Life can be tough. You are tougher.

Hi everyone. I have a friend in need of a little encouragement so I thought I’d create a card just for her today. A while back, I bought Hand Lettered Encouragement by Simon Says Stamp for this sentiment alone.  The others are wonderful as well, but I especially love this one.

Since I wanted to emboss the sentiment, I first used a powder tool over watercolor card stock to prevent any stray specks of embossing powder from sticking where I didn’t want them. I stamped using VersaMark ink then heat embossed with black embossing powder.

I used a t-square to draw a straight line then traced a heart die in the center.

Next I used a Gasenfude brush pen (by Copic) to trace over my design. I used a very light touch while tracing then applied a bit more pressure in the thicker, shaded areas of the heart. (Please excuse the shadows in my photography. It’s been a rather dark, dreary day.)

Once I was satisfied with the design,  I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to color over the stamp and pen work.  The pigment ink of the pen did not bleed at all. It’s Copic marker compatible as well. You can read more about it HERE and/or purchase HERE.

Once dried, I decided to add a bit more water to the design to create more of an uneven look. Life’s events can be crazy so I decided my watercolor here should be as well.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp “Hand Lettered Encouragement”   Ink: VersaMark Card Stock: Taylored Expressions Oreo and Lollipop; watercolor  Other: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors, Copic Gasenfude brush, Paper Smooches Hearts die, black embossing powder