Category: Watercoloring

Poppystamps: Starry Night

Hello, today I’m sharing a card created with Poppystamps dies and a Memory Box stencil suitable for any occasion. My inspiration was a clear night in the Pacific Northwest. Year-round we have beautiful evergreen trees, and the Pine Tree Border fits perfectly with the Brevilla House die. We’re more apt to have a clear night during the summer.

HousesMay2014

To begin, I colored three watercolor panels with Distress Inks. I die cut the panel colored in earthtones with the Brevilla Houses die, and I die cut the green-colored panel with the Pine Tree Border. I intentionally left some of the windows in place in the houses for some variety. Finally, I applied embossing paste through the Starry Nights stencil onto the panel colored in dark blues.  Before applying the embossing paste, I covered up the largest stars in the stencil with washi tape. Even though the stars aren’t realistically in scale with the houses, the largest stars would have thrown off the balance considerably.

Supplies:

Just Cut Tulips

I’ve been watercoloring with Distress Inks a lot lately – stamped images, die cuts, whatever I can find that will take the ink.

IOTulips

You have to give a little visual leeway with this card in terms of whether the tulips are really in the watering can (that right-hand tulip leaf is sticking out!). I got to this design the long way round. At first, I planned to put the watering can, which is cut from Strathmore 140 lb cold-press watercolor paper and colored with Broken China and Vintage Photo, directly on top of the stamped and colored tulips. But when I watercolored the cast shadow, it was a mess. (I’ve subsequently practiced painting cast shadow bases!)

The dry-embossed card base, with the circle cutout, is my design fix for the poorly painted cast shadow. By the way, the Bazzill 100 lb. cardstock is becoming my go-to supply – even dry-embossed and holding the watercolor panels, it’s standing strong.

Supplies:

Penny Black Sunshiny Hello

Today I’m sharing a card created with two new Penny Black Stamp Sets – Sunny Hello [#30-230] and Petal Power [#30-225]. It’s pouring here in the Pacific Northwest, but I’m imagining a sunny summer day!

SunnyFlowers

I stamped the flower and stem from Petal Power after coloring them with Distress Ink markers and lightly spritzing the surface. I began in the lower right corner, masking my stamping as I went, next to the flower on the left, and then to the flower on the top right. I finished the panel with Distress Ink applied with a sponge dauber. I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from Sunny Hello – there are some wonderful sentiments in this set!

Watercolor for Cardmakers: GIVEAWAY!

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I’m delighted to be a Guest Artist in the upcoming Watercolor for Cardmakers class at Online Card Classes. And I’ve got a seat to giveaway!

Here’s some info about the class:

You don’t have to be an Impressionist painter to create watercolor masterpieces! Explore the many different (and easy!) ways to create beautiful watercolor effects in Online Card Classes’ Watercolor for Cardmakers.

Join Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Jennifer Rsaza, and friends (including me!) for a fun-filled, all-video, two-week course packed with inspiring, approachable techniques. Starting with easy soft sky washes and progressing to darling hand-painted images, this class is tailor-made for the both the aspiring artist and the cardmaker who wants to add to her go-to collection of on-trend techniques. 

Class includes over 30 videos and even more card ideas from top artists with a variety of styles. Visit Online Card Classes to sign up for Watercolor for Cardmakers today, and discover for yourself the fantastic looks you can create with watercolors! (Class begins May 5 but you will have lifetime access to the content.)

I am giving away one spot in Watercolor for Cardmakers! For your chance, leave a comment here by 11:50 pm EST on  4/18/14. If you win but have already purchased a spot, you’ll be refunded.

Penny Black: Live for Today

It’s a beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, and I’m sharing a spring-themed card created with Penny Black supplies.

Penny Black: Live for Today

To begin, I cut a watercolor paper panel and applied Distress Inks to it and then sprayed it with water. After drying it, I added some more ink from my craft sheet. It took several applications of ink and water, followed by drying, to get the panel to my liking. After the panel was dry, I stamped it with the Penny Black Star Ivy [#40-310] background stamp from the brand-new Bloom release and heat-embossed it with white powder.

I stamped and heat embossed one of the sentiments from Penny Black’s Life’s Messages [#40-237] set. I’m particularly fond of the messages on this image.

I cut the bird and branch out of watercolor paper with the Perched [#51-031] die cut. In the same manner as I did for the panel, I applied Distress Inks, sprayed it with water and dried it. I finished everything off with a piece of May Arts twine.