Alcohol + Watercolor Backgrounds
Hello! Welcome back. Today I am sharing a fun and easy way to use watercolor with rubbing alcohol for unique effects. I found this technique perfect for snowy skies!
[All supplies are linked in the text below and in the thumbnails at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.]
Watercolor isn’t my thing. I love what people can create with a watercolor, but I have always struggled when using it. But that is ok! I like to focus on fun and unique ways to use watercolor… and today is one of my favorites. By adding rubbing alcohol to a wet watercolor background, you get great looks.
On my first card, I painted a wash of Winsor Newton Cotman Watercolor on Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper. While it was still wet, I used a paint brush to “paint” clouds with rubbing alcohol. The alcohol dries up or the paint, making it lighter in that area.
After the piece dried, I die cut a circle and matted it with white cardstock. I added a snowman and sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Snow Buds Stamp Set… along with mini white pom poms for snow balls. For a bit of interest on the background, I added lots of tone-on-tone Essentials by Ellen Pop Up Mittens die cut snowflakes.
You can also splatter rubbing alcohol on a wet watercolor background for the look of stars or snow. I wanted a subtle look so I started with a wash of light blue watercolor. (In the video I show how intense the results are on a darker watercolor background.) I love the snowy sky results! I also added a snow effect by die cutting the dried watercolor piece with the Essentials By Ellen Snowfall Background Die.
I also used the Essentials by Ellen Mountain Holiday Stamp Set to create a fun skiing scene, and used a sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Snow Buds Stamp Set.
My next card shows another snowy sky that I created using light watercolor and alcohol. Once it was dry, I cut it with a stitched rectangle die and added to a card. I also added silver glitter snowflakes from the Essentials by Ellen Pop Up Mittens Die Set and a sentiment from the Essentials by Ellen Snow Days Stamp Set.
But the best part of this card is the surprise inside! When you open it, hearts and snowflakes pop up…
The Essentials by Ellen Pop Up Mittens Die Set has dies needed to create this fun pop-up effect and it is SO easy to assemble. The “stay cozy” is from the Essentials by Ellen Mountain Holiday Stamp Set.
My last card shows the watercolor and alcohol technique.. but only on the background. I first stamped and watercolored the holly from the Essentials by Ellen Mondo Holly Stamp Set. Once it was dry, I put wet blue watercolor around and added speckles of alcohol. The alcohol reacts with the wet watercolor but not the dry.
I also created a vellum sentiment strip with the Altenew Peaceful Wreath Dies and Honey Bee Rejoice Stamp Set.
I hope you give these easy techniques a try!
SUPPLIES
Want to find the products I used? I have listed them below. (Compensated affiliate links used at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! Affiliate and product disclosure can be found here. All products were personally purchased except the Essentials by Ellen products which were received from the company with no expectation. As always, this post was NOT paid for or sponsored.) Click on the icons below each product picture to go to a favorite store.
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