Exploring Distress Markers

 I've wanted to give Distress Markers a try for some time.  I finally used a coupon and got the set that had vintage photo, crushed olive, tumbled glass, wild honey and worn lipstick.  I thought the combination of colors was a little unusual (at least for me!) but I challenged myself to make them work.

For this card I made a watercolor background.  I scribbled marker directly onto watercolor  paper, overlapping colors a bit.  After I had three colors applied (photo, olive and honey) I misted the cardstock with water and let the colors blend.  After it dried I was ready to invent a card.

I trimmed the watercolor background down a bit and inked the edges.  I added, a wider copper ribbon and then a narrow dark brown with copper edges.   The image is a clear stamp from Studio 112 that was in the $1 bin.  I stamped it on another piece of cardstock that I colored with the honey marker  and embossed with copper embossing powder.  I stamped the center of the image again on the same paper as the medallion, punched a circle and popped it up on the medallion.  I adhered it to the background so it extended beyond the edge. I added punched flowers to the center and tucked in three punched leaves with inked edges.

I cut off the right-hand side of the card - but later questioned the wisdom of that action.  But I liked it well enough to use it.  A used a border punch on brown cardstock and added dots of dimensional black paint to the centers of each flower.  I also added a dot of paint to the flower in the center of the medallion and three dots above the ribbon.

Conclusion:  I liked the way the colors blended together and it certainly made a quick and easy background.  While I applied the color in horizontal bands, it would be effective to just randomly swirl them various places, too.  That's something to try in the future.