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

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: Getting Cosy w/Debby Hughes ft. COOKIES & COCOA

Hi, Debby here today with a little cosy watercolouring!

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

Let's jump straight in! I used the Cookies & Cocoa set for this card in a style I'm drawn to - that of a focal point of no-line watercolour on an otherwise clean and simple card. I started with a piece of Arches Cold Pressed watercolour card in the Misti and stamped the outline cup image from the Cookies & Cocoa set in Antique Linen Distress ink three times and popped the marshmallows image on top of each cup.

I painted the cups with Daniel Smith watercolours. I chose three colours for the cups which were inspired by some candles I just bought. Although I enjoy all the bright traditional colours of the winter season, I'm always more drawn to muted shades and so for this card I challenged myself to use the muted colours I love. I mixed a grey-green, a dilute pink and a dusky, grey purple. To finish off the painting I added a light shadow beneath the cups which I blended out with plenty of water. This helped ground the cups and stopped them looking like they are floating in mid-air. Then I took a little white gouache and added a few highlights. Gouache is an opaque watercolour and will show up even when painted on a darker colour. Once I was happy with the watercolour on the cups, I splattered a little of the green watercolour mixture around the card and then I added splatters of a solution of Perfect Pearls. This is one of my most favourite ways to add sparkle, highlights and that ethereal look that I like.

I stamped accent images from the Cookies & Cocoa set on the cups with clear embossing ink and white heat embossed - two snowflakes for the cups in the foreground and a heart for the pink cup at the back. I then trimmed the panel down and foam mounted on a Desert Storm card base. For the sentiment, I chose the "It's time to get cozy greeting" from the Cookies and Cocoa set. I treated a scrap of Slate card with a powder tool, stamped the sentiment in clear embossing ink, sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set. I then used a scalpel and ruler to trim the piece into a banner to add to the card. I struggle with straight lines and find this method to be the most reliable as I can use the lines on the clear ruler to ensure I'm cutting things straight. I foam mounted the sentiment banner on the card and used a T-square ruler to ensure I had it on straight.

To finish off the card I added a few sequins in toning pastel colours to bring in a little more sparkle for the season and kept those in place with Nuvo Deluxe adhesive.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed seeing these cosy cocoa cups come to life.

~Debby

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.

Cookies & Cocoa Shop at: WP9 | SSS | EH

ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES

• Media - Daniel Smith Watercolours, Winsor & Newton white gouache
• Ink - Antique Linen Distress Ink, Simon Says Stamp clear embossing ink
• Embossing Powder - Simon Says Stamp white
• Card - Arches Cold Pressed watercolour card, Neenah Desert Storm 100lb, Simon Says Stamp Slate card
• Embellishments - Perfect Pearls powder, Iced Sherbet sequins from Little Things From Lucy’s Cards, Star Dust Stickles
• Adhesives - Nuvo Deluxe adhesive, 3M foam tape
• Other - Misti, Scissors, Tweezers, Anti-static powder bag, heat tool

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Watercolored Holiday Cards w/Norine Borys

Hello, hi!

Norine Borys back with you again today for a Guest Post to share some cards created using the latest WPlus9 release. There are some beautiful sets in this release, and I had a difficult time choosing which to use first!

I began with the Merriest Snowflake stamp set. I stamped a random pattern of snowflakes and stars to loosely fill in the background of several A2 sized pieces of watercolor paper with Versamark ink, and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I couldn’t decide which color scheme I really wanted to use, so I did a variety and ended up loving these three.

Creating color blends like this is very simple. I washed the whole card panel with water, then daubed in two to three different colors and let them blend and mix however they like. After letting the first layer dry, I went back and added a little more color. Watercolor paints dry back lighter than they first go on, so the blue/grey and green/turquoise in particular, needed a bit more intensity.

Setting aside the watercolor card panels to dry, I then stamped "Merriest Wishes - from our home to yours" onto vellum strips, which I also heat embossed with white embossing powder. I wrapped the vellum sentiment strips around the watercolored panel and adhered them on the back. Then I adhered the card panels to a coordinating color of card stock and added that to a card base. A few colored Nuvo drops to coordinate complete each card.

These are very quick and simple options for anyone looking for mass-production card ideas.

Next I used Cookies and Cocoa stamp set.

These cards were a little more labor intensive as I stamped the images onto masking paper and cut them out so that I could build the scene. I really enjoy that kind of card making so I didn’t mind the extra effort. I loved adding the partial snowflake images to the mugs by masking the outside of the cup and stamping the snowflakes with Versamark and heat embossing with white embossing powder.

If you'd like to know more about the cards, please head over to my blog for more photos and a run down on creating them!

Thanks for stopping by today, and thank you to WPlus9 for the chance to play again with such delightful stamp designs!

~Norine

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.

Cookies & Cocoa Shop at: WP9

Merriest Snowflake Shop at: WP9

Liquid Watercolor Background w/Laura Bassen ft. MERRIEST SNOWFLAKE

Hi there! Laura here and today I have a project to sharing featuring some of the new sets from the Winter 2018 Collection.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

To begin I embossed the beautiful snowflake image from Merriest Snowflake with clear embossing powder onto Distress Watercolor Cardstock.

I used Liquid Watercolors to paint over the snowflake embossed background.This is a very forgiving way to paint. You simply slap the paint on and hope for the best:)

For the sentiment I used the Sending Cheer die and die cut several with white cardstock as well as one with white glittered cardstock. I stacked them up adhering them together for added dimension. I also embossed a coordinating sentiment from Merriest Snowflake.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Sending you lots of cheer today! Thanks so much for stopping by!

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.

Sending Cheer Die Shop at: WP9

Merriest Snowflake Shop at: WP9

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Janette Kausen

Happy Satur-yay to you! It’s Janette Kausen here, guesting with you today. I am enamored with Wplus9 and am thrilled to be able to share with you, once again! I am a die-hard summer fan, but I must admit there is just something about a cool breeze flowing through my home and snuggling into cozy sweatshirts. Let me have it autumn! The anticipation of the turning weather inspired this fall themed card.

The project I am sharing with you today features the newly released Wplus9 Autumn Blessings, its companion die cuts, and Clear Cut Stackers: Hexagons. I’ve used Daniel Smith Watercolors in Transparent Red Oxide, Aussie Red Gold, Quinacridone Purple, Quinacridone Violet, Perylene Violet and Sugilite Genuine, the colors of a rich fall.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

After stamping the images in Pure Color Black Dye Ink, I clear heat embossed them. I then watercolored the flowers adding the pigment to the base of each petal where the shadows would realistically be the darkest and blended out with clear water. The leaves are painted with all six colors on my palette. Sometimes I wet the leaf first, other times I did not. The variation provides interest and detail to the overall finished project.

Once the images were dry I die cut them with the Autumn Blessings companion dies and tucked them into an Oatmeal cardstock panel that had been die cut with Clear Cut Stackers: Hexagons. The tutorial shows tips for die cutting delicate cardstock and keeping all die cuts secure when the need to turn the panel to the back arises.

Add foam tape to back of panel, adhere to an Oatmeal mat, and then to a folded card base. Finish card by adding a white embossed sentiment on black and adhering gold sparkly sequins.

Thank you for joining me today, and, thank you to the Wplus9 family for inviting me to another adventure into creativity! I hope you’ve been inspired and I’ll see you again!

XO ~Janette.

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 PURE COLOR Black Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Oatmeal Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Autumn Blessings Shop at: WP9	Autumn Blessings Die Shop at: WP9
Clear Cut Stackers: Hexagon Shop at: WP9

Kindness Shaker With Kara

Hey there! It's Kara and I'm back with a little shaker card featuring the new No One Else stamps and dies mixed with the beautiful Modern Peonies.

I started by stamping these large peonies on watercolor paper and heat embossing them in white. I added color to them using distress inks and water. I had also colored some peonies and leaves with Copic markers and had them on my desk. While moving the pieces around, I actually really liked the look of the water colored flowers with the Copic colored leaves.

To create the shaker portion of the card I die cut the word 'kindness' using the new No One Else die set near the top of a panel that had been cut with the 4 Bar Stitched Rectangle die. I also stamped the sentiment above the die cut window before filling my shaker with heart confetti. I backed the shaker with a piece of white cardstock that I had stamped with the peony and leaf images from Modern Peonies for a bit of interest behind the letters.

I adhered the peonies and leaves at the bottom of the shaker panel and attached it to the card base layered up with a piece of black cardstock.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

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 White Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Black Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 4 Bar Stitched Rectangles Die Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 PURE COLOR Black Dye Ink Shop at: WP9
Wplus9 Modern Peonies Stamp Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Modern Peonies Die Shop at: WP9	No One Else Shop at: WP9	No One Else Die Shop at: WP9