Watercolor On Canvas Tutorial

When planning my last workshop, I decided to use a product that is not new but often gets neglected.  I paired it with a new product that has mostly been overlooked in our Spring Catalog.  What did I use?  I dusted off my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and paired them with our new canvas sheets.  I loved the results.  This project is easy and fun and makes you really feel your artistic energies coming into play.

I also decided to use a color combo that I hadn't used for a long, long time --- Wild Wasabi and Marina Mist.  I really like how it all turned out.

 

I cut the oval canvas before I started coloring.  You could do it after, just as well.  I colored with Marina Mist, then Baja Breeze, then Wild Wasabi Watercolor Wonder Crayons. 

Using an Aqua Painter, I added quite a bit of water onto the canvas --- just brushing it on as with any water coloring project.  This blends your colors for your background beautifully.

As you can see, the canvas will curl when it's wet.  Don't worry about it.  Set it aside to dry or, if you're in a hurry, you can heat set it.  As with all water coloring, it will dry lighter.  If it's really wet, you can blot a bit with a paper towel.  If you blot, just be aware that it will dry even lighter because you're blotting away some of the color. 

When the canvas is completely dry, stamp your image using StazOn Ink.  I think the project works best with more of an outline stamp.  You can try different images and see what you think.

Now, why haven't I used these fabulous crayons for so long?  I have no answer other than it must be because we have so many fabulous products that I forget to play with some of them.  Do you have a product that you haven't used for a while?  Get it out, dust it off, and get busy!

I have more tutorials coming up, so be sure to check back to see what else I'll have to share with you.   

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Playing in the Leaves

Today's post shows a project I made playing in the leaves.
I used the French Foliage and Perfectly Penned stamp sets.
I still cannot believe how wonderful the new ink pads are to use.
I just love them!
They really kick up your stamping several notches:)
I used a two of the framelits to set off the focal piece, along with a couple snips of more mustard and old olive ribbons.  I love the polka dots!

My ink colors:
crumb cake
soft suede
more mustard
cajun craze
pumpkin pie
old olive

... and yes, you guessed it, this will be one of the choices at my Friday 3-4-5 Card Buffet Class.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President(s)!

Yesterday, I was inspired to create a 'red, white and blue' birthday card for Presidents' Day.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Island Indigo.  These shades of red and blue are just plain yummy together.
In memory of good old George, I used the cherries stamp from the Mouthwatering stamp set.  I love the size of these stamps.  They will be great for future scrapbooking layouts.
My text is from the Perfectly Penned stamp set.

The Island Indigo DSP is from the Sweet Shop specialty papers.  I like it with the dotted Cherry Cobbler ribbon.  The Island Indigo scallop circle and Whisper White circle are both cut with dies on the Big Shot.  The 2 sizes layer nicely together.

You may have noticed that the sentiment is on a strip of Whisper White with a little 'funky fold' at each end.  I marked off score lines with my Simply Scored tool and then folded the ends down and back.  This is just to give a little added interest to the sentiment.  I attached the piece with dimensionals. 

I enjoyed trying my cherry scented embossing powder, too.  After stamping the cherries, I colored over them with a VersaMarker and then embossed with the Scented Stampin' Emboss Powder.  And yes, it smells like cherry!  We also have vanilla and melon scents.

Tips for stamping directly with 2 or more colors:

• When you have a new stamp that is a larger, solid stamp (like the cherries), condition it first by rubbing it several times over your Stampin' Scrub pad to prepare it to accept the inks better.
• Color directly onto the stamp with a marker, huff, and stamp.
• Hold your stamp on your CS for several seconds to allow the inks time to be absorbed into the CS.  You'll get a much more vivid image.
• To give your embossed image more depth, after embossing (while the image is still hot) quickly cover it again with EP, flick off the excess and heat it again.

I have more good news!  Today, SUO announced the top 3 winners for their last challenge and I was chosen as one of the top 3!  This is the card that I created for the challenge.

Here's another card I made -- for our church to send out for the March birthdays.  I used more of the glimmer paper that I'd 'painted' with Lucky Limeade reinker.  My idea was to create a March birthday card that reminded you of a St. Patrick's Day theme, but did not use any actual shamrocks.  The leafy background stamp is from the Best Friends Forever stamp set.  I used Lucky Limeade and Pear Pizzazz with the Whisper White, for a clean and crisp card.  I try really hard to not create too many layers for the cards I make for our church to send out because I don't want them to have to pay extra postage.

Basically, it's the same design as the card above.
I'm pointing this out because I want you to look at my card design ideas and then try creating your own cards, using the stamps and supplies that you already have on hand.  Let my designs be just the starting place for you to begin your own designs.

The next SUO challenge is to create a birthday card, so I will go ahead and submit today's card for this next challenge.  Maybe good old George will help me to win.

So, Happy Birthday, Mr. President(s)!

Now, how about going to your CS stash and choosing a yummy color combo.  Choose one of my designs that inspired you and stamp up something beautiful.

Celebrate Today...and Make it Sweet!

Today, I designed a card using the Sweet Shop DSP.  This is one of our specialty papers, so 2 of the designs are embossed.

This card is for another sketch challenge --- I told you I was addicted to trying them.  I chose my color palette from the DSP --- Wisteria Wonder, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Island Indigo, and some Whisper White.  The ribbon is also Calypso Coral.  I added a fun embellishment to the Curly Label punched piece --- one of our Jelly Bean Brads.

There are a lot of layers on this card.  (They don't call me the Queen of Layers without a reason;)  After I completed the card, I added a spritz of my Frost White Shimmer Paint/alcohol mixture.  The sentiment is from the Perfectly Penned stamp set.

In case you're wondering, this is a 5 1/4" square card.  By making it larger, I could use 4 strips of the DSP and have plenty of room.  (The DSP strips are 1" wide and cut into a flag shape at the bottom using a square punch.)

I hope this card inspires you to make something sweet (No calories in this project!) and to celebrate today by stamping up something really fun.