Hello, crafters! Thank you for joining me today for a super-easy watercolor card project. I know when watercoloring on cards first became popular, I really hesitated because I felt like it was for "serious artists only." But please let me assure you that this is a technique anyone can do! All you need is some watercolor paper, water based inks of your choice (today I used Distress Inks), and the Everyday Brush Strokes stamp set. Let's get started!
I wanted to create a unique shape for my focal piece, so I decided to use my Kat Scrappiness Fancy Scalloped Stitched Border dies to cut along both the top and bottom of my watercolor paper. I wanted to cut the piece first and then stamp so that I could get my placement just right.
Since I was thinking of a field of wildflowers, I selected a pretty green and a blue ink for my stamping. Using one of the Brush Stroke stamps, I applied both colors of ink to it and then spritzed it lightly with my Mini Mister bottle. You just want the ink to bead up a bit, not dribble off the stamp.
I stamped the image all across the bottom half of my watercolor paper piece, double-inking and spritzing the stamp each time until I had filled my paper. I set it aside to dry completely, although you can speed up the process by using a heat tool. To give my scene a simple sky, I used more Distress ink that I watered down a bit and loosely brushed it across the top of my paper. I used an aqua brush for this, but any paintbrush would work as well.
The sentiment I chose was also from the Everyday Brush Stroke stamp set, and I stamped it with my favorite VersaFine black ink. This ink is a very rich, true black that stands out against everything and always gives a crisp impression. To create the look of a field of flowers, I used a fine tip permanent marker in black to create simple "stems" by flicking my pen up from the bottom, changing the angles and length slightly to avoid a uniform look. Some simple dots in black and then white ink finish the look.
I found a piece of pale blue card stock to use as a mat behind my focal, cut down to 4x5.25" so that it's slightly smaller than my A2 card base. To carry more green into the design, I added a strip of watercolor paper that I colored with the same Distress Ink as before. Making your own papers just by using inks is super quick and easy, and saves you the aggravation of never finding the perfect color to match your project. I decided to pop up my focal piece on foam dots so that it would stand out just a bit (maybe that blue was too perfect of a match!), and then dotted on some Nuvo Crystal Drops.
I hope that you enjoyed this card project and that it gave you some new ideas for the very versatile Everyday Brush Strokes stamp set. Please take a look at the other blog posts featuring these stamps and the other new items that Kat Scrappiness has. Have an awesome day!
