Fading Summer

Think of the hot, end of summer days with very little rain; fields and grasses start to turn yellow and gold; the garden is ready to harvest. Sunflowers hang their heads, heavy with ripening seeds.

Autumn is just around the corner as Summer is fading away.

That is the theme of my design for today. I purposefully went for a faded look, using Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks and Stamp Simply Ribbon Store's clear Sunflower Season stamp and die sets.

I began with a base of Ranger Watercolor paper. Using Prima's Elemental Harlequin stencil along with Ranger's Mini Blending Tool, I added two different colors of blue oxide (Faded Jeans and Salty Ocean). I then filled in areas around the harlequin pattern with Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap. I sprayed water on the ink to create the distressing, as well as mopped over it with a baby wipe to pull up some of the ink for the faded look. Watered down Salty Ocean was spattered on for more interest. The "sunflower" sentiment was stamped with the Frayed Burlap, and also received dabbing with the baby wipe.

The sunflower was watercolored with the oxide inks in: Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, and Walnut Stain.

Easy cleanup and process using Ranger's Craft Mat and Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer.

All linked products for this design are from 

The Stamp Simply Ribbon Store.

Very glad that you popped by today; 

have a great remainder to your week!