Krafty Tips & Tuts - Under Water Background!

Hi, it's Krafty Girl Marilyn here, and it's my week for a tip or tutorial!  I'm going to show you how I create an underwater background using Distress Inks and watercolor paper. 

So first here is a list of the supplies I used:
Distress Inks - Scattered Straw
                         Tumbled Glass
                         Peacock Feathers
                         Chipped Sapphire
Paper - Distress Watercolor Card Stock - I used Tim Holtz 5.5 x 4.25 (5 1/2 x 4 1/4)
Water and brushes
Heat Gun
Masking Tape

As you can see in the picture above I have taped down my paper.  It's just a lot easier this way.  Using the large brush and some water brush over the card stock wetting it completely.  Then add some ink of each color to an acrylic block.

So starting with the lightest color and wetting the small brush apply some Scattered Straw ink to the top of the card stock.  This gives the illusion of sun hitting the top of the water. 

While still wet, now add the Tumbled Glass ink in the same way as the Scattered Straw.

Next, is the Peacock Feathers ink.

Finally, the darkest ink Chipped Sapphire.

Don't be worried at this point, because now you will use the heat gun to dry your paper.  This will soften the edges and cause them to blend more together.  See picture below.

Must softer now!  At this point I went back and added more of the inks.  It will give it more of a water color effect.

Once you are satisfied with the look, go ahead an dry it with the heat gun.  If you've got patience you can let it air dry.  Then remove the masking tape and crop to what ever size you need.  A quick side note I used the rougher side of the card stock.  I liked how it gave the water some depth.  Totally up to you which side you prefer.

Now, for the best part of all!  I have a card for you with a sneak peek of the May release that's starting on Wednesday!  I'm so excited to share it with you!

You can see once it's dried everything has softened up.  Really quite different from the picture above. 

I hope I have inspired you to give this a try.  It's pretty easy and very quick to do.  All you need is your own imagination to create your water background!  Thanks for checking out my tutorial and please share with us on Facebook if you decide to give it a try!