New Art Impressions - Part Two!

I hope you saw the new Watercolor stamps released on the Art Impressions blog last Thursday... because the WC Design Team is helping to release 4 more sets this week.

Along with the Large Shops and Large Cottages, are two accessory sets, and I am featuring 5264 - WC Decorative Post Set.  It works perfectly with other stamp sets in the Ai Watercolor line, so I started by inking up one of the doorways from 5015 - WC Hobbit Door Set using Tombow Dual Brush Marker #565 Deep Blue, which I stamped onto scrap paper.  Without cleaning the stamp, I inked it up again in #969 Chocolate and then stamped it onto my Canson XL watercolor paper.  I chose one of the birdhouses from the Decorative Post Set, and using my Stamp Positioner, I inked it up in #565/969 and stamped it beside the stone walkway.  I scribbled #158 Dark Olive onto my palette, and picked it up with my #4 Paintbrush, painting a wash of green to suggest the grassy hillside, and defining where the path would be.

We also have a new Flower set releasing today: so I chose the spiky stemmed flower from 5258 - WC Flower Set 4, coloured the stem in #249 Hunter Green, and the bloom in #606 Violet, stamping it around the base of the birdhouse, and on the other side of the path.  (I used another of the images from the set, and stamped it behind them, but they got lost a bit in the scene!) I chose the tiny dotted flower image from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, coloured in #757 Port Red and added them to my floral cluster.  With the small grass image from Foliage Set - 4051, I stamped it in #158, around the flowers,  beside the door, and over the mound of the hill, to define it's shape.  With a damp brush, I softened the line of the grasses and flowers.  I picked up #757 from my palette and coloured in the birdhouse, and picked up #969 to paint the roof and the wood frame around the door.  I picked up #992 Sand and painted in the walkway.  I used #493 Reflex blue to paint the round door, and added a little more water to it, to paint in the sky.  After die cutting my image with a stitched circle die, I used my Misti to position the sentiment from 5136 - WC Sentiment Set 2, and stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink. 

 The card is 5" square, and after matting the circle with some purple cardstock, I adhered it to the base with pop dots, over a pink organdy bow.  A few sequins add some sparkle.

Window card for Watercolor Weekend

This is one of the cards that I taught at my recent card class at the Crafter's Workshop, and I'm sharing it on the Art Impressions blog today for Watercolor Weekend!  The class featured the 5014 WC Window Set from Art Impressions:

 The base is cut with a 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" stitched rectangle die, from Canson Watercolor paper, and I started by colouring the smaller window in the set with my N55 Cool Grey 7 Tombow marker, stamping it about 3/4" down from the top edge.  Still using the N55, I stamped the kitten from 5016 WC Mini Critter Set on the window sill, and the pot from 4869 WC Small Container Set about 3/4" below the window.  I masked off the pot, and stamped the bricks from 5018 WC Cobblestone Set with N55.  With the fine point of the marker, I sketched in the curtains directly on the paper. (If you're nervous about adding details with a marker, use a pencil to get it exactly as you like, first!).

I used my damp #4 paintbrush to pull the colour out of all the lines, dragging it towards where the shadows would fall.  I scribbled 992 Sand onto my palette, and painted it in streaky strokes to suggest weathered wood on the shutters.  I used 947 Burnt Sienna to add colour to the kitty, and the terra cotta pot, going in a second time to add another layer of colour where the shadows would be.  With 177 Dark Jade and a sprig from 5007 WC Foliage Set 3, I created the vine leading up from the pot, through and over the shutters, adding a few smaller sprigs using the tiny greenery in 5009 WC Mini Flower Set to fill in a few areas.  With 533 Peacock Blue/177 Dark Jade I coloured the floral cluster from the Mini Flower Set and added it to the pot.  With the tiny dotted flowers from the set, and the 533 marker, I put clusters of flowers throughout the vine.  I dabbed all the foliage with my damp brush to soften all the lines.

With the tiny grass from Foliage Set 4051, and my 126 Light Olive, I added grass around the pot & cobblestones, then pulled out the colour to add a suggestion of a grassy area on the ground.  I picked up 565 Deep Blue from my palette to paint in the shadows on the window, around the shutters and cobblestones to add a little depth to my scene.  You really can't see it in the photos, but there is a faint wash on the wall of 491 Glacier Blue, which softens the look of the wall quite nicely.  Be sure to check out the Art Impressions blog today, to see what Dot & Tricia have to share!  Happy painting!

Wedding Ideas for Watercolor Weekend

April showers bring May showers where I'm from!  But I am all about May flowers today, and have a trio of free-form wedding ideas to share for my Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend post.

I've had the idea for the dress card floating around in my head for awhile, ever since I created my "Love" card a few months ago (scroll down to the end of my post, and you'll see my first effort in this style of stamping).  I wanted to use the Ai floral & foliage stamps to create a sort of life-like embroidery look, and kept going to create a grouping of wedding themed items.

 I sketched the outline of my dress in pencil, directly onto my watercolor paper, and indicated where I wanted the higher points around the hemline to be.  Using the Daisy Bunch in Flower Set 4052 and my #703 Pink Rose marker I stamped it three times without reinking, multiple times around the hem, and again on the neckline.  I repeated this with the tiny cluster from 5009 WC Mini Flower Set and #676 Royal Purple.  For my last flower, I used the Mini Foxglove from Flower Set 4052 and #533 Peacock Blue, stamping it three times in a row to create the flower stalk.

With my #126 Light Olive marker, I coloured just the tip of both of the trailing ivy stamps in 4876 WC Foliage Set 2 New to fill in the greenery, making sure to change directions to keep it looking random.  I used my damp #4 paintbrush to dab at each of the flowers & foliage to soften each image and enliven the colours.  It became apparent where the holes were on my 'embroidery', so I used the small green from 4876 WC Foliage Set 2 and #158 Dark Olive to fill in those white spaces.  I left these as is, not using my paintbrush, as it defined the shape of the foliage a bit more.  I traced the pencil outline of the dress with #533, and used this colour with my brush to add some shading.  I picked up #565 Deep Blue from my palette and painted a background wash around the dress.  Finally, I went in with all of the markers directly onto the image to add in a few deeper colours.  The sentiment is from WC Sentiment Set 2, stamped in Versafine Onyx Black.  I used my sewing machine to stitch the panel to some coordinating cardstock and adhered it to my base with pop dots, then glued on some irridescent sequins.

The colours and stamps are all the same for my other two projects.  For this card, I sketched in the cake and the table, just adding foliage to each layer.  I sketched in a heart as my cake topper, and painted in a few ripples on the tablecloth.  I stamped this sentiment separately, matting and stitching around it, and adhered it with pop dots going off the right edge.

As a fun little add on, I painted a bouquet and drew in a ribbon bow underneath it to use as a placecard:

Once you own a few of the basic flower & foliage sets (or really just one of each!) you have everything you need to create your own projects like these.  Head on over to the Ai blog this Saturday to see what the rest of the Watercolor Guest Design Team have to share.

Here was my first cluster-stamped project: