Summer scene

I have a sweet summery watercolour card to share with you today, using stamps from the latest Art Impressions Watercolor release!

I started creating my image cluster by stamping the puppy from the WC Mini Critters Set, the sitting little girl from WC Beach Girls Set, the beach ball from WC Beach Boys Set - masking each as I went along - and finally stamping the umbrella from WC Beach Girls Set.  I coloured each of the stamps with my 992 Sand Tombow marker, except for the girl, where I used my LP38 Oyster Grey Marvy marker.  I wanted a paler shade for her skin tone, as she's sitting partially in bright sunlight.  I also used the fine tip of my LP38 marker to draw in the blanket.

With a damp WC Brush4 paintbrush, I softened all of the lines, and then began filling in the colour by scribbling my markers onto my palette: Tombow 991 Straw for the hat/ball; Tombow 885 Warm Red for the umbrella, and added more water to make it more of a pink shade for her swimsuit & the ball.  I used my LP86 African Violet Marvy marker to create the shadow under the umbrella, and in and around all of the images on the blanket.  Her skin tone is made with several layers of Tombow 850 Flesh, and then I used the same colour to sketch in the suggestion of a sandy beach.  I picked up the LP86 with my brush and painted in the water, and after watering it down a little more, used it to paint in the suggestion of a sky as well.

*Design tip!  You'll notice that I placed everything on the left side of my painting, leaving the upper right corner mostly white.  The white space provides a sense of balance for the cluster of images.  I could've added a sentiment up there, but felt like it would've been too busy.

To assemble my card, I popped up the image and the stripey pink frame that I created with adhesive dots with my periwinkle cardstock peeking out from behind.  Happy painting!

Whimsical Ai Watercolours

I really love the direction that Bonnie Krebs is going with her Watercolour Stamp line for Art Impressions.  When she first introduced the Fairy Doors and Hobbit Door sets, it really sparked something in me creative-wise, and her newest WC Elves Set is no exception:

 I was going to try doing these just using Sepia, for a monochromatic effect, but a few weeks ago I tried a scene using mostly Sepia & African Violet... and really loved the look.  In addition to Sepia, there is a brown tone here, but you get the idea.  The limited palette was wonderful to work with.

 On this card, I drew in my own version of the Fairy Doors (mainly so that I didn't have to mask!), and added in the stepping stones from the Cobblestone Set.  I worked really hard on my shadows in this one, and trying to achieve more of a depth of colour.  Stay tuned, as I hope to do a few more scenes around this theme.

If you are in Canada, you can order the Art Impressions Watercolour stamp line from The Crafter's Workshop... AND if you're in the Greater Toronto Area, you can join us this Saturday, March 2nd at The Crafter's Workshop for an "Open Studio" day - come and bring your own projects and supplies, whether it's watercolours or Copics to colour, I will be there working on my own creations, but will be happy to demo or help anyone who wants it.  Sheri & Alexis will be on hand for colouring tips and inspiration as well - sign up is here to reserve your table space.  Hope to see you there!

Mini Bunny/Easter cards

I don't generally create Easter cards, but I was playing around with some quick scenes using my Art Impressions Watercolor stamps, and came up with these little bunny cards.  Perfect for a quick note, but would also work well as little Easter cards:

Each card is just 3x3".  Stamp sets used are WC Bunny Set; Flower Set and Foliage set.  Markers are Marvy & Tombow.  Patterned paper is Close To My Heart; *If you are in Canada, you can purchase Art Impressions Watercolor stamps & Tombow markers at The Crafter's Workshop - check out their new online store!

Art Impressions Tag Watercolour

I have some brand new Art Impressions products to share today - and can I just say how much I love this new stitched tag die?!  It's a great size to paint a scene like I did, or to stamp a great image.  The set includes a bunch of different sized tags and a variety of little accent dies - like the little punched circle that I cut out of pink cardstock.

I've used several Art Impressions stamp sets from their Watercolour line: WC Little Girls Set; WC Boat Set; WC Sitting Places Set and Living Water Set.  The sentiment is brand new also - from Ai's WC Sentiment Set 2.  *If you're in Canada, you can get Art Impressions stamps at The Crafter's Workshop (they've just launched their online store!  Check it out.)

Diecut Watercolour Card

If you scroll down to yesterday's post, you'll see the LOVE card that I made using Art Impressions Watercolour stamps and their Block Letter Dies... which of course, left me with the diecut letters themselves.  So another card just had to be made!  Here's what I came up with:

Pretty busy compared to yesterday's CAS version, but I purposefully wanted to show how different two cards from the same source can look.  I even had all of these greenery die cuts sitting in my stash, and found some old flowers/brads that happened to match, so it came together pretty quickly.  This is about max for me as far as embellishments go!

Stamp sets are WC Foliage Set 2 and WC Flower Set 2 both are Art Impressions (you can find them here at the Crafter's Workshop!)

Ai Watercolour LOVE card

This is the third card that we are making at my Ai Watercolour Beginner class this week... and it's perfect for a valentine, wedding card, mother's day card or for anyone you love.

I used my Art Impressions Block Letters Die Set to spell out the word "LOVE" and placed them upside down on some Washi tape to secure them, and using a ruler to keep them even.

Our class is using WC Foliage Set 2 and WC Flower Set 2, so using a selection of stamps from each, I stamped them in clusters, starting with the flowers, and filling in around them with greenery, until I got the effect I was looking for.  I placed my alphabet dies on top of the floral background, securing them in place with the Washi tape, and ran it through my die cutting machine.

                            

Here are all three of the cards that we'll be making in the class, and if you visit my blog again tomorrow, I'll show you what I did with the leftover "LOVE" pieces.  You can find all of the Art Impressions products used in my projects at the Crafter's Workhop - they have a wonderful new online store that's up and running this week!

Ai Watercolour Class Cards

I am teaching my first of two beginner classes tomorrow, using the Art Impressions Watercolour stamps, so I thought I'd share two of the cards we're making.  The class is focusing on using WC Foliage Set 2 and WC Flower Set 2, so we are doing two different floral pots:

 Both cards are using pots from the WC Ornate Container Set.  I've used a selection of markers from both Tombow & Marvy

 There are still spots left in my Tuesday evening class - click here if you're in the GTA and are interested in having a crafty evening!  *And... did you know that the Crafter's Workshop has an online store open for business?  Check them out!

Happy stamping!

Ai Little Boy Watercolour cards

Two more cards using the sweet Art Impressions "WC Little Boys Set" watercolour stamps.  I posted one a week ago, which was my very first effort using the Little Boys... and I wanted to do a simplified version of the same scene:

 Even though painting the scene was fun, I love this version.  With painted cards, I usually keep the card itself pretty simple.

 Here's another attempt at the scene from last week.  No kite, a few more trees, and I tried for a bit more depth of colour everywhere.

 I'll be back with another post tomorrow, sharing some of the cards from my weekend class.

Stamp sets used: WC Little Boys Set; WC Sitting Places Set; WC Tree Set 1; WC Dogs Set; WC Flowers Set 2; Foliage Set - all from Art Impressions.  Tombo and Marvy markers.

Ai Decorative Jar

Here's my second card using the new WC Decorative Jar Set from Art Impressions, along with the new WC Foliage Set 4.  With watercolour cards, I keep the background pretty low key, and the design of the card very simple, as I want the focus to be on the painted image.  I tied an organdy ribbon around the matted image, and adhered it with pop dots to the base:

The card comes across looking a little harsh in the photo!  It's quite soft and lovely with that pale aqua background.  Cardstock and patterned paper are Close To My Heart.

New Art Impressions Watercolours

Art Impressions continues to add the most wonderful stamp sets to their watercolour collection.  Today I'm sharing a card made with their newest foliage set WC Foliage Set 4, and the new container set that features coffee & teapots, and some delicate designs to decorate them with: WC Decorative Jar set.

The new foliage set is lovely, with some interesting new sprigs that are perfect in the Decorative Jars... and you can see the little design that comes with the set, which allows you to decorate your teapot.  I used my Marvy & Tombow markers to colour the stamps, and then used a damp paintbrush to pull out the colours.  The sentiment is also from a new Ai stamp set: WC Sentiment Set 2.

Cardstock and patterned papers are Close To My Heart.

Fishin' Watercolour Card

This is pretty much a CASE of a Watercolour Wednesday scene, but I wanted to try doing some Art Impressions watercolours, using a limited palette.  So with brown, a little grey and shades of African Violet markers, here's what I came up with:

 I'm quite happy with how this turned out!  I'm just getting started with the Little Boys & Girls sets, so I'm learning what colours/methods work best. 

Lots more watercolours to come this week!  Oh, and if you're in the Greater Toronto area, and want to take an Ai watercolour painting class... I'm teaching at The Crafter's Workshop next week - there are still some Tuesday spots available!
Stamp sets used are: WC Little Boys set; WC Dogs set; WC Boat set; Marvy & Tombow markers; Paper and cardstock is Close To My Heart.

Little Girl Painted Scene

I have another sweet card to share as a result of my painting frenzy last weekend.  I had a great time using the Little Girls and Little Boys sets from the Art Impressions Watercolor line.  I'll keep posting them as I get them made up into cards, but today I have the Little Girl set:

 She's a little more vibrant than she appears in the photo!  I used my Marvy and Tombow markers and a damp paintbrush to colour my scene

Stamp sets used are WC Little Girls Set; WC Boat Set; WC Sitting Places Set; WC Fall Set.  Markers are Marvy & Tombow; Cardstock and paper is Close To My Heart.

Ai Watercolour Wooden Door - Fantasy version

This week I am teaching classes at The Crafter's Workshop in Stouffville, and we are using the Art Impressions Watercolour set: Wooden Door (Sku #4702).  The stamp itself has snow on the roof, and a snowy tree that leans up against the door.  Part of the class is to show how you can use your sets for more than what they're intended for - so I've done up samples for other seasons.  When I began to create a spring version, I decided to do more of a fantasy scene - more like the Hobbit Door set, or the newer Fairy Tree.  After stamping and painting the door and some flowers around it, I added a grassy mound overtop, making it look like a Fairy door.  I used the cobblestones from the WC Cobblestone Set (Sku #5018) to add to the quaint theme.

 Here's a closeup of the door:

Ai Watercolour Wagon card

I've used the sweet Garden Wagon Mini Set (Sku # 4875) from the Art Impressions Watercolour collection many times, filled with spring flowers, so I wanted to try my hand at doing a fall version.  I did some masking to add the two pumpkins from the WC Harvest Set (Sku # 5059), and added a few wheat strands around it:

I am entering this into the Art Impressions current challenge, which is "Add Embellishments"!