GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Watercolor Markers w/Carissa Wiley

Hi everyone! It’s Carissa Wiley here with you today. I have a fun project to share with you featuring the easiest watercolor ever, using water-based makers.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Honestly, I like to refer to this as the lazy watercolor method.

I think a lot of times as crafters, we over think things. We think things have to be complicated or time consuming to get great results. I fall in to this trap a lot and I have to remind myself that sometimes simplicity is best for me….even when it comes to techniques.

I don’t want to downplay the beautiful results that you get with traditional watercolor methods…they are absolutely stunning. But if that is something that is intimidating to you, I want to show you that you can still achieve beautiful results with simple techniques.

This card features just a few supplies, including the Hello And Thanks stamps and dies, and Citrus Background Builders stamps from WPlus9 - linked at the end of this post. I added a simple banner from the Bountiful Blooms die set to ground my sentiment.

I’ll walk you through the creation of this card in today’s video tutorial, so be sure to check that out. I’ll talk you through how I created beautiful watercolor images with just a couple water-based markers and a brush. If you want to watch this video in HD on my YouTube channel, click HERE. While you’re there, don’t forget to hit that thumbs up, subscribe and turn on the notifications.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed this project. Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous day!

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 Bountiful Blooms Die Shop at: WP9	Citrus Background Builder Shop at: WP9	Hello & Thanks Shop at: WP9	Hello & Thanks Die Shop at: WP9

Get Well Wishes with Yana

Hello friends! This is Yana and I hope you are having a fabulous week!

For my today’s post I pulled out one for the WPlus9 stamp set I haven’t yet had the chance to use - Get Well Gang. The cute animal images and messages included are absolutely darling and work oh so well for a card you want to give to a sick friend to cheer him or her up.

I started working on this project by stamping and die-cutting several images from the Get Well Gang set as well as a banner shape from a holiday Be Merry set. I knew I wanted to house a part of my sentiment on a banner and the one from the Be Merry stamp set ended up being a perfect fit for the job. Before stamping “Get Well Wishes” I curved my stamp slightly when I attached it onto a clear block to follow the curve of the banner.

I used alcohol markers, Copics, and did some rather quick coloring using yellows, oranges and warm greys (I’m listing specific colors I used at the end of this post). Keep in mind you can use other coloring mediums and other colors, too. I also stamped additional “Sending Love and Hugs For a Speedy Recovery” sentiment directly onto a Dove Grey cardstock panel cut to about 3 ¾ x 5”.

To add a bit to the background of my card I also stamped another kitty image in Fairy Dust ink (which is a very pale grey) onto the front of my A2 top folding card base. The image ended up being almost invisible and is rather hard to see in my photos, but it adds a nice interest to the card base.

I foam mounted my stamped and die cut images onto a Dove Grey panel and adhered it onto my card base. Lastly, I added several enamel dots in yellow, orange and light grey to compliment the colors I used for my coloring.

I hope I won't have to mail this card to a friend (I think we can all agree being sick is absolutely no fun), but if I will need a cheer up card for a friend - I will have one ready on hand.

Have fun stamping!

Featured Supplies

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

WPlus9 Get Well Gang Stamps Shop at: WP9	WPlus9 Get Well Gang Die Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Be Merry Clear Stamps Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Be Merry Designer Dies Shop at: WP9	WPlus9 Dove Grey Cardstock Shop at: WP9
WPlus9 Fairy Dust Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Neenah 80 Solar White Paper Pack 250 Sheets Shop at: SSS | AZ	Simon Says Stamp Intense Black Ink Pad Shop at: SSS	Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SC | AZ	Mini Misti Stamping Tool Shop at: SSS | SC | AZ
Best Creation Big Squares 3D Foam Tape Adhesive Shop at: SSS | AZ	Be Creative Tape 3mm Sookwang Shop at: SSS	Copic Sketch Marker Y17 Golden Yellow Shop at: SSS | AZ	Copic Sketch Marker Y35 Maize Shop at: SSS | AZ	Copic Sketch Marker YR04 Chrome Orange Shop at: SSS | AZ
Copic Sketch Marker YR07 Cadmium Orange Shop at: SSS | AZ	Copic Sketch Marker W1 Warm Gray Shop at: SSS | AZ	Copic Sketch Marker W3 Warm Gray Shop at: SSS | AZ	Copic Sketch Marker W5 Warm Gray Shop at: SSS | AZ	Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo Crystal Drops Shop at: SSS | SC | AZ
Tonic Oyster Gray Nuvo Crystal Drops Shop at: SSS	English Mustard Nuvo Crystal Drops Shop at: SSS | SC | AZ

AUGUST 2016 RELEASE: Release Day!

Happy Release Day! All of the new products we've been previewing this week are now available at wplus9.com as well as at many of your favorite retailers. I want to thank you all so much for joining us and making this such a fun week. It means a lot to us to read your comments and hear all of your enthusiasm over the new products.

I didn't get a chance to do any videos for you all this time, but that also means I got in more projects for you. I hope you didn't mind. Speaking of more projects...there were a couple of sets I didn't get to show enough love just yet, so I am here today to remedy that.

Did you guys see Bunny Mask-erade? This set is so much more than just a "Halloween" set and can really be used all year round thanks to the sentiments included. Oh my, that Steph, I tell ya. So, the phone conversation went a little something like this; "I've got a request. I'm been wanting to do this for a while now, but just can't flesh it out exactly how I want it." She says "OK?".

I say, "it might be a hard one, and just tell me if I'm crazy...but I want animals, animals dressed up like other animals." Silence. Kind of an awkward silence. So I go, "it's OK, no rush. I haven't been able to figure it out myself. So, if you come up with something...that'll be awesome."

And she comes back with THIS! This. right. here. Signed, sealed, done. Loved it. Loved it then and love it now! The masks are perfect! I love how you can have them wearing them over their eyes, propped up on their heads or even holding them out like I've done in the card above. Can you tell you I love this set?!

And that moose almost didn't make it into the set....it's my favorite now! I love stamping the masks and sentiments in an all over pattern as well. In the card above, I didn't want a plain white background, so I used Fairy Dust to stamp a faint background pattern. You could swap out any of the masks and the matching sentiment to create this card for any occasion.

The companion die always makes things easier, but this set is great all by itself as well. With a little masking you can create seamless little costumes for your bunnies. I opted to leave the bunnies entirely white and only color their masks in this next card.

I decided to create a fun little trick or treating scene. I thought this would be great for a party invite, or even a "group trick-or-treating" invite. Or you could mask off the "You're Invited" portion and only stamp "No Tricks Just Treats" and it's a great Halloween greeting card.

It was really important to me that this set be able to be used beyond Halloween. So I made sure to include several sentiments that make it appropriate all year long.

And finally, I still haven't gotten enough of these Forest Friends just yet.

I paired it with our previously released Sending, Hoping, Wishing Words die and stamp set to create a Get Well card. I wanted the bear to look like he was taking care of the raccoon and I think it worked out well. How about you?

If you missed it, here is a quick recap of everything now available:

August 2016 Release

Forest Friends Forest Friends Die Friends For All Seasons: Fall Friends for All Seasons: Fall Die Curious Forest Friends Curious Forest Friends Die Bunny Mask-erade Bunny Mask-erade Die All Year Cheer All Year Cheer Die

InLinkz.com

Again, I want to thank you all for joining us for another release! Have a wonderful weekend!