I Brake For Bister and Barns

Hi everybody, Regina here with a post showing how to use Bister to make a beautiful background in no time at all.  Bister is watercolor powder.  Do you like making your own backgrounds?  Then you really need to experiment with these.  I'm going to give you a link to Bister at I Brake For Stamps.  The powder is in small containers and cost about $1.65, so affordable for everyone to try.    Here's a link to Bister and here's a link to the online store, I Brake For Stamps.  I used two I Brake For Stamps stamps on this card.  One is called Rustic Barn and the other is Fall Leaf Background.  

First, I embossed the Fall Leaf Background stamp with clear embossing powder.  I decided to use Bister in  red, yellow and a little bit of green.  You can choose how much color you want and can even add more if you want more of a certain color in a certain place on your card stock.  I used watercolor paper.  I use 140# cold press Strathmore.  I would recommend taping the watercolor paper down with washi tape or some kind of easy release tape.  The main reason for this is so that the paper doesn't buckle.  The first couple of times I tried this I didn't tape down and I had watercolor dripping down the buckled paper.  This makes it much neater I promise.  You need a fine paint brush, just an old one but not those super stiff bristle ones. This powder will last forever because you need to use so little.  I compare it to Bare Minerals makeup.  If you wear this brand, you know exactly what I mean.  That stuff lasts forever because you barely need to use any.  Same here, a little bit will go a long way after it is activated by the water.

 

Lightly dip your paint brush in the powder getting a little on the brush and tap the paint brush lightly.  This is what it will look like.

This is what it looked like after I used all 3 colors.

After you have all your colors down, lightly spritz with water.  The more you spritz, the more the colors will move around the paper,  Here's what it looks like after a few spritzes.

Then I decided I wanted a little more red in that bare area so you can go back and add more and put it where you want it.  I love that!  See where I added some red powder.

Then continue to spritz with water. The next 3 pictures will show you the progression and the final result.  You can see the embossing. 

Isn't this cool looking?  

 

I blot the little puddles with a paper towel and then use a heat gun to dry.  Look at the awesome results for such an easy technique. 

I colored this beautiful Rustic Barn with Copics listed below.  I used a little Copic blending solution on a cloth and dabbed it lightly on the grass and drive part to give it that textured look.  For some reason, whenever I see an old barn in the middle of a field, it reminds me of Fall.  I remember growing up everybody had one of those 1,000 piece puzzles that ended up being a barn in a field in the Fall.  This is a fantastic stamp to use for those masculine cards that are so hard to create.  This stamp is appropriate for any male I think and of course, females as well. 


For this card I used Gina K Designs heavy base weight Ivory card stock as well as Tomato Soup and Chocolate Brown.  I wanted to try Neenah card stock with my Copics because I keep hearing people say they like it, well, I thought I ordered the wrong kind because it was flimsy then I remembered Xpress blending cards are flimsy too.  I bought Neenah 110# Smooth White Exact Index and I love it.  I can blend very well on this paper.  It is reasonably priced too at Amazon, ream of 250 sheets around $15.00.  I used Spellbinders Labels 8 dies and then used it as a template for the layering one.  I sponged Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs distress ink around the edge of the cut out stamp and the edge of the leaves background.  That's all I used on this card.  I wanted the stars to be the background and this beautiful scenery stamp.

Copics Used:
Barn:  E11, E15, E19
Fence and Roof::  W2, W5 and tip to tip also
Stone on barn:  E42, E44
Pumpkins:  YR04, YR07
Cart:  E23, E25
Driveway:  E31, E33
Pines:  YG63, YG67
Shadow in Doorways:  C9
Tree:  G40, G43, Y35, YR21, YR24, YR27, YR18
Grass:  YG91, YG93

Next Wednesday I will post a Halloween card using Black Bister powder in the background.   Ooooh spooky!  lol 

I hope I have inspired you to want to try Bister watercolor powders.  Have fun making your Fall cards! I hope you'll visit my blog at http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com for more inspiration and fun techniques.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Regina - I Brake For Stamps Design Team Member