2016 Watercolor Calendar - August

Today it's time for August in our watercolor calendar...  I thought it would be fun to do a bit of embossing in white.  You could use black or clear if desired but there's just something about white and watercolor that goes together so well.  I've tossed in another little technique but we'll get to that in a few...  here's August's page...

Since it's usually the hottest part of the year in Indiana in August I went with an aquatic theme...maybe it will make it feel a bit cooler when it rolls around ;)  Of course being a land locked state we don't have sea turtles - just regular painted or snapping turtles I figured it would work. 

So I started off by stamping with VersaMark ink then embossing with white EP.

Once the ep has cooled, it's time to start layering on color... I started off with just a light wash of blue over the background.

I built up several layers of paint and colors then wet it down so the water pooled here and there on the paper.  I then sprinkled on coarse salt (mine said kosher salt on the box) - some people use table salt but I prefer the larger grains - either works fine.

See how the color is pooling around each grain...that's just what you're looking for!

Once it's dry, rub all the salt off your watercolor panel.

And you can see from these two photos how awesome it looks afterwards...

Now it's time to watercolor the images as desired.

I had a tough time deciding where to put the calendar cause again, I just didn't want to cover it up.  You'll notice that this calendar has a couple of stars already...  The red star on the 23rd marks dh & my 30th wedding anniversary!!!  Sure doesn't seem like it's been that long ago which I suppose is a good thing.  

The blue star on August 6th....drum roll please.....  is the day that my youngest ds and his fiance' Morgan will be getting married!!!!  Wooo Hooo...they finally set the date and we couldn't be more happy.  Very excited to say the least.

So there you go - August's calendar page is now in the books!

Supplies:

Kuretake Gansi Tambi Watercolors

Canson Watercolor Paper

JFF Rubber Stamps

IMAGINE Crafts - VersaMark ink, White EP