Have you seen all those gorgeous sayings done in brush lettering lately? I’ve always been a collector of sayings and love quotes. You know what makes them even better? Seeing them written in bold colorful strokes of watercolor. I have tried hand lettering with brush pens and have been a miserable failure. I’m ashamed to tell you how much I have spent on pens convinced it had to be the tools and not the user.

The other day I was doing some watercoloring for a card I was making for the Simon Wednesday Challenge (see that post here) and came across my Pentel Aquash Water Brush and thought, why not give it a try? Guess what? It was so much easier than using an actual pen! Crazy, I tell ya!

Now obviously, I’ve far from being proficient, but this was the very first time I tried it with the watercolors. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. And once I started I couldn’t stop! There’s just something soothing about taking your time and writing with intention. It seems like it would be tense or frustrating, but it was actually relaxing. Yeah- I’m weird like that.

Since then, I’ve been practicing here and there. I’m trying different fonts and styles and have been thinking of ways to incorporate it in my other crafty endeavors. Enter Stephanie Bryan’s post on her watercolor mini album. This woman is amazing- from her beautiful crafting style to her amazing photography. I loved the idea of her simple watercoloring backgrounds and thought they would be perfect for a Project Life layout.

I sat down at my desk, got my watercolors, a cup of clean water, my Aquash water brush and got to work. It’s not perfect, but it took less than an hour to make, including drying time. Better than that? It makes my happy. This is not a traditional Project Life layout. It doesn’t document a week or any timeline in particular. These photos span years, but they all have two things in common- me and some of my favorite people.

Story trumps rules or perfection every time!

To make the cards, I cut Carson Multi-Media paper into 3×4 and 4×6 cards. I tried several color combinations before settling on this one. I just liked the crisp greens and yellows next to the black and white photos. When mixing colors, you want to use complimentary colors otherwise they become muddy and brown. Not the look I was going for!

When it came to the sayings, I was inspired by a stamp set I have that says “We go together like PB & J”. All I had to do was think of my favorite pairs while my cards dried. The cards still had a little warping when I took the photos, but after being closed in the album overnight, they flattened right out.

As I said before, I’m still getting the hang of the brush lettering. And to be honest, I didn’t want to stress about it. I wanted to have fun and enjoy the process. That doesn’t mean there weren’t a few that didn’t make the cut, but for the most part, I made the card and moved on.

I was having so much fun experimenting with the watercolors, I had a few cards leftover. I used one of my old Stamping’ Up heart punches to make a few quick embellishments for the photos. Waste not, want not.

So, there you have it. A quick and easy Project Life layout that is unique to me. It’s a technique I can see myself using over and over again. The possibilities are endless!