Watercolor Flower Fest

I’ve been playing around with watercoloring, a medium I love. My dad painted beautiful watercolors, mainly of seascapes. Twenty years ago (gosh, has it really been that long ago?) he gave me some watercolor lessons, but I was busy raising my family at the time, so it became one of those “I’ll get back to it someday” activities.

One of my mother’s day gifts this year was some “fun” money from my son, so I used it to sign up for an online Watercolor for Cards class. I’ve actually only gotten into the first lesson, but it’s got me pulling out my watercolor brushes, paints, and paper, so that I can play around with it all again. I’ve forgotten so much of what my dad taught me, it’s kind of sad. I hope it all comes back as I go through the rest of the watercolor lessons.

The watercolor image above was created using an acrylic block, markers and a spritz bottle of water. I found that the type of paper you use makes ALL the difference. I tried Whisper White, but didn’t like the splotchy look. Then I tried the rough watercolor paper…it was okay, but I wanted a smooth card finish, so I went with a smooth watercolor paper and I really liked the results it gave me.

Here's a quickie explanation of how I created my watercolor background:

1. Color the whole acrylic block randomly in different colors: Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Rich Razzleberry

2. Lightly spritz the block with water, allowing the colors to run together a little bit (too much running and you’ll get a muddy look)

3. Press inked block onto watercolor paper panel, slightly lifting parts of the block to shift the color around. Hold in place for a minute. Carefully remove block. At this time you can tilt your watercolor paper around if you’d like your colors to move and bleed into each other. Allow to dry or use your heat tool to speed up drying process.

I used black Stazon ink to stamp my floral image over the watercolored background , stamping one floral image onto a piece of Poppy Parade CS. I then stamped my sentiment in the lower right corner of the watercolor card front panel.

Give it a try, it's a simple technique that makes a beautiful background!

SUPPLIES

INK: Black Stazon, Stampin’ Write Markers – Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Poppy Parade

SS: Retired Secret Garden (SU’s 2014-15 Forever Florals 133976 would look great); Retired sentiment SS?, use your favorite

CS: Whisper White, Smooth 100lb. watercolor paper, Poppy Parade (retired)

Big Shot: Secret Garden framelit (retired)

Accessories: Acrylic Block “I” (118488), Stampin Spritzer (126185), jewels-rhinestones

Visit my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Amy Hooks, to order supplies