Special Reason watercolour effects

Try this: Take the largest daisy image from the Special Reasons stamp set (SU) and color three different colors directly on the stamp. I used Cucumber Crush in the center, So Saffron on the inner petals and Flirty Flamingo on the outside petals. Then using your Stampin' Spritzer, mist the whole thing really well. (I probably misted it too much, but I do love what happened next!)

 

This picture (above) isn't the greatest, but maybe you can sort of see how it turned out. I simply stamped that big flower image three times on three separate pieces of Whisper White cardstock. Each time I stamped I breathed an "Oh-h-h-h!" to myself! Watercolor does that to me every time! You just NEVER know what it will surprise you with.
Using those three images, I created the following cards. See what I mean? From bright and happy to sweet and soft! They cover all moods.
And don't you LOVE how that stem die from the Special Reasons set creates a gorgeous negative space?! I just love everything about this set!

dragonflies

Stampin' Up has done it again! Designed the most wonderfully perfectly eye-poppingly delicious stamp and die Dragonfly Dreams bundle. I can't get enough of it and so I keep on and on using these dragonflies On EVERYTHING!! The card (above) has a water color background and if you look closely you can see I used Wink of Stella on the dragonfly as well as the Congrats. (Below) Is an example on a single layer direct-to-paper design with an embossed dragonfly and then masking and sponging.

good egg

Inside this card it says, "You are a good egg!" I can't beGIN to explain how wonderful it is to FINALLY have a chicken stamp set! And it's FREEEEEE in the Saleabration catalogue RIGHT NOW, with a purchase of $60CD. And the BEST thing about this set is this wonderful realistic Polish Rooster. That's right! He's a rooster, but there HAD to be an egg on this card....
(For those of you who know about these wonderful Polish guys, the designer of this stamp set obviously knew they cocked their heads to the side and she made this roo to do EXACTLY the right thing!)

watercolor peonies

Water coloring is so...so......so NEAT! SPECIAL! I don't know HOW to say it I guess! Water color has a mystique to it that other techniques don't. OK! I know that's just MY take on it, but since this is my spot to air my opinions, that's what you'll get! I used my aqua painter and re-inkers dropped onto a clear block as my palette. That's right! A clear block makes the perfect palette! It's washable and smooth enough to mix colors to perfection.

jar of lilacs for you

I tried to get a picture that showed the Wink of Stella glitter paint and this is the closest I got. It adds a subtle glimmer to the lilacs.

more sunshine and caring

These two cards utilize the Sunshine Sayings bundle (at a 10% savings). I'm just really really loving what all you can create using these dies and stamps together.

bleech painting

i'm here for you

I just love this sentiment. It's so caring. So this whole post is full of cards that tell you "I'm here for you!"

Besides challenging myself to use DSP, the following card has the added interest of holes punched in it and butterflies on the INSIDE of the card!

all about roses

These cards are all very different from each other, but they have one common element. They were created with the Rose Garden and Rose Wonder stamps and dies bundle. The card above was water colored after the image was embossed in clear on watercolor paper.

 

Above, is another die-cut and water colored rose card. I love how these images lend themselves to simple elegance. Below is a partial die-cut rose. Again, simply elegant.

pedal pushers saleabration

These two cards showcase two new stamp sets. Actually three! Timeless Textures, Pedal Pushers, and Balloon Celebrations. I soooo hope SU keeps Timeless Textures as it's a MUST HAVE set! I used it to give the illusion of ground and sky on both of these cards. It's a little hard to see, but on the floral card, look closely beneath those flowers and you will see another image from those gorgeous textures. And don't even get me STARTED on Pedal Pushers! WOWWWW!!! And you only have till the end of March to get it ABSOLUTELY FREE with the purchase of $60 worth of SU product (before shipping and taxes). Please do grab it! It's soooo fun especially with spring around the corner.

happy birthday leaf in water color

By now you've figured out I LOVE WATER COLOR! Those aqua painters of mine are starting to show a lot of wear! I wish I could give you the EXACT instructions how to mimic my leaf here, but truly, I hardly know myself how I did it. Trial and error and lot of layers of water and ink markers and drying in between. Or not! I used the leaf image from Botanical Gardens, that much I do know and can tell you!

masculine in water color

Both of these cards showcase a water colored focal point. Above, I used the elk image from The Wilderness Awaits. Below, I used Lovely As A Tree. The woodlands embossing folder (which will be available once again in the new upcoming annual catalogue) added texture to both cards, one by creating an entire background and the other by cutting out a few of the trees to layer over the image.

ice cream anyone?

Sprinkles of Life is a fun fun fun stamp set with coordinating punch that I don't use nearly often enough. Here's a really simple and quick card made from Sprinkles. You could dress it up with string or ribbon or buttons or candy dots or ANYTHING!! I left it clean and simple today.

watercolor florals

You know how every now and then you hit upon a genius inspiration and your cards turn out EXACTLY LIKE YOU PICTURED! Well, the card (above) is just such a card. The two below are versions of the original plan. It all happened because I finally decided I MUST have the squares thinlets dies for frames for watercolor prints. Wow! Why didn't I get them sooner? While you can easily copy what I did here, I do have a few extra ideas or tips to acquire just this look.
~I pulled out my trusty Husqvarna sewing machine to stitch through my frame. I'm leaving my machine out now because if I put it away I'll forget what a nice touch those threads give to many different designs.
~Try Basic Gray ink to stamp your image. I love how soft the end result is especially with watercolored designs. Black sometimes is too bold for the soft edges that watercoloring creates.
~Stampin' Up's aqua painters are a must-have for this technique.
~Don't be afraid to stick to all-whites when matting your watercolor images. So clean and fresh.

And the card below is a watercolored image that I used black ink for the outline stamp. It should be fairly easy to CASE by just looking at the picture.

celebration window

I recently got my Circle Thinlets Dies and I can't figure out how I existed before them. This card showcases a hostess set, Best Thoughts. I also tried some hand-drawn circles as well, using die cut circles as my guide. This one came together simply and quickly once the water color part was done.

The Open Sea/Botanical

This ship from The Open Sea was stamped and then water colored with my aqua painters. I'm loving the Botanical Blooms from the new Occasions Catalogue, pages 26 & 27. Be sure to get the bundle at a 15% discount and this particular bundle includes the Botanical Gardens DSPaper as well. A really sweet deal to be sure!

Here you might be able to see my favorite Wink of Stella Glitter Brushing again! Simply gorgeous!

Remarkable You card set

I simply LOVE the images from the Remarkable You set. They color in so beautifully. The background on these cards was done using my brayer and some old "found" textured paper in some old stack somewhere from long ago prehistorically. Well, pre-Stampin' Upically anyway. So no, that design isn't any special technique or stamp. Sorry! I'm missing one of the Remarkable You images since I gave that card away before I got its picture taken.

rose garden (my latest crush!)

Okay! I know I fall in love with every new catalogue that comes out, but surely this one is the best yet! Just LOOK will you? Aren't those rose garden dies THE BEST???!!!  I haven't even used the coordinating Rose Wonder stamp set---yet. But I can't wait. It has such lovely caring sentiments to go along with the images. But about these two cards here: I am so glad I kept my Manhattan Flowers TEF from long ago. It coordinates with these dies as though they were made to go together. Forever....sighhhhh......

I water colored the background by misting the water color paper and then just dabbing on a few drops of reinker with my aqua pen and letting them blend naturally. With the circle dies I cut a large-ish circle into the face paper and embossed it. Then assembled the whole thing. Simple really.

This one's my favorite! I just like the colors better for whatever reason!

happy birthday dogwoods

Using that beehive die from SU (what's it called? Maybe honeycomb?) I created a card front that has holes in it. While you and I both ask "Where and how do you write anything inside and not have it show through?" I leave that hurdle to both of our creative abilities to get over! Ha! Did that sentence make sense?!
Below you see a close-up of my blossoms, which, by the way, are from an old die from a different company. (Again I don't have the name handy.) But what I DO have handy is the fact that you can easily use dies and punches from SU for the very exact same effect!

Now isn't that a fun springy card?

best thoughts {effortless}

This rhododendron card (some call this flower image a hydrangea, but hmmm, I don't think it looks very much like the hydrangeas I grow! And hardly like the rhodo's I've seen either...hmmm again!) is a simple enough design to use if you have embossing powder and a heat gun. Emboss the image with clear embossing powder on white cardstock and then color in the image. Wipe off any ink that gets onto the embossed part and you've got a gorgeous flower to send someone. If you look close, you'll see I colored a soft gray shadow beneath the flower to give it a 3-D effect.