I first made some backgrounds on Strathmore watercolor paper, laying down some Liquitex Matte Medium and Infusions in The Sage, Lemoncello, and Orange Country. I also wanted some red and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Ken Oliver Merlot Color Burst I had in my stash blended in nicely (although without the cool wood grain look of the Infusions). I cut some of it down into standard 3.5" x 2.5" ATC backgrounds, inking the edges with Versa Fine Black Onyx Ink.
The rest of the colored watercolor paper was used to stamp out the Carabelle Studio Cactus Stamps, and I used some scraps to create grounding for the images. I stamped the cactus with Momento Tuxedo Black Ink, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder to set the ink (NOTE: when I had tried to fussy cut a cactus before embossing it, the ink smeared everywhere even after I thought I had heat set it; I guess the matte medium was too slick a surface for the ink). Then I fussy cut all the images out and inked the edges with a black Sharpie marker for a clean finished look. Other than adding a pop of red for the cactus flowers with a red Sharpie, I did no other coloring!
The large Opuntia cactus was so majestic on it's own that I just doodled a black sign with white letters that said, "Can't Touch This".
The skinny Saguaro looked like it had arms so I added eyes and a mouth to her and gave her a speech bubble that says, "Hug Me!"
I had so much fun crafting this silly ATC series. Using the Infusions gave such great color and visual texture, and I saved so much time not having to color each cactus. If you'd like more details about the products and process of making these ATCs, please visit my blog HERE. Thanks for visiting with me today!
Super sweet ATC cards!
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