Hello everyone! I'm here today sharing a pair of easy
watercolor cards using some of my favorite new products from The Greetery! Creating summer cards is
my favorite; the colors, the textures…maybe because summer seems so fleeting no
matter how hard I try to hold on! There is one thing that isn’t my favorite….and
that is the heat that comes with summer! Ha ha! I decided to create these cards
using blue/blue-green tones for something cool and refreshing!
To begin, I simply created a wash of watercolor onto three panels
of watercolor paper. I know Betsy has mentioned this before, but the cheap
watercolor pad they sell at Hobby Lobby (Master’s Touch brand) is the best for
this type of project; it is inexpensive and the texture can’t be beat. It is not
ideal for serious water coloring, so I just keep it with my paper crafting
supplies so I can grab it easily for these types of projects. I chose to create
one panel with green hues, one with blue green hues, and one with lighter blue
hues. In hindsight, I should have kept the panels a little more “loose” with
more open spaces of white. It is hard to add white space back in once it’s
gone! Ha ha!
Once the panels were dry (I sped up the process by using my
heat tool) I die cut the big Monstera Leaves; one from the green panel with the
veins from the blue-green panel, and one from the blue-green panel with veins
from the lighter blue panel. The Palm leaves were die cut both from the same blue-green
panel; I had originally planned on layering them, but in the end, I used them
separately. The hibiscus leaves were selectively die cut from the green panel
and then I ran ALL of the BotaniCuts Hibiscus dies (I have them all connected) through the light
blue panel. I had so much fun assembling the flowers and leaves. I added some
additional detail to the die cut detail lines on the hibiscus flowers using the
same paint and a small detail watercolor brush. I also added some black ink
splatter to ALL of the die cut pieces for contrast. I stenciled two panels of the same textured watercolor paper
using the new Wicker Weave Stencil collection using Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy, and
Walnut Stain Distress Oxide inks. I used a light hand and selective stenciling
for a loose look. Once that was done, I added the flowers and leaves using foam
squares and liquid glue. I had originally planned to use all of these details
on one card, but I just couldn’t get the composition right, so I omitted the
two Monstera leaves and created a second simple card to share with you today. For the sentiments, I used the older, but well-loved Birthday Blooms Stamp Set. I stamped the large, focal sentiment in
black ink and then die cut them using the Birthday Blooms Die. I heat
embossed the accent portion of the sentiment in white onto black strips of
cardstock. I layered them using foam squares and then mounted the panels onto A2
card bases using liquid glue. I gave both cards a spritz of Shimmer Spray for sparkle
and shine! As I mentioned earlier, I had envisioned this project a little bit differently,
but it’s ok to switch things up if it’s just not working! Sometimes I find
myself holding onto an “idea” too tightly rather than letting my creativity
flow! It’s always more fun just to let yourself experiment and enjoy the
process rather than the outcome. I actually usually end up loving the result
way better if I just allow myself time and space to enjoy the creative journey…I
hope you do, too! It’s also okay just to step back and take a break and come
back to your project with “fresh eyes”! Sometimes that’s when the lightbulb
moments will happen, which I just love! Well, enough rambling from me….thanks
for fluttering by!
1 comment:
BEAUTIFULLY DONE, Kelly! I LOVE the blues & greens & the light color of the wicker stencils behind. Even without the white areas on the water color pieces, this came out BEAUTIFULLY! Sometimes, that solid color is just as beautiful!!! ;)<3
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