Watercolor Takes Practice

Recently, I completed two Altenew Academy classes on watercolor for card makers. After viewing the two different instructors' creations, the main takeaway is that watercolor takes practice. In my case, a lot of practice! The workshops are titled Botanical Illustration Inspired Watercolor, taught by Jaycee Gaspar, and Artists' Watercolor 101 for Paper Crafters with Emily Midgett. Each instructor has their own style, but both agreed that swatching your paints beforehand is a good idea.

It is time-consuming to swatch things. But the effort is worth it. The picture, above, shows the Altenew Essentials Pan set along with the painted piece of watercolor paper with each of the colors painted on it. There are swatches of each color mixed with the other colors, as well. I swatch all of my paints, inks, markers, embossing powders, and punches. It helps to have all of these things as a reference. Some of them I refer to more than others - but all of them provide me with an opportunity to see how the product works with the papers I use.

The card featured today shows the large rose and some of the foliage from the Tranquility Rose Stamp set stamped (and masked) onto watercolor paper with a light gray color. The use of the Silver Lake ink creates a no-line coloring image. This means that when the rose is painted, the lines fade into the image and are not very noticeable. For a true no-line watercolor, it is best to use the same color ink, when stamping, as will be used in painting. I didn't decide to go with yellow until after stamping so the stamped ink is faintly visible. After the watercolor dried, the panel was cut with a GinaK Designs frame and mounted onto a gray card front measuring 4.25" x 5.5". The sentiments come from the same Tranquility Rose stamp set. These are stamped with Obsidian Pigment ink. The butterflies are stamped with the same ink and heat embossed with clear powder. After coloring the images with Copic markers, they are popped up with foam. A few sequins complete the front panel. 

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Products Used:

New Day Butterflies Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Altenew Watercolor Essentials Pan Set

Silver Lake Ink

Obsidian Pigment Ink

Tranquility Rose Stamp Set - Altenew Website

Altenew - Clear Photopolymer Stamps - Tranquility Rose
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Gina K Designs - Dies - Master Layouts 01
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Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website

Floral Stamp Three Ways

Large image stamps are wonderful for cards, art journals, and scrapbook layouts. The floral stamp from the Sweet as Honey Hero Arts set measures about 6.5" from the base of the stem to the top leaf. Stamping the image and heat embossing it on different types of paper allowed for exploring three different ways to use it on hand-created cards.

The first image, on the left, uses white embossing powder over white pigment ink on 100 lb cardstock. After the paper cooled, I ink-blended the embossed image with Catherine Pooler inks in cool colors. Wipe off the ink from the white embossed areas to make the colors shine. The middle image is stamped with Versamark without wiping off the leftover white ink and embossed with clear powder onto a heavy green cardstock.

The pink image is also heat embossed with white ink and white powder. This time it is on watercolor paper. It is easy to watercolor with embossed images because the embossing helps hold the watercolor inside the design. Sometimes, I audition stamped images onto backgrounds before deciding how to use them.

The picture above shows one of the images cut into two pieces and placed on an ink-blended background. And the picture below shows the intact image placed on a stenciled/ink-blended background. This was too busy for my liking.

Ultimately, I layered the image on a small solid panel placed over a heat-embossed background which has another piece of dark cardstock placed underneath and to one side of the front panel. The same dark green cardstock was used for the sentiment. The butterflies, sentiment, and background all use gold heat embossing powder. This is a 6-inch square card.

The 4.25" x 5.5" card, pictured below, also uses a gold embossed butterfly and sentiment. The sentiment is stamped onto the ink-blended panel. This is the same panel that was auditioned (and rejected,) above.

The panel adheres to a top-folding card base and the corners are rounded with a punch. Rounded corners soften the card. This design element is particularly welcome on a sympathy card.

The last card is also a 6-inch square card and is layered very similarly to the other square card. The butterflies are from the New Days Butterflies stamp set and colored with Copic markers. They add a bit of beauty to all of the cards.

Thank you for visiting!

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Products Used:

New Day Butterflies Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Calligraphy Bold Prints - Hero Arts Website

Altenew Sequins

Altenew Watercolor Essentials Pan Set

Hero Arts - Die and Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set - Sweet As Honey
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Hero Arts - Stencils - Stacked Circles
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Gina K Designs - Blending Brushes - 10 Pack with Stand and Color Clips
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Catherine Pooler Designs - Party Collection - Premium Dye Ink Pads - All That Jazz
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Catherine Pooler Designs - Party Collection - Premium Dye Ink Pads - Grape Crush
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Catherine Pooler Designs - Party Collection - Premium Dye Ink Pads - Suede Shoes
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Hero Arts - Clings - Repositionable Rubber Stamps - Calligraphy Bold Prints
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Hero Arts - Unicorn White Ink and Reinker Bundle
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The Background Determines the Aesthetic

 When designing a card sometimes the background determines the aesthetic. Both of these cards use the same Hero Arts' Cobblestone Bold Prints stamp. The lighter-colored card was stamped with black ink onto white cardstock. The cobblestones were shaded with gray colored pencils. The card pictured below was stamped with Versamark onto watercolor paper without cleaning the stamp first. The residual black ink on the stamp mixed with the sticky watermark ink to create a light gray color. By using clear embossing powder, it maintained that color while sealing it in.

To give the background an antique look, I blended brown ink with a blending tool. It gave the background a nice patina which then informed my decisions about layering brown cardstock underneath and using kraft paper for the sentiment tag. 

The background also influenced the choice of Copic marker colors for the flowers. Here is a picture of the blossoms that I thought I would use. I didn't end up using the tall, thin floral spray or stem.

I wanted to keep the background light with the pencil shading on the card pictured below. It seemed somewhat somber and old-fashioned, so it was turned into a sympathy card. It could also be used as an encouragement card for someone who prefers muted tones.

Both cards have layered cardstock using Gina K. Designs Master Layouts dies and the wonderful stamped bee image from the Hero Arts Sweet as Honey set. The 'sending hugs' die is a retired CTMH product.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Cobblestone Stamp - Hero Arts Website

Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website

Master Layouts 2 Dies - Gina K. Website

Tranquility Rose Die Set - Altenew Website

Tranquility Rose Stamp Set - Altenew Website

Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website

Antique Gold Sequins - Altenew Website

Hero Arts - Die and Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set - Sweet As Honey
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Altenew - Clear Photopolymer Stamps - Tranquility Rose
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Bubble Wrap Embossing

Accidental Embossing

An interesting thing happened when I laid a piece of mini-bubble wrap onto the card front when running it through the die-cutting machine to cut a smaller panel. I was trying to maintain the shape of the white splatters and hoped the bubble wrap would absorb enough of the pressure to keep the splatters intact. That did not happen but it created a fun, new look - Bubble Wrap Embossing! The picture below shows it in better detail.

Embossed with Bubble Wrap

The images on this card are stamped on a panel that was eventually cut to size using the Gina K. Master Layouts die set. The kraft cardstock layer was also cut using the set. After stamping the large floral image from the Altenew Tranquility Rose set and masking it to stamp the leaves, I decided to add the wonderful bee from the Sweet as Honey stamp set from Hero Arts. Then using Copic markers, I colored all of the images. This looked nice but a little flat. I put the mask back on the rose and ink blended with leftover ink on my blue blender brush. It still wasn't quite right. At this point, my go-to is either white or black splatters. The black ink was absorbed too much, so I used Dr. Ph Martin's bleedproof white to add a bit more interest. This looked great! Then I realized that I needed to cut the piece down a wee bit. 

It would have been possible to do it with a paper trimmer but I like the edge that you get with a die. And then the bubble wrap experiment happened. I really like the bubble wrap effect. What wasn't appealing was the smooshed splatters. When things go awry, my next go-to is adding bling. The sparkly stars and sequin pieces saved the mess and added a sort of magical element to the card.

If you give embossing with bubble wrap a try, I'd love to see it! Happy card-making!

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website

Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website

Dr. Ph. Martin's Bleedproof White - Dick Blick Website

Higgins Black Magic Waterproof Ink - Dick Blick Website

Hero Arts - Die and Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set - Sweet As Honey
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Altenew - Clear Photopolymer Stamps - Tranquility Rose
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Catherine Pooler Designs - Love And Lace Collection - Dies - With Love Word
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Stenciled Background with Die Cut Card

 

Hero Art's Sweet As Honey Stamped Images 

The stamp set did all the work on this card. The flowers, bee, and sentiment are part of the Sweet As Honey set. First, I used the alignment tool as a mask for inking the center square. The cardstock die cut from the Chain Link die was used as a stencil with a discontinued Shadow Ink for ink blending. The die-cut was taped to the alignment tool to keep the edges of the square crisp. 

Next, I stamped the images on top with black ink and colored them with Copics and a white colored pencil for highlights. Then I cut the piece down to size with Gina K.'s Master Layouts 1 die set. The set has two large rectangles, the largest was used for the black piece of cardstock. The smaller die makes the image nestled with a thin framed edge.  Lastly, the sparkle comes from a Sakura Gelly Pen and gold sequins.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Sweet As Honey Stamp Set - Hero Arts Website

Alignment Tool - Hero Arts Website

Master Layouts Dies - Gina K. Website

Antique Gold Sequins - Altenew Website

Permanent Black Ink - Altenew Website

Hero Arts - Stencils - Alignment Tool - A2 and A6
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Hero Arts - Fancy Dies - Chain Linked
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Hero Arts - Die and Clear Photopolymer Stamp Set - Sweet As Honey
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A Quick Colorful Card

 

Sometimes you need to make a card quickly. This colorful card is straightforward to make and only takes a short time to assemble. To make the crisp center square I used the alignment tool's square mask and ink blended all around it. All the die cuts were made with one set of dies, cutting the 'love' and the heart once and the tulip heart shape, twice. Copic markers and a Sakura Gelly Roll pen add the rest of the color and glimmer.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Looking Glass Heart Dies - Hero Arts Website

Alignment Tool - Hero Arts Website

Hero Arts - Stencils - Alignment Tool - A2 and A6
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Catherine Pooler Designs - Party Collection - Premium Dye Ink Pads - Something Borrowed
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Stepping Up Stamped Images Through Shading

 

Beautiful Details is the first class I've completed in the AECP Level 2 series. Wowza! It is filled with beautiful details showing how to step up stamped images through shading and coloring. This class is available through Altenew Academy and one does not need to be going through the certification process to take it. Marika Rahtu is the instructor. She showcases her clean aesthetic while sharing her coloring techniques. As a long-time stamper/paper crafter, I found many valuable ideas in the class and highly recommend this one for all levels of stamping enthusiasts. Here is one idea of Marika's that I adapted to make this clean and simple card.

Stamp as Usual

All of the stamped images are from the Build-A-Flower: Primrose Layering set. The sentiments in the set are a mix-and-match series of words or partial statements. I masked a couple of the primrose images to make it look as though they are behind the other flowers. The photo above shows the images stamped following the instructions which are included in the stamp packaging. It is easy to follow the color order if you have an ink pad family of colors, such as the Martian Terrain set. This set includes four ink colors, I used these three for the orange/peach flowers on the left-hand side: 

Pastel Sunrise
Canyon Clay
Burnt Red

It is easy to use inks from different families, also. The yellow primrose center was stamped with the Pastel Sunrise color from the Martian Terrain set. The first two yellow layered images used Fresh Lemon and Honey Drizzle. These are in the Pocketful of Sunshine ink set.

Add Shading to the Stamped Images

The images are very pretty as they are. However, it is fun to step up the images by coloring and adding shading. To add this extra level of depth and detail to the multi-layered stamped images, I colored the images with alcohol ink markers. To add some sparkle, I used the Clear Star Gelly Roll pen in the centers of the flowers, along the leaf vein, and over the word, "amazing".

Additional sparkle comes from Pink & Main's Silver Glossy Dots. These are self-adhesive and are easy to place. So easy, in fact, that I got a bit carried away with them!

The card front stands out with a black piece of cardstock mounted behind it and then adhered to the card base. Each layer was glued; they are not popped up.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Build-A-Flower: Primrose Layering Stamp & Die Set

Permanent Crisp Black Ink

Martian Terrain Crisp Dye Ink Set

Fresh Lemon Crisp Dye Ink

Honey Drizzle Crisp Dye Ink

Firefly Crisp Dye Ink

Grass Field Crisp Dye Ink

Rose Petal Crisp Dye Ink Set

Altenew Artist Marker Set D R601

Copic Markers: YG11, Y11, R11

Silver Glossy Dots

AECP - Let It Shine

Carissa Wiley teaches the AECP Let It Shine class for the Altenew Academy. It was a class filled with many different techniques for adding sparkle to cards. This class is one of the ten required classes for the Altenew Education Certification Level One Program. It has been my favorite thus far because it is all about adding shine and sparkle to cards from a teacher who really loves adding some glam to her projects. 

Inlaid Die Cutting

This card was inspired by Carissa's use of specialty papers to add shine to her cards. I enjoy doing inlaid die cutting and wanted to use some of Altenew's glitter cardstock in some of the cut-outs of the Simple Shapes cover die. I also wanted to use some bright colors to help showcase the 'hello' sentiment. Coloring individual pieces is very quick and easy.

Random pieces were colored with the following Copic colors: RV06, R27, YR09, Y08, YG07, B04, and B28. B28 is darker than the other hues so it was only used once. A piece of vellum placed over it helped tone it down and also gave a nice backdrop to the sentiment. Ink blending would also achieve a similar effect. However, I am a messy ink blender and the tiny pieces seemed like a recipe for inky fingers. Alternatively, I could have ink blended the cardstock prior to die cutting. My Copics have been neglected for awhile so it was nice to get them out for a bit to play.

A note about the Circled Greetings die - it is intended to be used as a cut-out rather than a stand-alone die cut. In order to cut it out as I have used it, I used the Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity die set. The third largest die is what gave a thicker border around the hello.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Circled Greetings: Hello Die

Simple Shapes Cover Die

Glitter Cardstock Set - Gilded

Nesting Circle Infinity Die Set

Copic Markers are available here: