I saw this cool technique in a video that Betsy Veldman created here.  She used the watercolor stamping technique, then heat embossed the image a second time over the watercolored image.  I thought the effect was really neat and I wanted to give it a try.  So I used it to create this card for the Mojo Monday 286 Challenge using the Postage Due stamp set from Stampin’ Up!  Here is the sketch:

And here is the card that I made:

To create the watercolor pallet, I pulled out one of my empty Clear Mount Stamp Cases.

I squeezed Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard and Daffodil Delight ink refills into my stamp case and I spritzed them with water (used my Stampin’ Spritzer).  I will warn you that when you spritz the ink refills, it’s a little messy so make sure that you’re on a work surface that can easily be cleaned up.

I inked up my Postage Due image by gently tapping and swirling it slightly in the ink refill/water mix.  Your ink refills will mix together a lot of you swirl your stamp around a lot so if you want that effect, then swirl more.  I wanted to keep the colors from mixing too much so I only moved my image a little bit.

Then I placed the image on my Whisper White card stock panel and pressed and held it for about 15 seconds to make sure that most of the ink on the image ended up on the paper.  I repeated the process with the 3 smaller postage stamp images.

The images created will be sort-of smudgy looking and that is exactly what you want.  Let the images dry completely.  I used my Heat Gun to speed up the process, but it’s not necessary.

Then I stamped the images a second time using VersaMark ink and I embossed them with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  I trimmed the larger image and punched the stamp images with the Postage Stamp Punch and sponged the edges with More Mustard ink.

I cut the larger image in two and adhered it to a More Mustard panel with SNAIL, then to a Tempting Turquoise panel and to the card base with SNAIL.  I dyed two strips of Whisper White 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon using rubbing alcohol and Tempting Turquoise ink refill (you can see a quick tutorial here), let them dry and adhered them with SNAIL to the card front.

Then I stamped the En Francais image in Daffodil Delight ink on a strip of Daffodil Delight card stock and I sponged the edges with More Mustard.  I stamped the Create sentiment from the Loving Thoughts stamp set in Tempting Turquoise ink, then I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig and I stamped the sentiment a second time in More Mustard over the Tempting Turquoise ink.  I adhered the strip to the card front and two of stamp images with SNAIL.  I adhered the third stamp image with Stampin’ Dimensionals and added three pearls above the sentiment.

I finished the card by stamping the postage stamp images in Daffodil Delight down the side of a Whisper White panel and I adhered it to the inside of the card.

Stampin’ Up! products used to create this card:

Stamps:  Postage Due (126395 wood, 126397 clear); En Francais (109521 available in wood only); Loving Thoughts (125843 wood, 125845 clear)

Punches:  Postage Stamp (122344)

Embellishments: White Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109132); Pearl Basic Jewels (119247); Whisper White 3/8″ Taffeta Ribbon (109070)

Ink:  VersaMark Pad (102283); More Mustard Classic Stampin’ Pad (126964); Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Pad (126944); Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin’ Pad (126952); Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill (101041); Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill (119672); More Mustard Classic Stampin’ Ink Refill (101962)

Tools:  Heat Tool (129053); Stampin’ Spritzer (126185); Stamping Sponges (101610); Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049)

Card Stock  & Cuts:  Daffodil Delight (119683) – card base cut to 4-1/2″ x 9″ and scored at 4-1/2″, 1-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ strip; Tempting Turquoise (102067) – 4-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ square; More Mustard (100946) – 4-1/8″ x 4-1/8″ square; Whisper White (100730) – 3″ x 4″ panel, three Postage Stamp Punches

Adhesive:  SNAIL Adhesive (104332); Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430)