As The Deer - Watercolor Weekend

Art Impressions recently released five new Bible Journaling stamp sets, and they make up into beautiful cards!  Today I'm using 5128 - As The Deer Set:

 Since I knew that I wanted to use my oval Spellbinder's die set, I started by marking it's shape in pencil on my watercolour paper, so that I knew where I wanted my images to be placed.  I coloured all of the images with my N57 Warm Grey marker, and other than the stones (where I pulled out the colour a bit for shading, with a damp #4 brush) - I didn't touch the lines, just painted within them.

 I used 947 Burnt Sienna for the deer and the tree, layering the colour to get the deeper tones.  Using the floral cluster from 5074 Bible Flower Set, and my 856 marker, I stamped clusters of flowers and dabbed them with a damp brush to intensify the colour.  I used the tiny leaf sprig from the set to add some foliage under the flowers and to the tree branches, using my 177 Dark Jade marker.  I also used the 177 with the large and small grasses from the 5073 Bible Foliage set, and then pulled the green colour out to fill in the green areas.  I darkened up their hooves and noses with the N57 Warm Grey, and then picked up 565 Deep Blue from my palette and painted in the flowing river.  I went back in and added a few ripple marks around the rocks, and added shadows under the deer.

This is another card that I think would make a wonderful Try-fold!  The stamp set also includes three lovely script sentiments, perfect for journaling.

New Ai Bible Journaling Sets

If you're a fan of the Art Impressions line of Bible Journaling stamp sets, today is your lucky day!  I am helping to launch the five new sets for 2019 by sharing 3 projects made with 5130 - On The Sparrow Set.  I wanted to show how you can use these sets for so much more than journaling - so I have two cards and a bookmark to share:

When I first saw the On The Sparrow set, I immediately thought of using it for a Try-fold card (Art Impressions style!) so I played around with the stamps to create a Try-fold card in a size that worked with the images.  I'm using a smooth watercolour paper that scored well and doesn't create a bulky card when it's layered three times.  It measures 10 1/4" x 5 1/4" and is scored 3 3/8" in from each side.

 I used three of the lovely script sentiments that come with the set, putting a different one on each layer, because they worked so well together.

 And finally the card opened up:

 I created a simple card using one of the bird/branch images, along with the nest and the fourth sentiment "Sing".  *I'll list the colours I've used on all the projects at the bottom of my post.

I've used Tombow Dual Brush markers, starting by colouring the birds/branches with 969 Chocolate, then softening the lines with a damp brush.  I used N57 Warm Grey for the robins, scribbling the marker onto my palette, and picking up the colour with my paintbrush, layering a few times to build up the darker shades.  Their red breasts are 856, and I used the 993 marker directly on the paper to add a bit of colour to the beaks and feet.  I used the medium leafy sprig from 4867 WC Foliage Set 2 New to stamp the leaves in 177 Dark Jade, stamping multiple times without reinking to get both light & dark foliage.  I added a touch of robin's egg blue to the eggs in the nest, colouring directly with my 451 marker.  And finally, I watered down 565 Deep Blue to paint a blue wash suggesting the sky.

Head on over to the Art Impressions blog to see what the rest of the Guest Designers are sharing today!  And Happy Stamping!

Watercolour Bookmarks

I had an afternoon to play with some Art Impressions watercolour stamp sets this week... but even better, I played with some of the NEW Art Impressions watercolour stamp sets!!  The current challenge on the Ai blog is Tags/Bookmarks, and the ladies' work is very inspiring.  So far, I've painted five of them.  I may add some ribbon, or mount them on some cardstock, but I'm going to wait until I'm ready to give them away:

 This challenge has actually really inspired me - I loved painting these quick & easy projects, and I've decided that these are something that I'm going to include with my Christmas cards to co-workers (I work in a library - bookmarks?  Yup, a good fit!)

 Now these two are a direct CASE of the tag Tricia Kennedy posted on the Ai blog for the challenge post.  I really love the pink tree that she did, and it is not something that I would ever have thought of!  So I copied hers, and then did a traditional green tree version.  This is using the new WC Fairy Doors Set #5056.

These three are a brand new line from Art Impressions - Watercolour Bible Journaling sets!  They are designed to be long and lean (perfect for the edge of a Bible journal) but they are also perfectly designed for bookmarks.  So I am using My Fortress Set #5069; Living Water Set #5068 and Good Shepherd Set #5070.  They'll be available soon on the Art Impressions website - or you can check with your local stamp store.  *The great thing about Ai watercolour sets, is that they come with a full colour image on the packaging, and I usually start out by copying their example.