GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Emily Midgett

Hi there! Emily Midgett from Sixth Street Sundries here with you today, and I’m thrilled to be back again as a guest for the Wplus9 blog.

Watercolor has been an obsession of mine for the last several years, and after learning the basics, I began to experiment with different ways to add depth and an element of realism to my projects. The florals from Wplus9 are gorgeous, realistic botanical drawings, so I always enjoy playing with new techniques with them!

Today, my goal was to add some more variation to the colors of my flowers by taking advantage of the transparency of the watercolor medium and adding multiple layers of color to achieve lots of depth and dimension. Here’s a video showing the technique:

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

In case you can’t watch the video, here’s a basic rundown of the technique:

I began by saturating my watercolor paper with clean water until it was shiny, then dropping a few different shades of watercolors (Daniel Smith Quinacridone Lilac, Naphthamide Maroon, Quinacridone Purple, and Indanthrone Blue) onto this very wet panel and muddling them with my wet paintbrush until I had achieved a mottled, ethereal background. (I like to choose colors that blend nicely together to avoid a muddy mess!) After allowing this panel to dry completely, I heat embossed the floral swag from Wplus9’s Kind Soul onto the background using silver embossing powder.

I then used the same 4 shades of watercolor to add details and depth to the floral images, focusing one color on each type of flower or foliage. The transparency of the watercolors allows that first layer to shine through, and adding the stamped image over the top of this background wash helps to take the guesswork out of where to add different variations of color on each individual flower! I added a sentiment from the recently released So Very stamp and die set.

You might be wondering... what is the point of adding that first layer of watercolor? Well, I have always struggled with adding color variation to my florals. I tend to stick with the same color/s on each petal of the flower, which can result in my flowers looking a little flat, in my opinion. But, in reality, there are many different colors on something that might, at first glance, appear “pink.” My goal in adding these extra colors on the first layer was to provide some additional undertones to create variation and interest on each flower.

In my experimenting for today’s post, I also created this project using Wplus9’s Christmas Rose using the same technique. I chose reds, pinks, and purples, which all blend nicely together, to create this project, adding in a sentiment from the new Sending Cheer die.

Well, that’s all for me today! I hope you found this post interesting, and maybe will try to add some watercolored layers of your own! Thank you so much to Dawn for having me back as a guest! ~Emily

For more of Emily's work, be sure to check out her blog.

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured Wplus9 supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase.

Christmas Rose Bouquet Shop at: WP9	Kind Soul Stamp Set Shop at: WP9	So Very Shop at: WP9	So Very Die Shop at: WP9

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Erum Tasneem

Hello everyone! I am Erum Tasneem and I am absolutely honoured to guest design for Wplus9. We were originally going to do this back in October and I have been waiting (impatiently) for December since then.

Enough with the chit chat, let’s get down to the cards. I have two cards to share with you today featuring the Christmas Rose Bouquet stamp set. How gorgeous is this set?!

Let’s start with the first card.

I started off by stamping the floral spray, the single flower, the leaves and the vine onto watercolour paper with Black Dye Ink. I just wanted to use the Poinsettia from the larger floral stamp and the smaller single Hellebore flower also included in the set.

I coloured my images with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Stains. For the Poinsettia I used Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon. For the pink flower, I used Work Lipstick and Picked Raspberry. The leaves were done in Mowed Lawn, Crushed Olive, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint. After the watercolour was dry, I fussy cut my images out.

Next, I stamped the sentiment on black cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. After this, I prepared my card front by adding a few black paint splatters. I then popped up my sentiment on to the card front with foam tape and started to arrange my floral design. I like to take apart full sprays and make my own version just to add a bit of interest. It's nice to have pre-built arrangements, but don't be afraid to create your own - with a little creative fussy cutting you can really stretch your supplies!

I popped up the flowers and leaves all on different levels. In the end, I added some rainbow sequins and confetti for the bling.

Now onto my second card.

For this card, I heat embossed the full floral spray in gold onto watercolour paper. In addition to this, I heat embossed the single flower and separate leaves as well in case I wanted to add them later on.

I watercoloured the images with liquid watercolours and used the sentiment from Strictly Sentiments 4. For my front panel, I coloured a loose watercoloured panel using Gansai Tambi watercolours. Again, I took apart the image by fussy cutting and arranged it the way I wanted to.

I popped up everything on foam tape and then popped my sentiment on top of the bouquet.

In the end, I added some gold confetti and I was done.

I hope you liked my cards and enjoyed the post. I had an absolute blast. Thank you for having me Wplus9!

~ Erum

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured Wplus9 supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase.

Wplus9 Black Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 PURE COLOR Black Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Christmas Rose Bouquet Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Modern Anemones Stamps Shop at: WP9
Wplus9 Strictly Sentiments 4 Stamps Shop at: WP9

Watercolored Hellebores with Dawn ft. JoiArt Watercolors

Hello, and Happy December! I know, it's already the 7th. But I kind of just realized it's actually December. Sad, I know. But to be fair, we've been in "Christmas" mode here in the crafty world for a bit now. So it feels like it's been December for months. KWIM?

But now, it truly is. And I truly need to get my Christmas prep and shopping completed. How about you?

So today, I am taking a break from the Christmas crafts and sharing an "all occasion" card using a Christmas stamp set, the Christmas Rose Bouquet.

I personally have an issue with spending money on a one trick pony, which is why I often try to throw in some images that can stretch a classic holiday set through the year. It just makes it feel like a long term investment. ;o)

I have fallen head over heels for the Hellebore flower. I comes in so many different colors and varieties, so I don't foresee myself getting tired of painting them for quite awhile. For this card I painted several of them in violet, rose, green and blue. I used a new to me watercolor set - JoiArt Watercolors. I am really enjoying them, and they will most likely become my "go to" craft watercolors.

I stamped all of my images onto Fabriano Artistico Extra White Cold Pressed watercolor paper using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen. You can purchase the paper in smaller blocks, but I prefer to buy larger and cut them down as it comes out to cost less per card front (plus I can use the larger sheets for fine art pieces).

For my color palette, I ended up using Rose, Violet, Lemon Yellow, Hookers Green, Emerald Green, Prussian Blue and Payne's Grey. I share all of the painting in the video below if you'd like to take a look at the process. Watercolor is definitely one of those processes that is much easier to "show how" than "tell how"!

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Once I had painted all of my florals, I die cut each using their matching companion dies and created a vertical arrangement. To frame the focal image, I cut a smaller panel and heat embossed the edges in gold.

I kept the sentiment simple and used a stacked hello die cut from our Basic Greetings Die. I cut 4 and glued them one on top of another for a chip board like weight.

When adhering the bouquet, I used the Press'n Seal trick, adhering at varying heights with liquid adhesive and foam tape.

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I hope you enjoyed today's project!

Featured Supplies

For your convenience, here is a list of the featured supplies used on today's project(s), along with links to purchase. Please note: this list contains affiliate links.

Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Shop at: SSS	Christmas Rose Bouquet Shop at: WP9	Christmas Rose Bouquet Die Shop at: WP9	Modern Peonies Stamp Shop at: WP9
Modern Peonies Die Shop at: WP9	Watercolor Paint Set by JoiArt Shop at: AMZN	Fab Artistico Xwht Block 140Lb Cp 5X7 Shop at: Blick | AMZN	Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER GOLD Ultrafine Detail Shop at: SSS
Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun Hero Arts Shop at: SSS	3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Shop at: SSS	Oatmeal Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Basic Greetings Die Shop at: WP9
Multi-Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Quilled Creations PRECISION TIP Empty Applicator Bottle Shop at: SSS	Pretty Pink Posh SPARKLING CLEAR MIX Cupped Sequins Shop at: SSS	Glad PRESS'N SEAL Shop at: SSS
Sizzix BIG SHOT Shop at: SSS	EK Success CRAFT TWEEZERS Precision Tip Shop at: SSS	Grafix Incredible White Mask Liquid Frisket Shop at: SSS | Blick	Speedball Crow Quill Dip Pen and Nibs Shop at: Blick

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Kathy Racoosin

Hello! How are you today? My name is Kathy Racoosin and I am super excited to be a guest today on the blog. I am a fangirl of everything Dawn and working with her beautiful illustrations (stamps) makes me so happy.

I have a card and a video plus a bonus card to share with you today using the Christmas Rose Bouquet stamp with some Zig watercolor markers. This beautiful stamp isn’t just a holiday stamp thought, with a little creativity, it can be used all year.

For the card on the left, I have a video sharing my process, the card on the right is my bonus card.

While traveling on The Coloring Challenge Road Trip and teaching my coloring tips, I have discovered that many people struggle with their Zig markers. You might not fall in that category, but hopefully you will pick up a tip or two. You can watch the video below to see my process while making this card.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Once my watercoloring is dry I enjoy adding accents with a colored pencil,a white gel pen & a fine tip Sharpie marker. Sometimes the finished card calls for simplicity - no sequins or vellum...nothing. And I hope you agree.

My bonus card was colored with pencils on the airplane a month ago and I finished it up yesterday. I hope you can recognize the stamp set. Yes, it's the same one - Christmas Rose. By bringing the background into the petals and leaves you can reshape these areas.

If you look closely you will see little “rip” or nick in the petals and leaves. Super fun to doodle adding lines and elongated areas on the petals. I finished this card off with a strip of vellum stamped with a simple "hello" sentiment from the Kind Soul stamp set. To secure the vellum to my card, I it around my card and secured it to the back with tape.

If you are loving the Christmas Rose Bouquet stamp set as much as I am and don't have it just yet. Be sure to sign up on the product page to be notified by email as soon as it arrives. It is due back in stock on Monday Dec. 4th along with lots of other stamp sets!

Thank you for letting me share with you today. Wishing you all a great weekend, and I hope you find the magic of the season no matter what you celebrate!

Hugs, Kathy