Doodled flowers

Today I have a short post to share a card that I made without any stamps, dies, or even stencils. Crazy, right? Instead, I created a couple of doodle-y flowers with a pen and paints.

When I started this little project I wasn’t thinking about making a card; I just wanted to try drawing something and painting it. So I used a Micron pen to doodle a couple of flowers on watercolor paper. I don’t consider myself an artist, and I certainly don’t do realistic drawing, but I think these flowers turned out pretty well. I’ve found that if I keep the pen on the paper and draw as much as I can in a continuous line —  redrawing over lines multiple times in a loose style — I’m usually happy with the results.

Once I was done with the drawing, I painted the flowers with Daniel Smith watercolors. You can’t really tell in the picture, but the blue I used for the background has just a little shimmer, which is fun. When the paint was dry, I added some details and shading with colored pencils. I also added a little white splatter using Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White.

I decided the finished panel would look good as a card, so I adhered it to a kraft card base and added a handful of clear droplets. For the finishing touch I wrapped hemp twine twice around the left side of the card front and tied it off in a bow.

I’m excited to try more little projects like this to improve my watercolor skills. Thanks for stopping by!

March Christmas cards: Watercolor wishes

My Christmas cards are a little different this month. I wanted to do a little bit of (easy) watercolor painting, so instead of creating a bunch of cards that are all the same, I made four cards, each with a different layout.

For the first card, with the gold star, I made lines of watercolor paint radiating from the center of the paper to the outside edges. When the paint was dry I cut out the panel with a stitched rectangle die and then splattered it with gold paint. I tried a few different options for the focal panel, but I finally decided on a large star cut from gold foil card stock, black "merry" die-cut, and "and bright" sentiment strip. I layered the panel on a black card base and finished with three gold sequins.

For the Christmas lights card, I first cut the watercolor paper with the stitched rectangle die. Then to make the lights, I painted oval or egg shapes around the paper, changing the direction of the shapes. When the paint was dry I used a Micron pen to draw the ends of the lightbulbs and the string connecting them. I attached the panel to a blue card base and added a few sequins and a "merry and bright" sentiment strip.

For the Christmas tree card, I did a watercolor wash with green, aqua, blue, and navy in a triangle shape. When that was dry I die cut the panel and added small dots of gold paint, a few gold sequins, and a gold star to the tree. I adhered the panel to a green card base and added a gold die-cut "merry" along the bottom of the panel.

The ornament card was the one I was most nervous about since I wanted a more realistic look. I started by die cutting the panel and painting the pine branches across the top. (In retrospect, I think I should have added a few more branches to make it fuller.) Then I painted the three basic ornament shapes and let them dry.

Next I used a small brush and gold paint to add the details and tops on the ornaments. (I think I may have held my breath during that step!) I used a ruler and a Micron pen to create the strings, and stamped "merry & bright" in the lower left corner. I attached the panel to a red card base and finished the card with a few gold sequins.

It was fun to do something a little different for my March Christmas cards, but I'll probably be back to something more usual next month -- I think it would take me forever to make all my Christmas cards this way!

Thanks for stopping by!

Loose watercolor Mod Floral

One thing I want to work on with my cardmaking is to do more watercolor techniques. Not realistic watercolor painting -- I'm not that skilled -- but really just using all my watercolor supplies more often. I got a start by using watercolor markers with the fun Mod Floral die from Ellen Hutson to create a soft, feminine birthday card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Cake (Essentials by Ellen)
Paper: Gray Granite, Grapefruit Grove card stock (Stampin' Up!); watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gray Granite (Stampin' Up!); Soft Peach, Gold, Apple, Olive Green Brushmarker Pro watercolor markers (Karin)
Accessories: Mod Floral die (Essentials by Ellen), clear shimmer spray (Avery Elle), jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), rhinestones (Stampin' Up!), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I love that the cluster of die-cut flowers is large enough to be the focus of a card, but you could also trim it down to make a smaller grouping. (The die does also cut out a few individual buds and leaves, which I used to add some dimension by layering them onto parts of the large cluster.)

I die cut the Mod Floral die from watercolor paper and applied a light layer of water to the paper. Using watercolor markers I added peach to the flowers, yellow to the flower centers, and green to the leaves. I used a "loose" style and wasn't very particular or careful; I just went back and forth between the markers and plain water, moving or adding color until I was happy with the result.

 

Once the watercolor was dry, I spritzed the die cut with shimmer spray and then adhered it (and the extra layered pieces) near the upper left corner of a light gray card base. I wanted to bring in a little more of the peach color, so I added a strip of Grapefruit Grove card stock along the bottom edge of the card front. I stamped the birthday sentiment using gray ink in the open lower right corner.

When I poked out the flower centers from the die cut, I noticed that they looked like little cross stitches. I decided to go with that and glued three of them in a row just above the strip of Grapefruit Grove card stock. For the rest of the embellishments, I scattered some rhinestones around the flowers and tied a length of jute twine around the bottom of the card.

Do you have favorite watercolor techniques (or tips) for cardmaking? Leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks for stopping by!

Postcard art: watercolor rainbow, painted paper collage

For the past several years, my neighborhood art supply store, Wet Paint, has done a Summer Postcard Project. "Friends and fans" of Wet Paint are encouraged to create an original piece of art on a postcard and mail it to the store, and they display all of the postcards in the store windows. I've thought about participating several times, but either I forgot about it, or I wasn't sure what to make, or I didn't really think of myself as an artist. You know. Well I decided that this year I was finally going to create at least one postcard for this project. And last week I made -- and mailed! Don't forget that part -- two postcards! They're bright and colorful, and I love how they turned out.

This first one was inspired by artist Josie Lewis, whose art is filled with rainbows and bright colors. I follow Josie on Instagram, and she issued an "assignment" to create a piece using washi tape and watercolors. I really liked the painting Josie made as her example of washi and watercolor, so I used that as my inspiration.

I used the skinniest washi tape I have and applied it around the edges of the postcard to create a border. Then I added five more strips radiating out from the bottom right corner. Once that was ready to go, I used my sampler watercolor pallet from Beam Paints and a flat brush to paint all the colors in my rainbow. (The postcard is made with watercolor paper, so it can hold up to the paint.)

I wanted to add a little sparkle, so before I pulled off the washi tape, I used my gold watercolor (also from Beam Paints) to add some shiny splatters. Once everything was mostly dry (I used my heat tool to speed up the process), I carefully peeled off the washit tape. I was worried that the paint got under the tape in a few spots because it wasn't sticking very well, but all the lines came out pretty clean. So happy!

My second postcard was a tribute to children's book author and illustrator Eric Carle, who passed away a few weeks ago. Having worked in childcare for nine years, I read many of Eric Carle's books many, many times, and they were always class favorites. So when another artist I follow on Instagram, Lauren Blair, announced that she was going to be doing a live follow-along workshop creating painted paper collages in honor of Eric Carle, I knew that was my next postcard.

I pulled out some of my acrylic paints and several sheets of lightweight card stock and started painting. I did try mixing colors on several of the sheets to create texture and interest, but I ended up blending them too much. Oh, well.

While the painted pages dried, I worked on the background of my postcard. Using a pencil and ruler I lightly drew lines across the postcard, and then I used a black Micron pen to write out the names of some of Eric Carle's books. When I filled up the paper, I went back and erased the pencil lines.

Once the paint was dry, I started cutting out shapes to create my butterfly. I played around with the arrangement and then started gluing everything onto the postcard. The placement of my butterfly was a little higher than I had wanted, to I cut out a few tiny butterflies to fill up some of the open space.

Before I mailed the postcards, I sprayed both of them with a matte sealer to help them hold up in the mail. (They don't have to go very far, so I'm not too concerned.) Now I need to walk by the store to see if they made it and are on display -- and I might just make one or two more!

Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor field of flowers

Merry Christmas Eve! After a stretch of milder-than-usual weather, we had a good blizzard yesterday, so we definitely will be having a white Christmas. It makes me wish I had a nice snow-themed card to share today. But alas, I don't. Instead it's a much more spring-y scene.

Supplies:
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Berry Bliss card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Watercolor paints (Beam Paints)
Accessories: Jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

Did you notice that I didn't use any stamps or die-cuts on this card? Instead, I used watercolor paints to create a simple, loose field of flowers. I watched a Make Your Own Beginner Watercolor Card video by Sharon Cullen for inspiration and tips. It was a very clear, easy-to-follow tutorial, and I really enjoyed trying it out. I think I had a bit too much water on my flowers, though, because the pink spread out a little more than I would have liked. But the nice thing about watercolor is that it doesn't have to be precise or perfect. And I think this card still looks pretty good.

I want to try more watercolor painting in the new year. For Christmas last year one of my gifts was an online watercolor class, and I think I've only completed the introductory lesson. I did get the supplies, though, so now I just need more crafty time and energy (and fewer things to stress me out)!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope Christmas brings you moments of peace, hope, and joy!

Be you(tiful)

It's been a crazy couple of weeks -- the election, a surge of COVID-19 cases, wondering what the holidays will look like this year, etc. -- and I've had no focus or energy for blogging. Now Christmas is creeping up, and I feel like it's going to be a challenge to get everything done. So I'm not sure how regularly I'll be posting for the next several weeks (which is a little disappointing because I have so many cards I haven't posted that I don't think I'll ever catch up). But I'll do what I can and see what happens.

For tonight I have a short post and a card that's a little different from my usual style.

Supplies:
Stamps: Flower Patch (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Crumb Cake card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!), Gansai Tambi watercolor paints (Kuretake)
Accessories: Rainbow Cloud Duo dies (Taylored Expressions), wooden heart (unknown), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), foam tape (3M)

I actually made this card last summer, and I was inspired by Sandy Allnock's "human rainbow." Sandy is an amazing artist and does a wonderful job portraying different skin tones in her art. I'm not good at coloring images of people, so I decided to take a different approach to a human rainbow. I mixed a few shades of watercolor paint to create different skin tones and painted a very simple rainbow. Then I added die-cut clouds and a little wooden heart and found the perfect sentiment in my stash.

This isn't a complicated or fancy card, but I hope it carries a little extra significance. Thanks for stopping by!

Swatched rainbow flowers

In true Minnesota fashion, our weather has flip-flopped again. The snow from a couple of weeks ago has melted, and this afternoon the temp is up to 74 degrees. Go figure. I'm going to try to get out and enjoy the sunshine for a bit this afternoon, so I have a quick blog post today.

Over the summer I ordered some handmade watercolor paints from a Canadian company called Beam Paints. (The company is owned by an indigenous woman, and I love the focus on safe ingredients and plastic-free packaging.) After I received the paints, I tested them out by swatching small rectangles of each color on a piece of watercolor paper. When I posted the swatches on Instagram, a friend commented to ask me what I was going to do with them.

My first thought was that I wasn't going to do anything with them because swatches are just swatches; they're purpose is simply to test colors. But as I thought more about it, I figured why not? So I turned those swatches into this card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Fresh Cut Bouquet (Memory Box Inc.)
Paper: Solar White 110-lb card stock (Neenah), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Watercolor paints (Beam Paints), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Fresh Cut Bouquet dies (Memory Box Inc.), rectangle masking stencils (Taylored Expressions), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I looked through my stamp sets for some small flower and leaf images, and the Fresh Cut Bouquet set was perfect. Using black ink, I stamped as many images as I could fit on the various color swatches and then cut them out with the coordinating dies.

With all those little pieces, I decided to make a card with a collage-style layout. I wanted to keep a thick white border around the edges of the card, so I used one of my rectangle masking stencils from Taylored Expressions; instead of filling the opening with ink blending, I just filled it with die-cut flowers. I moved the pieces around until I had an arrangement I liked -- leaving a small blank spot near the bottom for a sentiment -- and then glued everything to the card base. I stamped the sentiment, filled in some of the empty space with clear sequins, and there you have it, a fun card made from simple paint swatches.

Thanks for stopping by!

September Christmas card: Watercolor lights

September has been a challenging month for me. I'm anxious about basically everything, I'm tired and on edge, and I just haven't been feeling very creative. I get excited about the idea of card making; I look forward to having days off work so I can sit in my craft space and make a bunch of cards. But when those days come, I get stuck, nothing seems to work, and I'm just not into it.

So for my September Christmas cards, I made literally one card. Here it is:

Supplies:
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Real Red card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Watercolor paints (Beam Paints), Stardust glitter Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), ultra fine point black permanent marker (Sharpie)

One beautiful afternoon last week, I gathered up some basic painting supplies and decided I was going to watercolor in the back yard. (Actually, now that I think about it, it was the first day of autumn, but the weather felt like summer, and I was painting something wintery. Funny!) The first thing I wanted to try was painting a string of lights. I chose a few bright colors from my palette and painted three oblong bulb shapes for each color. (I need more practice to make them the same shape!) I tried to space them out across the paper and have them pointing different directions, and I also left a little white spot on each one for a highlight or reflection.

I set aside the paper to do some other watercolor painting (some successful, some not), and once the paint was dry I used an ultra fine point permanent marker to draw a base on each bulb and then the loopy string connecting them all. To make it into a card I trimmed the panel just a bit and adhered it to a red card base. This card is about 4-1/2" x 6", so it's larger than the traditional A2-size card. Maybe the bigger size makes up for it being the only one.

I debated for a long time whether I should add anything else to the card. Maybe a little stamped sentiment tucked into an open space? Or a large die-cut word across the middle? Some sequins? I finally settled on using a sparkly gel pen to draw a few tiny lines at the end of each bulb to make it look like they are shining. I'm not sure I'm in love with that detail, but it's done.

And there you have my one and only Christmas card for September. I really only need to make a few more cards to be set for this year, so I'm not too concerned. I'm doing an online card-making event next week, and I think we'll be making a few holiday cards then, so that will probably be enough for me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor English cottage

I had fun last week making a cute critter card for the Art Impressions Home Sweet Home challenge, so I decided to make one more before the challenge ends tomorrow. But for this card I decided to take a different approach and pull out some of my watercolor stamps to create a pretty red English cottage.

Supplies:
Stamps: WC Series 6 Set 1 - 3497, Foliage set - 4051, WC Mini Flower set - 5009 (Art Impressions)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!), Wlcome Home paper pad (Carta Bella)
Ink: Markers - 88 terra cotta, 40 brownish grey, 45 sepia, 13 ochre, 86 African violet, 60 salvia blue (Marvy Le Plume II), 158 dark olive (Tombow)
Accessories: Stitched Frame Stacklets dies (Taylored Expressions), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen (Kuretake), #4 round paintbrush (Connoisseur), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I think this is the first time I've used my watercolor stamps to make a picture with a building, at least on my own. Usually I stick to the flowers and plants in containers. So before I started I watched a YouTube video with Bonnie Krebs first to get a few tips; her videos and projects are always amazing.

Overall I'm happy with how this image turned out. I really like the cottage roof and the tree. And I added a little clear Wink of Stella glitter on the windows so they look like they're sparkling in the sunlight, although you can't really see that detail in the photo.

I kept the rest of the card fairly simple. I layered a piece of herringbone patterned paper on a plain card base for the background. I die cut a stitched black frame for the painted image and used foam tape to attach the panel to the card base. Then I added a few small sequins for a little sparkle.

My home sweet home doesn't look anything like this little cottage, but I'd sure love to spend some time here! Thanks for stopping by!

Variations on a sunset theme

When I shared the cards I made for the card contest at the stamp show last month I mentioned that I made several versions of the first card. Here are the rest of those sunset silhouettes:

Supplies:
Stamps: 3201 Organic Set (Rubbernecker Stamps)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Somerset Velvet), Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Gansai Tambi watercolor paints - 31 Cadmium Scarlet, 33 Cadmium Orange, 63 Cerulean Blue, 67 Indigo (Kuretake)
Accessories: Sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear embossing powder (Stampamania), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

This card is almost identical to the one I submitted for the contest, so I wasn't sure if I should even post it. But I think it's neat to see the variations in the background colors, even though I used the same paint colors. The sequins also give a little different feel from the clear droplets in the first card. Since the sequins have a little sparkle, they make me think of stars twinkling in the sky.

Supplies:
Stamps: 3201 Organic set (Rubbernecker Stamps); Twinkle, Twinkle Background (Taylored Expressions); The Shape of Things (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Blueberry Bushel card stock (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Somerset Velvet)
Ink: Blueberry Bushel (Stampin' Up!); Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Colorburst powders - Cadmium Scarlet, Alizarin Crimson, Orange, Marigold, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Violet (Ken Oliver Crafts)
Accessories: Clear embossing powder (Stampamania), white/silver twine (Stampin' Up!), Ice White Pearl Pen (Viva Decor), foam tape (3M)

Speaking of twinkling stars, I decided to stamp a starry night sky background for this sunset card. I also added a few tiny white dots to the background with a pearl pen.

For this card and the last two I used a different technique to make the sunset panel. I placed several different colors of Colorburst powder in a pallet and added a few drops of water to each color. I painted the colors on a solid rectangle-shaped rubber stamp, spritzed the stamp with water, and then stamped it onto watercolor paper. It's a little harder to control how the paints mix with this method, but it's fun to pick up the stamp and see the results.

Once the "sunset" was dry I stamped and embossed the silhouette image and the sentiment. To finish the card I wrapped silver and white twine around the card front and tied it in a bow. I used foam tape to attach the watercolor panel over the twine.

Supplies:
Stamps: 3201 Organic set (Rubbernecker Stamps), The Shape of Things (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!); watercolor paper (Somerset Velvet)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko); Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Colorburst powders - Cadmium Scarlet, Alizarin Crimson, Orange, Marigold, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Violet (Ken Oliver Crafts)
Accessories: Clear embossing powder (Stampamania), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Ice White Pearl Pen (Viva Decor), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

These last two cards are very similar; I basically just changed out the images and sentiment.

For the background, I used VersaMark to stamp a few of the foliage images from the stamp set all around the edges of the Blueberry Bushel card base and then embossed them with clear embossing powder.

I matted the focal layer with Basic Black card stock to give it a narrow frame and added a few clear sequins for a simple embellishment.

Supplies:
Stamps: 3201 Organic set (Rubbernecker Stamps), The Shape of Things (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!); watercolor paper (Somerset Velvet)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko); Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko); Colorburst powders - Cadmium Scarlet, Alizarin Crimson, Orange, Marigold, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Violet (Ken Oliver Crafts)
Accessories: Clear embossing powder (Stampamania), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Ice White Pearl Pen (Viva Decor), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)
And here is the last card. I think the focal image I used on this card (and several of the others) is my favorite of this stamp set; I love the long stems and the combination of flowers and leaves.

I also really like the vibrancy of the Colorburst powders on the watercolor paper. But I do wish the colors had blended together a little bit more instead of leaving the harsh lines. I think I just need a little more practice.

So, what's the verdict? Do you think I should have entered one of these other cards instead of the one I did? (Although honestly, I still don't think I would have won, because the cards that did win were a very different style from mine.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor floral backgrounds

As promised in my last post, here is the second flowery card I created for the Floral Cards challenge on the Art Impressions blog and the "Build your birthday card stash" theme for the Hero Arts National Craft Month Challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, 5008 - WC Flower Set 3, 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 (Art Impressions)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Concord Crush card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Ink (markers): 86 African Violet, 13 Ochre, 5 Yellow (Marvy LePlume II); 158 (Tombow)
Accessories: Gold Wink of Stella glitter brush pen (Kuretake), Scribble Happy Birthday dies (Poppy Stamps), gold sequins (The Makery), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

The inspiration for this card came from an Art Impressions video about making patterned paper with watercolor stamps. Genius! Why hadn't I thought of that before? I've certainly done that with other stamps many times. So I had to give it a try.

I did modify the technique a little bit. Rather than making a pencil grid on the paper so all my images were evenly spaced, I just stamped them randomly. I love purple and yellow together, and I love the way the background turned out. I wanted a little sparkle, too, so I added flecks of gold with a Wink of Stella glitter brush pen.

I adhered the background to a Concord Crush card base with a strip of gold foil. For the sentiment I die cut "happy birthday" twice -- once from Concord Crush card stock and once from gold foil -- and layered them together. Three gold sequins finish off the card.

I had fun making this background, so I wanted to try one more card. This one isn't for the challenges; it's kind of a bonus card:

Supplies:
Stamps: 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, 5008 - WC Flower Set 3, 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 (Art Impressions)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Concord Crush card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!)
Ink (markers): 86 African Violet, 13 Ochre, 5 Yellow (Marvy LePlume II), 46 Crimson Lake; 158 (Tombow)
Accessories: "Thanks" die (Taylored Expressions), gold sequins (The Makery), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), foam tape (3M)

I actually made this background first, but I wasn't crazy about it at first. I set it aside, but after awhile I decided I liked it after all and made it into a card.

I kept this one pretty simple. I rounded the corners of the background and adhered it to a Concord Crush card base. I die cut "thanks" and placed it near the bottom of the card with a narrow gold strip on either side. And, of course, it wouldn't be complete without three sequins.

I had a lot of fun trying this technique, and it's definitely going to be one I use again. Thanks for stopping by!

Trio of containers and flowers

I am so ready for spring. Mother Nature seems determined to hang onto winter, however, as we are getting yet another heavy snowfall tonight. It was actually rain most of the day, but it's just turned over to snow. Wet, heavy, messy snow. Sigh.

Even though it will be quite a while until I can see flowers out my window, I can always pull out my flower stamps in my craft room. And that's just what I did yesterday, creating two cards for the Floral Cards challenge on the Art Impressions blog. (Bonus: I made birthday cards, so they also fit in the "Build your birthday card stash" theme for the Hero Arts National Craft Month Challenge!) Here is the first card:

Supplies:
Stamps: 4869 - WC Small Container Set, 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set (Art Impressions); Sentimental Birthday (Winnie & Walter)
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore); Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink (markers): 27 Olive Brown, 13 Ochre, 46 Crimson Lake, 5 Yellow, 86 African Violet (Marvy LePlume II); 158 (Tombow)
Accessories: Wonky Stitched Circles dies (My Favorite Things), thick Night of Navy baker's twine (Stampin' Up!), Garden Trellis embossing folder (Stampin' Up!), foam tape (3M)

I really enjoy watercoloring with Art Impressions stamps, but I need to practice more often. These little containers with flowers are the perfect size for that because they're not as intimidating as a full scene and I don't feel so bad if I "mess up" and decide not to keep it. (Although I do try not to be too critical of my work.)

I die cut my three tiny paintings with stitched circle dies and used foam tape to add them to an embossed panel. Then I wrapped twine around the embossed panel, tied it off in a bow, and adhered it to a Crumb Cake card base. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of Very Vanilla card stock, trimmed the end and added it below the twine.

I'll share my second flowery card (another watercolor design) in my next post. Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor valentines

Happy Valentine's Day! A handmade card is a great way to show your love on Valentine's Day -- or any day! -- and this year I had fun making valentines with new watercolor paints and fun heart dies.

Supplies:
Paper: Poppy Parade card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42, 139 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts Entwined die (My Favorite Things), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

I've tried making watercolor wash backgrounds before, and I was never really happy with the results. The last set of paints I tried -- a cheap set -- left a chalky residue that would smear across the card, even when it was dry. But I got a set of Gansai Tambi watercolor paints for Christmas, and so far I love them. They are beautiful and creamy and didn't make me frustrated -- always a good thing with my craft supplies.

Most of these cards have a very similar layout -- this first one is my favorite; it makes me so happy! -- so I'll just explain my overall approach. I cut a piece of watercolor paper to 3-3/4" x 5". With a brush I applied a light layer of water in the middle of the paper, stopping about 1/2" from the edges. That creates a space for the paint to flow.

Supplies:
Paper: Purely Pomegranate card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts Entwined die (My Favorite Things), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), Artist-tac adhesive (Grafix)

Once the paper was wet, I picked up the first color of paint and applied it in either a horizontal or diagonal stripe. Then I added the rest of the colors, rinsing the brush between colors. Once all the colors were on the paper, I used my paintbrush and a little water to blend the colors. I started with the darker colors at the top, lightly brushing back and forth (in the same direction of the colors), and moved down to the light colors at the bottom. A couple of times I had too much water on the paper, so I blotted it with a paper towel and, if needed, added a bit more paint. Then the hard part -- waiting for the paint to dry. I'm impatient, so I used my heat gun to help the process along a bit.

Supplies:
Paper: Purely Pomegranate card stock (Stampin' Up!), copper foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts Entwined die (My Favorite Things), Sentimental dies (Avery Elle), All Year Cheer washi tape (Stampin' Up!), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), foam sheets (Taylored Expressions)

Once everything was dry, I die-cut hearts from foil sheets, adhered them to the watercolor paper and added a few clear sequins.

For this card, I trimmed down the panel of watercolor paper and adhered it across the card. I used copper foil instead of gold for the die-cut shapes (I trimmed out two of the hearts from the full die cut) and added a strip of copper washi tape across the top and bottom edges of the watercolor paper.

Supplies:
Paper: Berry Burst card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts dies (Little B), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

For this card and the next one, I switched to a single large gold heart. This is actually made with three dies from the set: one to cut the outside edge, one to cut out the inside, and one to add the faux stitching. Before doing any die cutting, I set the three dies on the table, nested inside each other, and gently shifted them until they were lined up. Then I used a couple of small pieces of washi tape to hold the dies together. With the dies taped together, I could cut out multiple hearts without having to rearrange the dies each time I used them.

Supplies:
Paper: Poppy Parade card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42, 91, 139 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts dies (Little B), sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

For the background panel on this card I added gold watercolor paint to the color palette. It has more shine in real life than it does in this photo, but if I were to make this one again I would leave it off. I think it makes the card seem unbalanced and bottom-heavy; that was the reason I positioned the heart a little higher on this card. Or I could have had gold paint in the upper left and lower right corners and worked through the colors to the purple in the middle (so gold, yellow, orange, red, purple, red, orange, yellow, gold). Maybe I'll try that next time.

And now for a card that's completely different ...

Supplies:
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!), gold foil sheets (Stampin' Up!), water color paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Black journaling pen, gold paint pen (Sharpie), Gansai Tambi watercolor paints: 30, 33, 37, 42, 139 (Kuretake)
Accessories: Hearts dies (Little B), vintage newsprint washi tape (unknown), Scripty Hello die (Lawn Fawn), Brights sequin assortment (Stampin' Up!), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

While I was practicing with the watercolor paints, I used a scrap of watercolor paper for test swatches of the colors I wanted to use. The scrap ended up looking really cool and I didn't want to waste it, so I die cut it into the word "hello." I combined that with a piece of newsprint-style washi tape and a gold heart (the center of one of the hearts from the previous two cards) on a white card base. I doodled a black border with a few gold dots and added three bright sequins to finish the card. It's definitely a non-traditional valentine, but it was perfect for one of my friends.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with love and friendship -- and a little chocolate!

Watercolor wishes for warmer days

It's ridiculously cold right now -- about -24ºF air temperature, but it feels even colder when you factor in the wind. Schools and some businesses are closed, and mail delivery has been cancelled for tomorrow. It's hard to describe, but just trust me. It's cold.

So to combat this so-called polar vortex, I'm going to share some watercolor-style cards with images of pretty flowers and cute scenes. Things to remind myself that warmer temperatures will come again. Someday.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Small Container set, Mini Flower set (both Art Impressions)
Paper: Cajun Craze card stock, water color paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Marvy LePlume II markers: 17, 13, 28, 5, 86, 6, 15, 45, 18; Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Thinlits (Sizzix - TIm Holtz), braided linen trim, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Subtle embossing folder

All of these cards are made with Art Impressions stamps. I am still developing my skills with this watercolor stamping technique, but it's fun, and it forces me to be patient and to worry less about perfection. If you're looking for more information, Art Impressions has many YouTube videos featuring amazing projects as well as tips and instructions.

Here is a close-up so you can see the sparkle I added to these flowers.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Small Container Set, Mini Flower Set (both Art Impressions)
Paper: Sahara Sand, Basic Black card stock, water color paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Marvy LePlume II markers: 17, 86, 15, 45, 18
Accessories: Tin Tile embossing folder, linen thread, Dimensionals

So far I'm most comfortable making little scenes with containers and some sort of flowers or greenery. And who doesn't like flowers? In this scene, there was a spot on the right-hand pot that I didn't like -- the perfect opportunity to add a little bow!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bird Bath Set, Foliage Set, Clay Pot Set, Flower Set 2 (all Art Impressions)
Paper: Basic Gray card stock, watercolor paper (Strathmore)
Ink: Marvy LePlume II markers: 86, 45, 15, 20, 17, 6, 46; Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Brick embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), sequins (Paper Pumpkin leftovers), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)

For this card I ventured out of my comfort zone a bit and created a slightly more elaborate scene with a tree branch, bird bath, and two little robins. They look like they might be having a little conversation on a nice spring day.

I didn't get a close-up, but I colored over the water in the bird bath with a Stardust Gelly Roll pen so it looks like the water is sparkling in the sunlight. Overall I think this scene turned out pretty well. To finish the card, I mounted the focal layer on a gray card base embossed with a brick texture. It makes me think of a beautiful garden surrounded be a brick wall. Maybe something from The Secret Garden.

For the last four cards, I created the focal images at an Art Impressions class at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo last summer. I don't have a list handy of the specific stamp sets and colors used, but I will identify the other products I used to make the cards.

Additional supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper:Thick Very Vanilla, Berry Burst card stock; Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Accessories: Crochet trim, Champagne sequins (The Makery), Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Dimensionals

Additional supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Blueberry Bushel, Berry Burst card stock; card base (Art Impressions)
Accessories: Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

Additional supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Card base (Art Impressions)
Accessories: Ovals Collection Framelits dies, velvet ribbon, Dimensionals

Additional supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Night of Navy card stock
Accessories: Braided linen trim, rhinestones, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen

Here's to watercolor wishes for warmer days ahead. Thanks for stopping by!