Has Spring Sprung?

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am a big fan of Jennifer McGuire.  I think her how-to videos are some of the very best out there on YouTube.  Educated as an Engineer, she automatically thinks about how to make everything work.  Earlier this week she made the card you see on the left.  I absolutely loved it so I set out to try and make something similar with items I already had although I confess, I really want those Paper Smooches Bird Houses in my tool box!  I have an older die that creates a birdhouse from Quickutz that I have never used before so this was the perfect opportunity to use it along with my WPLUS9 Folk Art Floral Designer Die.

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 Arches (pronounced Ar-Chez) 140# Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper.  Hot pressed paper is smoother than cold pressed paper. I knew I was going to be using a lot of water for my background and the 140# holds more water.  I have quite a bit of this watercolor paper left from my most recent watercolor class. It's more cream than white but for a background that was going to be covered completely, it didn't matter.  Using my Gansai Tambi Watercolors in color #56 - Marine Green, I very loosely gave the panel an overall wash of color using a quite a bit of water. I set that aside to let it dry as I knew I would be adding a second color to the mix. For the next layer I used Finetec Mica Watercolor Paint in Inca Gold.  I used a lot of water once again and let the gold paint pool where it wanted to and allowed it to dry naturally.  By doing it this way, the gold layers on top of the green in a marble-y looking way.

I die cut the birdhouse from several scraps of the same Arches Watercolor Paper and cut it again from White Fun Foam.  Jennifer used 6 layers glued one on top of the other for her die cuts to give the thick chipboard appearance but I figured I'd use fun foam as my underneath layer and save a few steps.  I also cut the two birds from the WPLUS9 Folk Art Floral Designer Die using the watercolor paper but without the fun foam. The birdhouse die includes the shutters for the window but I chose not to use them so that I could have my window open.  I adhered everything together using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.

I die cut the background panel with my absolute favorite Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle Die in the largest size and started assembling everything together on a 4.25 x 5.25 top folding card base made from Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White.  The little heart on the door is one of those extras from a previous cut that I keep to use later.  The "Hello" is Papertrey Ink's Noted Die.

I don't have any embroidery floss around so I used several strands of a Coats & Clarks Gold Metallic Thread for the hanger.  I secured that to the back of the watercolor panel using a piece of packing tape since that is what is on my desk at this moment.

The new Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for this week is "Anything Goes" so I'll be entering this over there.  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll be back soon with another project.  

Avery Elle's "Love"

My card for the blog today is one that I water colored before the class I'm in right now.  I water colored a piece of 140# Canson Watercolor Paper using Red #31 in the Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors Set. I chose that color because it has a more orange-y tone and most guys really like Orange.  I used a #8 Round Silver Black Velvet brush for this.  It was pretty saturated with color and water, so I had to just set it aside to dry.

After a couple of hours tending to other things, I came back and put a spritz of water onto my Finetec Gold Palette in the color Inca Gold which is the warmest gold color in the palette of 6.  Using the same brush as before, I dabbed the gold paint on over the red very randomly and then left that to dry while I continued with other things (a.k.a. Laundry, Housework or Dinner).  When I came back, the gold watercolor paint had blended with the red and made a very marbled look on the card stock.  To enhance this look, I ran that piece of card stock through my die cutting machine with the embossing pad and a clean, unmarked cutting plate. If you use a plate that has any marks on it, they will be left behind on your card stock.  It has to be an uncut cutting plate.  I discovered this quite by accident when I was attempting to simply flatten out a piece of watercolor paper on a previous occasion but using the same paints.  And the surface of the watercolor paper really smooths out when you do this as well.  I usually do it a few times, increasing the thickness with a piece of card stock for a shim.  The maximum number of sheets I've been able to use for the shim is 2 of the Stampin' Up 80# colored card stock sheets.  I don't want it so thick it breaks my machine or that I can't crank it through and this has done the job for me. In the Cuttlebug, the sandwich goes like this from the bottom up:  A Plate, Card Stock Shim(s), B Plate, Grey Embossing Pad, the water colored piece face up and unmarked B Plate on the top.  Run it though, but if it feels too tight in your machine, back it out and remove the shim from the sandwich., then run it again.  I usually crank mine through about 4 times.  This makes the surface so super smooth you can only imagine and it makes the gold paint look even more like marble.  I was unable to capture that in my photograph for you, but trust me, it's there.

I started assembling the card by making a standard A2 Top Folding Note Card using Simon Says Stamp Lipstick Red Card Stock.  I cut a doily from a Stampin' Up Doily Die I have using metallic gold foil card stock.  I could have placed the doily in the center behind the heart but I like the little bit of visual interest that comes from having something unexpected.  Next I cut the Avery Elle "Love" Die using more Gold Metallic Card Stock.  Then I cut the heart out of the faux marbled paper using the Little B Stitched Hearts Dies.  I cut a slightly smaller craft foam heart to put on the backside of the heart giving it dimension without it sagging in the center.  You could use foam tape or squares if your embellishment is small enough but for the larger pieces, I like using the fun foam to provide the more stable dimension.

This was a simple card as I only had to leave the watercolor to dry while I did other things. Then when it was dry, I created the rest of the pieces and assembled. I'm trying to come up with a few Valentine Card Designs that are more masculine to send to those special fellas in my life - grandsons!  I think this is not too bad, but the doily is probably too feminine for them so I haven't decided on one yet.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you'll be back soon!

So Kind

Today's card is a complete and total CASE from Jennifer McGuire all the way down to the stamp set and die cuts she used here.  I even used the same kind of water color that she used but I didn't have any little helpers to make backgrounds for me so I created a couple of my own.  I was able to cut 2 hearts out of each background that I colored using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Water Color Set. One background I did completely at random and the other I intentionally made the ombre stripes.  Jennifer used her set of Finetec Mica Watercolors for the gold shimmer but mine have been back ordered and only shipped today, so I dipped my wet paint brush into my Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls and used that with a liberal amount of water for my top layer.  The backgrounds have a beautiful shimmer to them.

Since I knew that I would be painting these backgrounds in their entirety, I used my "not quite as white" Canson XL 140# Watercolor Paper for these.  I pulled some of the little pans of color out of my set and misted them with a short spritz of water to get the color moving a little bit.  The bottles I have came from Stampin' Up but this one by Judikins would work great as it has a very fine mist.

After I cut out my hearts using the Memory Box Stitched Heart Layers in the largest size, I lined up my coordinating die to go across the heart leaving the word, a top piece and a bottom piece.  Using a temporary adhesive, I put all three pieces down on my card front to line it up, then pulled out the word so that I could stamp the word in exactly the right spot.  Once I stamped that in Versamark, I pulled the top and bottom pieces off temporarily so that I could heat emboss it using Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Powder from WOW!  I didn't want any stray bits of embossing powder to stick to the heart parts until I was finished melting the powder on my sentiment. WOW! treats their embossing powders to be static free, but it's always a good idea to use a powder tool or embossing buddy first. WOW! is available in 136 different styles and colors from Simon Says Stamp, so there is something for everyone. Next, I adhered the top and bottom of the hearts back into place using a permanent adhesive.



This "Being Classy" stamp set is from a newer stamp company, Concord & 9th. The coordinating dies cut the outline only so this is why it works for this technique.  There are several words included in the set to make multiple greetings that are thankful or encouraging.  I think a thorough review of all my coordinating sets is in order to determine what other cards are possible using this same technique.  One of the best things about this card is that it is highly mailable.  There's no foam popping up the front panel that might get squished.  I seldom make a single layer card and this is easily the nicest one I have ever done.

The card bases are all made from Bazzill Marshmallow in a top folding A2 standard sized card. For the hearts, I swiped a piece of white card stock across my Versamark Ink Pad then sprinkled Metallic Gold Sparkle Embossing Powder on it to make an exact match. Using the Simon Says Stamp Mini Hearts Set die after I heat set that, I cut 3 rows of hearts for my 3 cards.  I'll keep the extras in a little container that I keep of spare parts.  I attached a few of the hearts randomly on each of my cards using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  Just to keep everything in place, I laid a large acrylic block on top for a couple of minutes.

One of the words with a matching die for this set is "courageous" and I plan to make a card for each of my friends who are currently battling Breast Cancer. Thanks for stopping by today.  Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments.

Vintage Victorian

The card I'm worked on last night is from my Holiday Style Class that I'm in for the next couple of weeks.  They called this card Classic & Elegant, but I call it "Vintage".  Kristina Werner taught this class using a WPLUS9 Stamp Set that was released last month that has a beautiful kind of Victorian Christmas Tree in the set.  While my image does not use a tree, I like the "feel " of this set and it reminds me of a Victorian Christmas.  This stamp set is one that I have had for many years called "No Peeking" from Close To My Heart.  I am so excited to get to actually use it!  The card is done in all gold and brown tones with some of the white space actually left untouched although it doesn't seem white in this picture.  I think that is part of the technique.  It's so vintage and sepia toned and makes you think of days gone by.

I started with a 4.25 x 5.5 inch piece of white 100# card stock.  I stamped the packages first and then the greeting using Versamark with Ranger Ultra Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder and heat set it.  I was envisioning some pearly white paper with chocolate colored bows so I got out my Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors which has a white shimmery paint and a couple of different gold paints.  I didn't do any fancy painting here and I actually went over the ribbons using a Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pen in Mid Brown to darken it.

Using a Mini Ink Blending Tool I brought in (with a very light hand) some Crumb Cake Ink first, leaving the center clean and untouched.  Next I brought in some Soft Suede to darken up the outer edges.  I carefully trimmed 1/8th inch off the top and bottom of this panel so it would be slightly smaller than my card base.  For my final touch, I ran my Versamark Ink Pad all along the edges in the DTP method, poured the same Gold Embossing Powder on top of that and heat set it to give the edges a finished look before adhering that to a Chocolate Chip Card Base.  This is one of the simplest Christmas Cards I've made.  I wouldn't do many of them, but it's great to know I can do it quickly if I need to make some extras over what I have ready to go out by then.

I had initially thought I would make all my cards the same, but by now I know that many of them will be one-offs.  That's okay by me and I wont try to design a single card for everyone next year.  After all, I enjoy making cards so much that the more variety I have, the better I like it.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoyed this card and that it inspires you to use stamps that you already have.

Wonderful Watercolor

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Wonderful Watercolor. This is such a huge trend right now in the paper crafting industry and it's also one that I personally love.   

My favorite medium for watercolor by far is using Distress Inks either in the form of Distress Markers or Distress Re-Inkers mixed with a bit of water.  Pearlized water can be made made by adding some Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder or you can use Tsukineko Clear Shimmer Spray.  I have a few colors of the Perfect Pearls but I really only ever use the Pearl Colored Pigment for this technique.

All 57 (the current #) Distress Inks were formulated by Tim Holtz and Ranger to activate or reactivate with water, even after they are dry. They are non-toxic, fade resistant, and water based. They work great for hand coloring line images, or giving an authentic vintage feel to your other projects. They come in Ink Pads, Markers and Re-Inkers.  All of these are available at Simon Says Stamp. 

For this card I had a background panel on hand from when I took my Online Card Class - Watercolor -- Exploring Mediums.  This particular panel was done using Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors on a Canson Watercolor Paper in 140# weight.  I have the set of 36 which includes two different colors of gold pearlescent shimmering paint and a white pearly one as well.  There are smaller sets available in 12, 18 and 24.  I treated the paper afterward with a Tsukineko Shimmer Solution misting a light layer a couple of times so it didn't warp my paper.  This particular water color paper is a soft ivory color vs. some papers that are whiter and brighter.  I like both options.   

I wanted a teal color with a bit of a bluish green all tangled together for this background.  I was trying to see if I could maintain 2 separate areas of color but with no hard lines.  It's hard for me to be patient and let the water do it's work, but I did succeed here and on a few other panels as well. Since I didn't want hard lines,  I just used a bit of paper towel to pull up the extra color and moisture as the colors were drying.   It's a good idea to have a bit of paper towel or tissue along with a bit of water when you sit down to watercolor.  You can fix virtually any mistake made in your watercolor by adding clean water to the "messed up" area and sopping that up with a bit of tissue or paper towel until it's clear again. I get outside the lines from time to time and this is an easy fix so far.  I'm sure it helps that my canvas is small.  

The Scalloped Stitched Rectangle panel I had also done previously using Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tools and Island Indigo Ink.  Like always, I hang on to spare parts & pieces to see if I can use them on something else at another time. 

The Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles I use on almost every card I make in one size or another.   I like to buy dies that I know I will use over and over and this fits the bill for me.

The floral image is from the Clearly Besotted Beautiful Friends Stamp Set and was stamped using Versamark with Simon Says Stamp Gold Ultra Fine Detail Embossing Powder and heat set.  I normally use clear embossing powder, but I wanted something a bit different and the gold adds a touch of elegance. This set also has the Beautiful Friends Coordinating Dies.  I used the Tim Holtz Distress Markers in Broken China for the flowers and Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles for the Leaves. Gathered Twigs colored the branch.  I applied my color directly to the image in very small areas one at a time and blended that color out using a Water Brush.  I always pull or push the color in the direction that the leaves or petals are going.  After it's dry I go back in with another layer or two (or three) to add depth to my color for a true watercolor look and feel.  My last layer is usually some Wink of Stella or a solution of Perfect Pearls.

My husband and I traveled this past weekend so I took some images with me to color. Since the water was contained in the handle of my brush and the color was contained in my markers, I had no problems doing this in the car as long as we were on the interstate. Curvy, hilly, rural Missouri roads would not be conducive to success, so I didn't attempt it.  While I do have other mediums available to use, this is hands down, my absolute favorite! The transparency achieved with Distress Inks is just beautiful and second to none.   

Wink of Stella comes in approximately two dozen colors but you could go broke trying to buy and keep one in each color.  Since I'm adding color with markers first, I only have the Clear Wink of Stella brush pen.  From time to time I also use a Water Brush with some Gold Shimmer Spray in the barrel for coloring, but I normally only use Clear Shimmer Spray.  You can also use any of the shimmer sprays you may already have on hand. You just need to play a little bit to find out what your spray does with your type of color and get predictable, repeatable results.  When I searched for shimmer mist at Simon Says Stamp, it popped up 62 of them.  Use whichever one you like and gives the results you want.  

I used a Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Sending & Wishing Die Set for the "Sending" greeting.  The "love" die came from a different set by Little Yellow Bicycle.  For a final touch to my card, I cut some of the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Shapes - Hearts & Stars Die with some Gold Glittered Card Stock scraps.  I assembled the card panels to the ivory card base using my ATG Gun.  I've mentioned before that you cannot move anything with this adhesive on it once you press down, so make sure you have your image lined up on the panel.  I do get one a bit crooked from time to time, but as has already been said, "It's Handmade, not Hallmark".  I think people care more about actually getting a card than they do about whether or not it's a fraction of an inch crooked.   The ATG Gun is a very cost effective adhesive but not suitable for everything I do. The hearts were adhered using Ranger Multi Medium Matte.  If a bit oozes out from the side of the embellishment, it dries to a matte finish and is invisible.  It is a great, very strong adhesive for any type of embellishment.  

I have several projects on my To-Do-List right now, so I'll be back soon with another card.   Thanks for looking and feel free to leave a comment. It always means a lot to me when people take time to comment.  

Comparing Mediums

I never, ever thought I would say that water coloring relaxes me.  Something about doing it just seems to soothe my soul.  I am so glad I took the Online Card Class - Watercolor for Card Makers, Exploring Mediums.  I mean, who knew? While I am not water coloring freehand, I am very happy with the looks I've been able to achieve.  The class I took is specifically for card makers and it was well worth it.

This little beauty is going out in the morning mail along with a couple of others I've made.  I used a 4 x 11 Whisper White Card Base with a top fold at 5.5 inches.  The largest blue panel is Simon Says Stamp Exclusive Card Stock in Island Blue. The center panel is SU! Tempting Turquoise. Then I stamped this flower on my 140# watercolor paper and heat set it using Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.   Once the image had set, I could paint it with my Mermaid Lagoon and Shabby Shutters Distress Markers  I worked quickly with lots of water to get the background watercolored in a super soft & pleasing way. Once that was done, I could cut the top panel with the die I wanted to use and assemble my card.  

In order to be able to give a fair comparison of the different mediums, I stamped and heat embossed several of the same images on the same exact watercolor paper to see how they compared to each other.  The picture below isn't the best, but you get the idea.

So starting at the top left, the two watercolor backgrounds were achieved with Kuretake Gansai Tambi (traditional Japanese Watercolors).  It is very hard for me to be patient and let the water and color do their thing, but I did not speed that up by using a heat tool this time.  The blue/green background was achieved using #58 - Evergreen and #63 - Persian Blue.  This is at least 3 layers of color.  Maybe more, but I wasn't counting, lol.  For the pink/coral background, I used (surprisingly) #34 - Dark Pink with a whole lot of water and #31 - Scarlet Red also with lots of water.  I was able to determine what colors I would need because I swatched them.  The die cuts are just laying on top of these as I don't know when I will use them.  I keep a Ziploc baggie of things I have stamped, cut or colored for use later if I don't use them when I initially start to. Sometimes my color comes out differently than I think it will and I decide it doesn't match well enough.  So if it doesn't match at first, I just save it for another time.

The top left flower was colored using Tim Holtz Distress Marker in Mermaid Lagoon.  I love that color so much. The  top center flowers are colored in Worn Lipstick Distress Marker.

The top right flowers were colored using Water Color Crayon (a water soluble Oil Pastel *I think*) in some Regal Rose and Eggplant scribbled on to an acrylic block with some water mixed into it.  From there, you pick it up with your brush and move it to the "canvas".  The watercolor crayons were my least favorite type of water color, but I can use them for backgrounds pretty easily and they cover a lot of ground quickly.

The middle row blue floral was painted with Twinkling H2O's in Sky Blue and Forest Green with a water brush.  I have had my H20's for at least 10 years if not longer. It was a lot of fun to get them out and rediscover them today.  I have several very bright and bold colors as well as some iridescent colors.  I had forgotten how beautiful they are.  They already have that pearly shimmer, so I did not need to use Perfect Pearls.  Let's face it, if I made it, then it is probably going to have some shimmer in it somewhere!  The only thing I don't make that way is cards for guys.

The center row pinkish color flower is colored with Prima Watercolor Pencils. While these were much easier to use than I thought they would be, I still prefer the high translucence of  the distress markers over every other type or medium I have tried.  The Twinkling H20's come in a close second.  Simon Says Stamp has a great selection of these if you're interested in trying them.  The Watercolor Pencils do have an advantage in one way.  Once the "paint" is dry, it forms a sort of waxy finish over the top that helps to protect it somewhat from stray water drops or mist.

The bottom right and left flowers were colored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolors while I did use Tumbled Glass Distress Marker for the soft blue sky. The bottom center image was colored completely with Distress Markers.  I have noticed that I'm also getting significantly faster at that method as well. Practice helps for sure!

I used Canson 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper for all of these flowers. I absolutely love how thick and crisp it makes the die cuts. This Altenew Persian Motifs is my first set of stamps and coordinating dies that I have purchased in that brand.  I will definitely buy again.  The quality is fantastic.

Isn't sending cards in the mail just the best feeling?  The recipients always love that you have made them a card.  Fun mail in the mailbox is not a very common thing and I know people really enjoy receiving a card.

I'll be back soon with more information and comparisons.  Class wraps up on Wednesday and I'm still on the hunt for the perfect Christmas Card too.  So I'll have lots more to show you in a day or two.

Class Practice Continues

I'm doing a whole lot of watercolor practice right now before class wraps up next week.  Some projects I feel hugely successful with and others not so much. Ninety-Nine percent of my card recipients are female so flower images are always good for those.

This image was colored using traditional Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor in #36 - Wine Red, and #58 - Evergreen with a Perfect Pearls Solution and some clean water.  I make my own solution with Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder and some water in a little sprayer bottle that came from Stampin' Up!.  You can buy Perfect Pearls Solution already made up and in a spray bottle.  I used the tiniest amount of #63 - Persian Blue, along with a VERY watered down bit of the Red Wine to achieve the super soft background.  One thing I have really learned this week is to walk away and let it dry.  The colors really come to life when they have a chance to dry.  Being a control freak, watercolor is very hard for me.  I have a hard time letting the water and the pigment do their thing.  This class has been so worth it to me for the the sheer amount of practice I'm getting.  I'm able to achieve the looks I desire for card making.  Even though I know people won't criticize a card they get in the mail, I still want my cards to be as nice as possible.

I love Altenew Stamps for the lined images they design.  They also have matching dies for many of their floral images.  This particular set is call Persian Motifs and I have the matching dies although I haven't used them yet.  The Henna Elements set is very nice as well as Peony Scrolls.  The images stamp super clean also with a thin line rather than a thicker one which is great for the "Emboss then Watercolor " technique.   Some people like bright white embossing powder for this technique but I like using Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder so that the embossing will be the same color as my watercolor paper.  In case I forgot to mention it before, the heat embossing helps the watercolor stay in the image and not go venturing outside of that line.

You all should be so proud of me because I got my Gansai Tambi Watercolors swatched!  I love this set so much now that I have had a chance to play with it following instruction.  Simon Says Stamp has this set available in 12, 18, 24 & 36 color sets.  Being Japanese Watercolors, they are extremely high quality.

I have about three different types of watercolor card stock at this time, but this one uses Canson Watercolor Paper.  It is 140# and cold pressed.  I haven't seen hot pressed paper at any of my local stores.  The difference is that hot pressed watercolor paper is very smooth.  I prefer to use the smooth side to my regular paper but you can also use the more textured side.  It just depends on the look you are going for.  Simon Says Stamp carries a wide variety of Professional Grade Arches Hot & Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper.  It's fancier than I need just for cards but I like to know where I can get it should I desire to experiment further, *wink*.

This card uses a white card base cut at 5.25 x 8.5 inches and top scored at 4.25 inches.   I used the WPLUS9 Sunshine Layers Die Set for the scalloped panel and the interior panel as well.  The burgundy is some Bazzill Mulberry which is a 100# weight.  I looked through my sentiment dies, but I didn't feel like any of them were a good fit on this card so I left it off this time.  I'm sending this card to my sweet Mother-In-Law who is at an assisted living facility.  She always loved cards when she was still able to be home so I think she enjoys the ones I make and send off to her.

Water Color for Card Makers - Day 3

Yesterday was Day #3 of my class.  We've done Watercolor Markers, Watercolor Pencils, Traditional Watercolor and Watercolor Crayons.  We'll have a wrap up day next week so I have time to practice techniques before then.

I did finish this super simple card from the Elephant I painted yesterday plus I have a few others assembled and will have more before Wrap Up day next week. This elephant was painted with traditional watercolor and I finished off the card with some "paint" spatters by mixing the color with a #2 Script Brush and tapping it off on to my background.  The script brush works really well for this because it has long bristles.  To keep it off the elephant, I used a mask cut from Post-It Tape.

I have a gorgeous card I am making out of this painted panel.  The stamp set is Persian Motifs from Altenew.  The photograph was taken before I did any work on the background.  Altenew has several sets of stamps that are line images for painting or coloring, so I have a few sets put on my wish list.  They also have the coordinating dies which is really nice.

This morning I sat down to try a couple of techniques from Wednesday's class which use Watercolor Pencils and a Wink of Stella Brush Pen.  This image was completed using Distress Markers in Spun Sugar for the cheek and ears with Pumice Stone for the Elephant's body.  I also have a floral image that I colored with Distress Markers and Perfect Pearls Solution and I hope to get a card made in a day or two.

For class on Day #3, I used my watercolor crayons to create a soft, striped wash of color, so I wanted to use that with Miss Ellie here.  That was a super quick way to create a background for a card and I'm pretty sure I will use it again and again. You simply color across the background in the color or colors of your choice and then apply water using a wide brush.  Mine is a traditional paint brush that has a chisel tip and is 3/4 inch wide.  There's a Tim Holtz Wide Water Brush available at Simon's or you can pick one up at a local arts and crafts store.  It took much longer for that background to dry than it did to create it.

Once my image was dry, I cut it in a circle using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circles Die.  Next came a layer of pink cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Squares and then I cut the striped panel with the next size up Stitched Square. My top folding card base is made from SU! Pink Pirouette.

I want to show you this card with the background painted in on the oval panel.  I used the same shade of pink and green that I used for the flower to do the soft background.  I love that it uses the same colors in softer tones.  This card is not quite finished as I need a greeting or sentiment on it.  But the hardest part is done.

For me, heat embossing the images with clear embossing powder is a total winner.  It helps you to "stay in the lines" to keep your image really clean.  I love that I learned how to make these beautiful watercolor backgrounds.

I'll be doing more practice with the techniques I learned this week but I wanted to go ahead and wrap up this post before it gets any longer.  *Wink*

Day 2 Results

Today I have Part II of a post about the Watercolor for Card Makers class I'm in this week.  There's a lot of "homework" so to speak with this class.  After all, you can't expect perfection if you don't practice.

So far, I have not found the traditional watercolors to be nearly as transparent as Distress Markers and Water Based Inks, but I haven't tried nearly all of them. I'm simply trying to learn to use what I already have on hand.  Since I am not doing Fine Art Paintings, I think the ones I currently have will be more than adequate. Again, these are my observations and opinions only.  Everyone needs to use what works for them.  I feel like traditional watercolors are just a bit milky and I prefer the transparent color of water based inks and distress markers.

I think Sakura Koi Tube Watercolors might be a good option to try, but I don't have any plans to purchase those.  I'm fine with the options I already have.  A method not explored so far in this class is using water based re-inkers to paint with.  I have a few of these around in some of my more used colors like bright pink, some sea blues, a leafy green, a purple and a coral.  To use these, just touch the dropper from a re-inker to your acrylic block and add a mist or some drops of water to dilute it to the strength of color you want.   These are completely transparent.  You can also use a solution of perfect pearls to add water and shimmer to the color and or to your card stock.  I've also found that by using my reinkers, the color is in a shade I already like vs. a traditional pallet where I have to mix my own color or I have several colors that haven't been used at all.  Since I don't come from an art background, mixing colors isn't as easy as it might seem.  I seldom get the color I was going for, but watercolor is very inexpensive, so I haven't lost more than a penny or two.

Today's class used more traditional water colors and some that I was only made aware of fairly recently.  I have a traditional watercolor set like the ones we used in grade school that is made by Loew Cornell.  There are 36 different little cakes of color and you can always mix your own colors if you're in to that sort of thing. I am not, but I did mix some greens today. This set contained a purple, so that is what I went for today!  I haven't swatched my watercolors yet, but I may consider doing this once class is completed.

Peerless Watercolors are completely new to me in the past month or two.  These look a lot like paint chips but there's only one color to a small sheet.  Most people swatch these and cut a 1 x 1 inch square of that color with the swatch for reference. When they run out of that color, they just cut another 1 inch square and put it in their swatch book.   The color is extremely highly concentrated and activates instantaneously with a touch of a damp brush or a water brush.  Just touching your damp brush to the "paint chip", you can take it directly to your watercolor paper and begin painting.  You might want to consider a more permanent paint pallet for tube watercolors so you can mix your own colors.  I use the same thing Kristina Werner does which is a laminated sheet of white card stock.  Mine is about 5 x 8 inches which is good for the number of colors I normally use and you can get a really accurate picture of the color when it's on the white background.  Mine has really thick lamination on it so I can run it under water to clean it off.   If you could see how messy my studio is right now, you would know that I need sturdy because I have a tendency to push things aside when I am in the middle of a project.

There are things like watercolor cube trays with lids for anyone working on large scale items who need the same paint color through a work of art or who need to store or transport watercolor without it dripping everywhere. I seriously had no idea all of these accouterments existed!  My grandmother taught herself to watercolor with the 99¢ crayola variety watercolors several (15 or 20) years ago. They didn't have much money, so that's what she used. Her grandmother was a semi-famous artist from Tulsa and it was something she wanted to learn so she did.

I have traditional watercolors in two different kinds (found here and here), Distress Markers, Watercolor Pencils and SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons which aren't even available anymore.  Simon Says Stamp has a set of 15 available here that includes a brush.  As always, you can also use a Water Brush.

I have a few traditional brushes (Size 3, 4, 6 & 9 round) that mostly came in this set from Ranger that are fine quality for the things I am doing.  I have just a couple of others including a size 2 script brush and one that is 3/4 of an inch wide for simple color stripes or washes.   I tried both and for me, I think the Water Brush was easier with less drying time.

It's been so much fun this week to get to use supplies that I already have but didn't necessarily know how to use. I've learned so many techniques.  I also learned that water color is far more about the impression of light, shadow and texture than about actually being able to draw well. For me, this class is a total winner.  

I wanted to take a photo mid-process so that you could see my board that I tape watercolor paper onto, and how truly small an amount of color it takes for watercolor.  Dawn Woleslagle, owner of WPLUS9, did a vintage storybook painting with the Unforgettable set that she designed and I have wanted to imitate it since then. I used traditional Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors for this.  For the gray of the elephant and the ground around him, I used #20-Black with a whole lot of water. For the pink of the cheeks and inside the ears I used #32-Red.  For the balloon I mixed the #50-Pale Aqua with a hint of #63-Persian Blue.  Just four colors in total.  The nice thing about this set is that you can remove the little pans of color to keep only what you are using near you.  The rest of them can stay out of the way.  The colors are highly concentrated pigments so I'm pretty sure I have enough paint here to last for the rest of my life and then some!

For this card, I stamped my images in SU! Smoky Slate and heat embossed in Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Powder.  You have to work very quickly to be able to get any embossing powder on the super fast drying ink, but I did manage.  That process makes watercolor simple for anyone, not just me.  It helps keep the water where it should be and doesn't let it creep beyond the outline of the image.  For me and watercolor to get along, this is a must do step!  It also helps to choose an image that will be simple to paint or color.  I have never really appreciated line images before now and I can't wait to check my stash to see other stamps that I can use.

I haven't completed a card yet, but I did use my Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen on the balloon. Today's class used Watercolor Pencils with Wink of Stella to color the images. I haven't tried that yet, but it's on my list to try this week.

There are still several mediums that haven't been explored in this class such as Brushos, Color Crystals, Dr. Ph. Martins Liquid Watercolors and I'm sure there are others that I've never heard of yet. If I haven't talked about it or mentioned it here, then I am not aware of it yet.  I'm a card maker rather than an artist so I don't really need more options.

I had another class today so I'll be back with more insights and observations in my next blog post.