I made this trio of herbology-themed ATCs for the recent round of the Mini Pocket Letter Swap! My partner listed Harry Potter and nature/plants and I just knew I wanted to combine them.
I started by coffee-dyeing my ATC-sized papers (cut from one of my mixed media journals). I did a couple rounds to try to get some layering/depth. I’m pretty happy with it, though the smell lingered a bit.
After the papers were dyed, I sketched the subjects in pencil, painted in the sketch with white gesso, then watercolored over the gesso and added details/outlines with a black posca paint pen. I wasn’t sure how the watercolors would work over the gesso, but they came out ok! I kind of like the rough look, especially for these earthy plants! Again, I did a few layers to get more saturation.
And here’s the back for fun. I think I added a few more things to this after I took the pic, including my Harry Potter themed About Me page. I included an image of the template I used, but didn’t get my filled-in version.
These are really cool, even if you (I, really) don’t know much about HP! I love how the stained papers give them a vintage/home remedy vibe. #3 is my fave.
Oh, these are wonderful! I love the coffee-stained effect. Makes them look very grungy-in-a-good-way. The HP-themed “about me” page is fun, too. Accio! [Sigh. That never works for me.]
Haha. I’m not sure it’s a tip really. It’s just kind of my go-to with simple shapes I embellish with paint pens. I think I got lucky that it worked with the watercolors!
I like the hand-drawn look of the plants and the sparkles that you penciled in. My fav is the gillyweed.
I’ve noticed that many swap participants like to include extra goodies in their swaps, like embellishments and papercrafting elements. I think that’s fun. A way to purge our inventory of supplies and surprise our partners.
