{Spotlight Project} Shirley Paints It Black

I've had this idea in my head for a while now where I wanted to create a Folk Flowers pattern, then paint out the background. I was inspired by a pin which I eventually tracked down to this post (check out the cute puppies in the post too!).

I started by stamping my images on a piece of white card, trying to be as symmetrical as possible. (I don't do precise!)

Next, I watercoloured the flowers with Distress Inks, keeping some white space within the flowers.

Then came the fun bit! I covered the entire background with black gesso. It really makes the flowers pop!

You do need a steady hand and a fine brush as you get close to the edges of the images, but black gesso will take white gel pen, so I was able to correct some of the untidy areas once the gesso had dried (which doesn't take long at all). I also added some dot detailing with the white gel pen.

To finish off, I trimmed the card panel before adhering it to my card stock, then added a sentiment which I'd stamped onto a scrap of Gelli Plate print. Here's a look at the finished card again.

Stamps Shirley used in today's project:

 

Folk Flowers, Balloons and Banners

Inspired by Shirley's project? Don't forget to hook it up at our Spotlight Project Showcase for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate (random drawing) OR your choice of 5x7 stamp set + a Spotlight Project guest designer spot (randomly drawn from the Top 3 picks).