Watercolor Flowers

Hi crafters! Today I have a no-line watercolor tutorial to share, using a gorgeous flower stamp.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

I used the Simon Says Stamp Beautiful Bouquet flower stamp, which is a large stamp. I need some gifts for the summer and decided to frame it. But you can also make a card or use it in an art journal. The watercoloring is loose and without aiming for perfection, but letting the watercolor paint do its magic. I used Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.

Start by stamping the Beautiful Bouquet with Antique Linen ink on watercolor paper. Lightly mist the inked stamp with water before stamping.

This Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi 24 set is inspired by Art Nouveau and the colors are gorgeous. I mixed the paints on a palette, but at times also took the color directly from the pans. You can also use their 48 color set, which has different colors.

Continue painting the flowers until you are happy with the look. Let darker shades or different colors drop into wet paint to get wet-in-wet effects.

When the paint is dry, add highlights and details with a white gel pen.

Stamp sentiments with Potting Soil ink. The sentiments come from Simon Says Stamp Anna's Flowers and Forest Scenery.

Splatter paint on the background. Avoid getting too many splatters on the sentiments. 

The smaller flowers are colored very loosely. 

I usually stamp sentiments before splattering paint, to make sure that there are areas which are clean enough for the sentiment to stand out. 

The stamp had stamen around this flower center, but after I dropped in the yellow paint, I liked how it blended with the pink paint and decided to skip the stamen. 

Don't worry if some of the Antique Linen lines show. They can form slight shadows or outlines, or might even give a hint of flowers further in the background.

When I do no-line coloring I find that it helps to keep the stamp's plastic backing next to me, where I can see the outlines of the stamp in black, since it is sometimes a little hard to see the details in the soft Antique Linen stamping. 

I added thin veins to the leaves, both with paint and with the white gel pen.

I hope this project inspired you to try some no-line watercoloring with your stamps. For more examples check out my Watercolor Peonies and Watercolor Floral Garden.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Circle Card Tutorial

Hi friends! It is a new beautiful Monday. Mondays happen to be one of my favorite days of the week, since I like the start of a week, but also since it is time for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week our theme is We are going around in circles at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Circles have always been one of my favorite shapes. I hope you will join us in the challenge! Don't miss the gorgeous project by our July guest designer Natasha Vacca aka Natasha's Colorful Creations.

I haven't made a circle card in quite a while and thought it would be fun to make one with a shaker in the middle. The card was inspired by the beautiful printed circle from Tim Holtz Transparent Layers. I also used circle stamps and a circle stencil.

I used Simon Says Stamp Nested Circles to die cut the card. I started with the largest circle, which was die cut from heavystock paper and then die cut the window in the center. Simon Says Stamp Very Very Low Tack Tape was used to hold the smaller die in place.

Ink the circle with Antique Linen. Then ink through the Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles Stencil with Guava ink and an ink-blending brush.

I die cut another circle from heavystock paper to place behind the shaker window. Ink with Antique Linen and Pumice Stone. Ink the edges of the larger circle with Pumice Stone too.

Stamp a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Laugh In Flowers with Watering Can ink. Stamp dots with Simon Says Stamp Halftone Background using the same ink.

Stamp circles and dots from Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles stamp set, with Pumice Stone and Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Saturated Guava ink.

The cardbase is Simon Says Stamp Cotton Candy cardstock, which was folded and die cut with the largest circle. Place the folded edge slightly inside the die as seen here.

Folded up, the cardbase looks like this.

Glue the printed acetate in place and die cut another acetate circle for the sandwich. Add Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Perfect Foam Tape around the edges and fill with mica flakes and sequins. Place the second acetate circle on top to close the sandwich.

I also used a Tim Holtz Quote Chip Label. The background circle was placed so that one of the stamped dotted circles, frames the little white flower.

The Transparent Layers are so pretty and I like the bright colors. 

I like a mix of mica flakes and sequins in a shaker.

I hope you will join us this week in our We are going around in circles challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Glow in the dark butterflies

Hi friends! I hope your weekend was good! I can't believe that June is already over, it went by in a flash. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week we have a Summer Mood Board challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Here is the gorgeous mood board designed by Macarena.

Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is showcasing products from a specific designer. This week it is Brutus Monroe. You can see their wide range of products here. You don't have to use Brutus Monroe products to join in the challenge, but it is always fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer, and this week we are welcoming back Natasha Vacca aka Natasha's Colorful Creations. I hope you will stop by her blog to see the wonderful project that she has created for you.

I made two little wall-hangers featuring glow in the dark butterflies. I couldn't catch that effect on photo, so you'll have to imagine it. The butterflies glow really well in the dark. I was inspired by the mood board to use an old map and to use a background paper which looked a bit like that old suitcase in one of the photos. The wall-hangers are about 3.6 x 3.6 in.

Start by die cutting Tim Holtz Scribbly Butterflies from heavystock cardstock.

Emboss the butterflies with two or three layers of Brutus Monroe Glow In The Dark embossing powder. Be very careful when using a heat tool and don't touch the melted powder until it has cooled down completely.

Cut four pieces of Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board. Glue old map paper on the smaller pieces and Tim Holtz Backdrops paper on the larger ones. Place under a heavy book until dry.

Round the corners with a Corner Chomper and sand the edges.

Ink the edges and part of the maps with brown shades of Distress Ink.

I added a bit of cheese cloth in between the layers, but you can also skip that. The butterflies were die cut from kraft paper too, since they needed to stand out better from the background. 

I added a Clipping Sticker to the butterflies.

The Clear Drops act as magnifying glasses.

The second wall-hanger is similar to the first one, but with a different butterfly and a different background paper.

You can of course use a different embossing powder too, but then the butterflies won't glow in the dark, which is pretty cool.

And some more Clear Drops from Studio Katia.

I added a little dimension to the wings. 

I hope you will join us this week in our Summer Moodboard challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.