieces, I decided to make a card with a collage-style layout. I wanted to keep a thick white border around the edges of the card, so I used one of my rectangle masking stencils from Taylored Expressions; instead of filling the opening with ink blending, I just filled it with die-cut flowers. I moved the pieces around until I had an arrangement I liked -- leaving a small blank spot near the bottom for a sentiment -- and then glued everything to the card base. I stamped the sentiment, filled in some of the empty space with clear sequins, and there you have it, a fun card made from simple paint swatches.

Thanks for stopping by!