Free Hand Watercolor Florals w/Kelly

Hello Crafters!

I don't know about you, but I'm so ready for Spring. So ready. It just seems like this particular Winter will not let go. Somehow it missed the memo that it's time.

In the meantime I'm still making Springtime in my craft room because a girl has to find a way to survive the snow.

I have had a few crafters ask me how I go about painting what I call "blobby" flowers. It's really just an extremely loose watercolor but it looks blobby to me haha. I thought I'd show you two different ways you can approach it.

For the first card I started by using the large lily from the He is Risen stamp set to create my placement. Building bouquets can be a struggle for me when I'm stamping in general so I like to use a stamp as a place holder. I stamped in a very light distress ink color because they are water soluble and when I paint over them, the color I originally stamped with basically disappears.

For the next card I really did just wing it. I placed down several blobs of rose in a general wreath shape before adding a circle or halo of water around each one. This helps the pigment spread into organic shapes so none of my flowers look the same. I adjusted the design as I needed to with this version. If it seemed off balance I could just add a leaf or a flower here and there until I was happy.

Some things are easier to "show" than "tell". You can see how I created these cards in the video below:

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

The cards were really quick to make. I think this is the shortest video I've made in about 6 months lol. Seriously though it would be fun and really quick to make several of these for a set or even just to practice. The more you practice, the more comfortable you become with the process. And I promise, improvement comes as well!

I think the flowers are soft and pretty, but honestly my favorite part is the combination of the sentiment, bold and structured contrasted against the light soft flowers.

Do you see yourself trying out this technique? Let me know in the comments below. I always look forward to and enjoy reading your comments!

Wplus9 White Cardstock Shop at: Wplus9	Wplus9 Black Dye Ink Shop at: Wplus9	Wplus9 HE IS RISEN Shop at: SSS | Wplus9
Wplus9 NO ONE ELSE Shop at: SSS | Wplus9	Wplus9 NO ONE ELSE Dies Shop at: SSS | Wplus9	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ANTIQUE LINEN Shop at: SSS

Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE Paper Trimmer 12 Inches Shop at: SSS	Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Shop at: SSS	Canson MONTVAL WATERCOLOR 9x12 Pad Shop at: SSS	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Shop at: SSS
Simon Says Stamp LARGE GRID PAPER Pack Pad Shop at: SSS	MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit Shop at: SSS	MINI MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit Shop at: SSS
Ranger Studio Paint ARTIST BRUSHES Shop at: SSS	Silver BLACK VELVET Brush Size 8 Round Shop at: SSS	We R Memory Keepers TRIM AND SCORE Board Shop at: SSS
Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE PURPLE Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith SAP GREEN Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE GOLD Shop at: SSS
Daniel Smith INDIAN YELLOW Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith LUNAR BLACK Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith ULTRAMARINE BLUE Shop at: SSS
Daniel Smith ULTRAMARINE TURQUOISE Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith TRANSPARENT BROWN Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz INK PALETTE Shop at: SSS
Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE ROSE Shop at: SSS

Happy Wishes with Joni

Hello Everyone! Joni here to share my take on the beautiful He Is Risen stamps and dies. Although this stamp set was intended for Easter, you can use this set in so many ways. You can pair the images from this set with any of our other sentiments to use it all year long, which is what I've done for today's card. I paired the Lilies in the set with a sentiment from the Happy Wishes stamp set.

For the background, I ink blended a card panel using Distress Oxide Inks in Fossilized Amber and Peacock Feathers. To amp up the intensity and add a bit of distressing, I splattered a little water onto it. This activates the ink and causes some really neat effects.

I chose Copic Markers to color my Lilies and used the companion dies to cut them out.

You can see the colors I went with in the photo below - YG11, YG95, R20, RV42, and RV23.

Finally, I stamped my sentiment from the Happy Wishes stamp set, adhered the lilies using a bit of foam tape and added some Buttercream jewels from Pretty Pink Posh to finish off the card.

I hope I have inspired you! Have a Wonderful Week!

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.

He Is Risen Shop at: WP9

He Is Risen Die Shop at: WP9

Happy Wishes Shop at: WP9

GUEST ARTIST FEATURE: Creating a Shaped Card w/Laura Bassen

Hey Guys!

I am currently knee deep in new product design, but we have another Guest Artist Feature for you today with the one and only Laura Bassen, featuring our exclusive Plush Friends Pup Die.

How cute is he?! This little guy can be cut from many materials and used several different ways. But today, Laura is showing us how to use partial die cutting to create a shaped card.

Watch above or watch in HD at YouTube

To create the base of the card, she took a standard A2 card base and partially die cut it so that the top fold of the card does not get cut by the die. So easy to do, a little hard to explain, but she demonstrates exactly how to in the video above. So if you are unfamiliar with this technique, be sure to watch. Plus she's a hoot, and she is absolutely delightful to listen to and watch!

She die cut another full Pup and all of the pieces and parts to create his cute little face, hand stitched around the edges with floss and then adhered the little guy to the card base with strong double sided adhesive.

The Pup die comes with a heart to hold, but I just love how Laura went improv here and created a balloon bouquet using a good ol' circle punch! Come on, how long has it been since you pulled out the trusty old circle punch? Not judging. LOL

Adding the bouquet of balloons did increase the overall size of her card, so it no longer fit into a standard A2 envelope. However, with the help of an envelope punch board, she was able to quickly and easily create a custom sized envelope to fit.

I want to send a great big "Thank You" to Laura for sharing her creation with us today, I hope you enjoyed!

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 Plush Friends Pup Die Shop at: WP9

Prayers with Joni

Hello Everyone! Joni here sharing my take on the gorgeous Sympathy Lilies stamps and dies. Although the sentiments in this set are for sympathy, you can used these not only for sympathy but for any occasion really if you swap out the sentiment.

To begin my card I first stamped the images with PURE COLOR Dye Ink in Beanstalk and Mojito.

I chose to color the image with Copic Markers, but it would look equally as beautiful in watercolor or colored pencils. You can see the colors I chose in the photo below.

To set off the bouquet, I created a background Distress Oxide Inks in Black Soot and Peeled Paint. I also added a little splatter using the same ink colors after diluting them with water.

After coloring the image I used the companion die to cut it out, this die will save you some time vs. fussy cutting out the image. Then I stamped the sentiment "prayers" and cut it out using the companion die. For the inside of the card I then stamped the flower image at the bottom right side in black and the sentiment on the center of the card.

I hope you enjoyed a closer look at this set. Have a great weekend!

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	Beanstalk PURE COLOR Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Sympathy Lilies Shop at: WP9	Sympathy Lilies Die Shop at: WP9
Mojito PURE COLOR Dye Ink Shop at: WP9