Good Wednesday morning and welcome to the CLASSroom. I fell in love with water coloring stamped images when I first started paper crafting many years ago. It was lots of fun learning how to color and add shading to images and I must admit a bit of a challenge at times to stay within the stamped lines of an image. LOL! Recently I took the Watercolor for Card Makers class at Online Card Classes and especially enjoyed the free hand water coloring because there were no lines to stay in. My project today shows the step by step process in my experiment to create a mini floral watercolor scene with flower and foliage stamps from the WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals set. I liked adding softness to the images with my waterbrush. I may have added a level of difficulty because I didn’t use watercolor paper. I wanted the scene layer to match the crisp white double matted frame and Granada decorative background.
The Flower Garden
Stamp the solid triple flower image several times across the paper using Spun Sugar ink.
Stamp the triple center flower image over top of the solid flowers using Worn Lipstick ink.
Stamp the triple stem image among the triple sets of flowers using Crushed Olive ink.
Build up the flower bed by stamping additional flowers with the solid stamp.
Note: once I finished the first line of flowers and stems I wasn’t satisfied that it would make an interesting scene so I started the process over. I added more images until I thought the scene was full enough.
Stamp the Worn Lipstick ink off once on scrap paper before stamping the flower centers. This helps make the flowers appear to be further in the background.
Stamp the Crushed Olive ink off once before filling in the stem images. Only stamp a few to add touches of green to the background.
Lightly touch a damp brush to the flowers and stems to soften. Too much water in the brush can totally wash away your images. I know because I almost did.
Apply yellow to the flower centers with a Mustard Seed Distress Marker. The soft touch of yellow adds brightness to the scene.
Paint the ground area with Crushed Olive reinker mixed with water being careful not to wash away the flowers.
Frame and Granada Background
Place cardstock on the magnetic platform and then lay both of the larger Granada dies face down on the paper. Move dies around as necessary to line up for the cut.
Cut an opening in the die cut using a Nesting Rectangles die.
Place cardstock on the magnetic platform and lay 2 dies in line to create the outer layer of the double matted frame.
Cut a second smaller frame to create the mat.
Apply adhesive to the back of the top frame section.
Line the top frame over the smaller mat and attach.
Apply thin strips of mounting tape to the back of the frame.
Line the frame up over the opening and attach in place.
Cut the flower scene small enough to hide behind the frame. Apply adhesive to the back of the frame and attach to the scene.
Apply thin strips of mounting tape to key spots on the back of the Granada die cut and attach to the card base.
It is important to apply tape to the outer edges of the intricate die cut to hold them up so they won’t droop flat against the base.
Note: If you are like me and love mounting tape you may want to check out the large 36 yard roll. I keep an extra roll in my drawer at all times. A roll will last a long time but I get shaky if I think I’m going to run out.
This is no great work of art but it shows that even an imperfect little watercolor can still be beautiful paired with a simple frame and delicate die cut.
Okay! It’s your turn to get out those inks, a brush and stamps and try your hand at a free hand watercolor. Perfection is not necessary when water coloring. See you next time.
