Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Watercolor Potpourri...

Hello, again! My crafty mojo is apparently on a small vacation lately, and when that happens, I start to reorganize my work space, and play with making clean and simple watercolor cards (which is a lot more fun, and truthfully, more productive, than the reorganizing chore... ha).

So today I have a small collection of watercolor cards to share with you. A couple pieces were practice pieces that turned out perfect for a card front. I'm thinking I should tell myself that they're all "practice pieces" from now on. I seem to relax more when I view them that way, and when I relax more, they have a tendency to turn out just the way I want them to! You'd think I'd be wise to my own Jedi-mind-tricks at this age, but I admit it...I effectively psyche myself out a lot, even as an adult who should know better. :)

So on to the picture show. This first pair is made using a Unity stamp. For one, I drew a brick wall in the background, and after I painted the second one with no background, I liked it, too. So, both became all occasion cards with the same sentiment...














Supplies:
Stamps:   Unity Stamp Co. "Erica Girl" and "enjoy this day"
Color Mediums:   Grumbacher Transparent Watercolors;   Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils
Miscellaneous:   white twine,  small colored gems,  "yellow" Stickles



This next card is a 4"x 6" note card that I painted after seeing a red poppy card painted with a similar treatment. Unfortunately, I didn't note the name of the creator of the card that gave me the idea, I just wrote "shade with brown" next to the words "large poppy stamp" in my little idea notepad. (I sometimes do this rather than pinning the inspiration piece so I don't copy it too closely.) So if you see this and it reminds you of a similar card, please let me know and I'll edit this paragraph to credit my inspiration artist!

It was a little difficult to photograph this purple to look the same as it does IRL, but hopefully you can see the raspberry highlights and deep purple shadows...




On this card, I double cut the "hello" die in black and white, heat embossed the "just saying" stamp with white powder onto black cardstock for contrast, then spot-glued them both to the twine bows using liquid glue...





Supplies:
Stamps:   Penny Black "divine" (poppy);    Altenew "Super Script" ("just saying")
Dies:   Simon Says Stamp "small hello"
Color mediums:   Sakura Koi watercolors;   Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils
Miscellaneous:   twine,  clear sequins,  white embossing powder



This final pair of images were my small "practice pieces." I was playing around with coloring and shadows on penciled-in tables beneath the flower pots. I liked how they turned out, so I cut the pieces from my practice pad, and turned them into note cards...









Supplies:
Patterned papers:   Prima "Nature Garden" collection (purple);   Glitz Design "French Kiss" collection (brown);   My Minds Eye Lost & Found "Heirloom" collection (dot)
Stamps:   Penny Black "A Bunch" (jar);   Hero Arts "Things We Love" (single flower);   Simon Says Stamp "Friendship Messages" (hello);   
Altenew "Super Script" (just saying)
Color medium:   Sakura Koi watercolors          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com            Pearls:   Recollections



And last but not least...







Supplies:
Patterned papers:   Glitz Design "Vintage Blue" collection (gold and blue);   Pink Paislee "Cottage Farms" collection (taupe print)
Stamps:   Penny Black "Flower Gallery" (irises);   Penny Black "A Bunch" (jar);   Simon Says Stamp "Friendship Messages" (sentiment)
Color Medium:   Sakura Koi watercolors          Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Kaisercraft and Recollections



Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week started with a smile!


5 comments:

  1. Wow if this is what you do when your mojo goes away.... your cards look wonderful.. the water coloring is stunning, so beautiful.. love the depth you have achieved.. really pretty useful cards.. i love em!

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  2. These are all so pretty! They also look like they were fun to water color!

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  3. So beautiful cards - all of them!!
    Hugs Elfi

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  4. Awesome again.....I'm going to start playing with water colors....you've used so many beautiful techniques here. I need more hours in my day....

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  5. These are fabulous! Hardly can decide, which one I like best. Wonderful!

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