Glimmer Mist Watercolor Technique

I joined a swap on the Technique Junkies Yahoo group in which you had to make a card using a technique from the Technique Junkies newsletters or CDs for one partner.  I chose the Glimmer Mist Watercolor Technique from the April/May 2010 issue.  It is sooooo easy and I think it made a beautiful background.  Choose 3 or 4 colors of Glimmer Mist and a sheet of matte cardstock.  Spray the Glimmer Mist very close to the paper so there are pools of color.  Cover the whole sheet with the Glimmer Mist colors.  Then take a paper towel and, starting from the middle and working outward, blot the cardstock to soak up all the excess moisture.  Then use your heat gun to dry it and bring out the shimmer.  It really does look like watercolors and the shimmer adds a lot to the look.  I did two sheets of cardstock so I had more to play with!

I cut a 4 x 4 sheet of the Glimmer Mist background and used a Stampin' Up wheel, So Swirly, to add the flourishes.  Then I used one of the stamps from the Stampin' Up Oval All set and punched it out using the large oval punch and the scalloped oval punch for the bottom layer, and added the sweet dotted-swiss ribbon.  Easy peasy, as they say over at Red Lead!  I hope my partner likes it!

I had to take a picture of my gardenia trees which are blooming like crazy!  I wasn't sure how they would fare this spring with the freezing weather we had over the winter, but they obviously are fine!  I cut new flowers every day and bring them inside and the whole house smells like gardenias - beautiful!