I recently saw a post on Instagram where somebody used Q-tips to create a bokeh look and also used the Q-tips for stamping. Sorry, I don't recall who inspired me, but thank you, I had to give it a go and this tag is the result of my effort.
I had a small piece of water colour card left over from a previous project, so decided to use that for the base. I used a wash of water and "Faded Jeans" Distress Oxide Ink, applied with a wide paint brush in rough strokes horizontally. I then ran the heat gun over the surface to dry it.
Using a wet Q-tip, I painted dots of water across the surface, rubbing the Q-tip in the middle of the dots to achieve a lighter look. I then used a fan shaped paint brush to create smaller splatters of water, dabbing them off with a piece of kitchen roll. These two techniques created the mottled background you see.
I used a fine tipped black pen to draw branches dangling down from the top right hand side of the tag.
I then dipped a Q-tip into "Festive Berries" Distress Oxide Ink and dobbed the Q-tip to create round berry shapes. I extended the branches on to the berries to make them look more realistic.
At this stage, I really wasn't sure if I was just going to stamp a sentiment or create an actual image, I decided on the latter.
I used the Lavinia Stamps "Lupin the Silhouette Hare" stamp, stamped in two shades of Versafine Clair inks (Acorn and Pine Cone).
I used the Lavinia Stamps "Hill Mask" to create the landscape using Versafine Clair "Morning Mist" grey ink.
I added colour to the hare using Van Goch pastel pencils. I then added highlights to the hare and the berries using a white gel pen.
Finally, I mounted the tag on to a piece of dark red card to match the shade of the berries.
