Watercolor Military Themed Cards

Hey crafty friends. I've got a trio of military themed cards today featuring the new Honor & Sacrifice Stamp Set w/coordinating die, from Erin Lee Creative. The sentiments in this set pays homage to all who have served in our armed forces, both the living and those who are no longer with us. I think this stamp set would be great for making general hero cards too. Think, firefighters! I'm even thinking about tongue in cheek cards for teachers. They go into battle every day, haha!

I've got lots of photos below and creative details if you'd like to scroll down. You'll also find my supply list at the end for clickable shopping or browsing.

(FTC Disclosure: as an affiliate for various companies in the craft industry, I will receive a small commission for purchases made through my convenient affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.)

 

My card dimensions are closer to a square sized card. I tend to eyeball how my elements will fit on a card, then trim my card and card panels accordingly.

The card dimensions are:

Card - 4 3/4" x 5 1/4"

Black panel - 4 1/2" x 4 7/8 

Ink Smooshed panel - 4 1/4" x 4 1/2"

I really wanted to watercolor my boots, so I decided to do some heat embossing with Wow embossing powder. I stamped my boot images on heavyweight white mixed media cardstock with clear embossing ink, then sprinkled my embossing powder, tapping off the excess and heat setting with my Ranger craft heat tool. Then, I used the coordinating boots die with my Platinum 6 die cut system to create my die cuts. I love that the die cuts out a little bit of space around the boot laces on both sides, allowing the card panel to peek through.

Next, I trimmed some panels from my white mixed media cardstock to do some ink smooshing. I chose to use the same color ink for each card, both for the ink smooshing and the watercolors for my boots.

Ink smooshing is so easy. I used Catherine Pooler ink and Ranger Ink. Just press your ink pad on a craft mat, spritz with water, then dab your cardstock into the mixture. Allow to dry naturally, or speed up the process with a craft heat tool.

The colors I'm using are:

Ranger Ink Distress Oxide Ink - Vintage Photo

Catherine Pooler Ink - Eucalyptus

Catherine Pooler Ink - Slate

I also splattered on some droplets of Ranger Dylusions Black Marble Shimmer spray, unscrewing the bottle and tapping the tube feeder all around my inked panel.

To watercolor my boots, I pressed my ink pad on my craft mat, spritzed with water and used my waterbrush to paint my boots. I typically go darker on the outside edges of my images, and lighter in the center, sometimes blotting with a paper towel for even more light.

For my sentiment above, I thought it would be interesting to try some variegated stamping. I stamped the word THANK YOU in black hybrid ink, masking the word VETERANS with tape. It helps to use a stamp positioner for this technique.

Next, I masked the word THANK YOU, then stamped with black hybrid ink along the bottom edge of the word VETERANS, and stamping along the upper part of the same word using my Eucalyptus ink.

Using a stamp positioner also allows you to achieve perfect, multiple inking to get the desired depth of color. I really love how it turned out!

I used a variety of sentiments from this stamp set, a different one for each card. My gray card above, is perfect for giving to a friend or family member for the upcoming Memorial Day remembrances. 

If you're a scrapbooker, this set would be wonderful for creating memorable layouts for the heroes in your family past and present.

I spent many years of my life being raised with my siblings in the Army. Before my step-dad joined our family, he spent several years in the Navy. Later, he moved on and joined the Army. Around that time he met my mom and we became a family of 7! He pretty much raised me and I consider him my dad. We have a great relationship and I love him dearly. He is now around 83 years old and I check on him often, since my mom passed away 4 years ago. I'm thankful he lives close by!

You can see him in his Drill Sargent days, in the photos below. He was thrilled to let me borrow some of his memorabilia to use as photo props! There were soooo many pins! I just used a few.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating these cards. Of course, I'll be giving one to my dad! Thanks so much for popping in today.

Terri

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Ranger Tim Holtz Detail NIB Water Brush Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Ranger Ink Distress Ink Vintage Photo Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Scrapbook.com Premium Clear Embossing Ink Pad Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Scrapbook.com Hybrid Ink - Black Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Wendy Vecchi Makeart Non-stick Craft Sheet Shop at: Scrapbookcom | Ranger Ink	Ranger Heat It Craft Tool Shop at: Scrapbookcom | Ranger Ink	Refillable Permanent Adhesive Runner - 49 feet Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Spellbinders Onyx Cardstock - 10 pk Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Neenah Solar White Cardstock 80 lb, 25 pk Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Exclusive Black Platinum 6 Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Exclusive Blending Brushes - Small - 3 pc Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Rose Quartz Misti Stamp Positioner Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Honor & Sacrifice Stamp Set w/Coordinating Die Shop at: Erin Lee Creative	Catherine Pooler Ink Pad - Eucalyptus Shop at: Scrapbookcom	White Mixed Media Cardstock - 6x8 inch - 15 sheeets Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Wow Embossing Powder Super Fine - Ebony Shop at: Scrapbookcom
Catherine Pooler Ink Pad - Slate Shop at: Scrapbookcom	Ranger Dylusions Black Marble Shimmer Spray Shop at: Scrapbookcom

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