Ai Rocker

For this Saturday's Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog, I wanted to create a scene with warm, pretty colours, so I pulled out the 5568 - Rocker & Plant Stand Set from the Winter release:

I coloured the image in Tombows #969/565, and stamped it onto my Canson XL Watercolor Paper.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I selected my colour palette.  For my yellow rocker, I used #993, using layers to build up the warm yellow tones, adding in #947 to some of the darker areas.  The bird's belly and the lower pot were painted with #407, using it to paint a darker stripe around the pot as well.  The other pot and the squirrel from 5599 - Mini Mice & Squirrel Set were painted with layers of #947, making the edges of the pot deeper in tone, as well as the under side of the squirrel.  The pots were filled with the two trailing foliage stamps from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #126, by just colouring part of the stamps, and varying the angles they were stamped around the pots.  Using the Daisy bunch from 4052 - Flower Set, in #993 and #803, and the tiny heart circle from 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 in #533 and #925, I filled the pots with flowers.  #565 was used to paint the bird's wings, and as shadows around the pots and on the chair.

I wanted to ground the rocker, so I created a line behind it, and drew in the suggestion of the siding on a house, to indicate that the rocker is sitting on a porch.  The floor was washed with N57.  To finish my scene, I used two of the branches from 4964 - WC Branches Set in #969 added to each pot, and used my Twintone marker to add a few dots around them.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog this weekend to see what Diane & Tricia have created.

Wooden Cabin

I am really enjoying painting the new Scenic Foundations stamps from Art Impressions!  They are quick and easy to paint, as the layout and perspective are figured out for you.  You don't need to see which size of house works, or how to balance your scene - you can just pick your colours and get down to business.  Here is my card with 5747 - SF Wooden Cabin:

I inked up the entire stamp with Tombow #969/565 and stamped onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I painted my cabin in a mixture that I created myself!  I wanted it to be a worn/faded reddish colour, but don't own a marker that works - so I mixed #856 and 969 on my palette, to create the look that I wanted.  I painted a darker version on the front of the house that is shadowed, and lighter on the side.  I decided on a yellow boat and front door, knowing that the rest of my scene would be mainly green & brown, so painted layers of #993 on both of them.

I started with #126, which is a lighter, yellow/green, painting the grassy areas in the foreground, then added #177 as the grass farther away.  I coloured up the two trees from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage Set in #177, and masked off the hillside so they would appear farther away before I stamped them.  The foliage stamp from the set was used to create the leaves on the tall tree.  #992 was painted on the roof, porch and down the path, as it's a faded brown colour, and #969 was used to darken up the tree, stump, and wharf.  I wanted more rocks down the path, so coloured part of one of the image from 5414 - WC Small Rocks Set.  Shades of #N65 and 992 were painted on the rocks and the chimney in a mottled fashion, adding shading with #565 and layers of all the colours.

The water was painted with #493, and 565 toward the edges, and #565 was used for the sky, and to add shadows to the windows, boat and under the wharf.  Using the twigs from 5196 - WC Desert Set, I stamped a couple of shrubs behind the rocks and stump using #969, and added leaves directly with my marker.  The long grass was also drawn in.  I used my brown Twintone marker to add the lines back into the bark of the tree.

Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday for the Watercolour Weekend post to see what Diane and Tricia have created.

New Scenic Foundations

For the upcoming Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog, I'm sharing one of the new Scenic Foundations sets that was released this week.  Here is 5745 Stone Bridge:

I coloured the entire image (it's all one stamp!) in Tombow #969/565 and stamped onto my Canson XL Watercolour paper.  Since the image is rectangular, but not defined by an outside line, I used a pencil to sketch in the outer rectangle shape so that I knew where to confine my painting.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I began painting the house, layering # 992/977 on the roof, bench and pathway, adding extra layers of colour on the shadier areas.  I decided that my house would be white, so added layers of 565 to create the shaded sides, keeping the brighter sides pure white, and I used it to paint in the windows, and add shadows under the roof lines.  I used tones of warm and cool grays N65 and N57 to paint the chimney and stone bridge in a bit of a mottled fashion, keeping the darker tones to the lower side of each stone, which would be more shadowed.  565 was added in for extra shading, and used to paint the under side of the bridge.  

With the small dot flowers and greenery sprig from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, I added the garden around the house, using 565/993/177, and used 993 to paint the bench.  The house needed a pop of colour, so layers of #856 gave me a red door, which becomes the focal point of the scene.  I used #177 to paint the faraway hill, and #126 the closer grass, and used both colours along with the foliage stamp from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage to create the leaves on the tree.  A light wash of #493 was painted in the sky, leaving white areas that became clouds, and a darker wash created the stream.  I erased the lines defining my rectangle, matted my scene on some green cardstock and adhered it to the pretty plaid from the 5606 - Harvest Journal PP.  I cut out two of the Spring die from 5719 - FB Fence and Journal Set in a lighter green cardstock, and adhered it to the bottom of my scene.

Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Diane & Tricia have to share!

Little Artist

I have a mix of old and new for you this week's Watercolour Weekend post on the Art Impressions blog.

Using Tombow #969/565 for all my main images, I started by stamping the easel from 5570 - Cottage and Easel Set, then added one of the 5054 - WC Little Boys Set images that was the correct scale.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I built my bouquet from the bottom up.  The vines are from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #177, the roses from 5258 - WC Flower Set 4 in #856, the Daisy Bunch and Salvia from Flower Set - 4052 in #993/565 and to fill in around the flowers, the small greenery sprig from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set is stamped in #126.  Shades of #992/977 were used on the pot and easel and little boy's hair, adding darker layers where the shadows would be.  Layers of #856 were painted on his hat and sneakers, again keeping it lighter on top where the sun would hit, and darker shades in the crevices.  With #565 I painted in his faded jeans, making the shade darker where the folds happen.  #850 was used as a skin tone, and #493 was painted on his t-shirt and as a wash for the sky.  The small grass from Foliage Set - 4051 was stamped in #126 and the colour was pulled out with a damp brush.

I drew in the paintbrush, and used #993 to paint the sun on the canvas, and a little patch of grass in #177.  #565 was painted in as shadows for the entire image, and anywhere that needed a little shading.  The background papers are from 5712 - Christmas Journal Paper Pack and 5741 Valentines Paper Pack, and the new 5726 Nested Circle Dies were used to add a mat to my image.  The finished card is 5" square.  Stop by the Ai blog this Saturday to see what Tricia and Diane have to share!

Blue Butterflies

 A few weeks ago I stamped and stencilled six of these beautiful butterflies from Pinkfresh Studio.  So today I decided to get a few of them made into cards.  I used the same inks with the Horizontal Stripes stencil, added the Braided Circle dies to one, and zigzag stitched them onto some light blue textured cardstock.  The butterflies' wings are propped up, and the Perfect Sentiments are attached with 3D foam adhesive.  

All supplies are Pinkfresh Studio.

Spring Wheelbarrow

Time for the first April Watercolour Weekend - this will be up on the Art Impressions blog this Saturday.  I made a spring scene featuring one of the sets from Bonnie's fall release (they work for any season!):

I stamped the wheelbarrow from 5597 - Harvest Wheelbarrow Set in Tombow #969/565 onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, then masked the edge to stamp my puppy from 4959 - WC Dogs Set, and my three pots from 4869 - WC Small Container set, masking and stacking them as I went.  I softened all the lines with a damp brush, and then created my florals.  For the striped pot, I began with the trailing vines from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #158, and added the daisy bunch from 4052 - Flower Set in #991.  The taller flowers are from 5475 - WC Flower Set 6 stamped in #177/533, and then I used the tulips from the same set to fill the other pot - creating a two-tone effect with #991/856 on each bloom, and 158 on the leaves.

I used #947 to create the terracotta pot, and painted layers of #969 on the puppy, keeping some areas white, and building up layers of colour where I wanted him darker (he reminds me of Sharon Caudle's new puppy!).  For the wheelbarrow, I painted layers of #526 for the blue, and used layers of #N65 to be the metal parts, keeping some areas white where they would be shiny.  I used the grass from Foliage Set - 4051 in #177, and then used #565 to paint in the sky, the stripes on the pot, and shadows where needed.  The image was die cut with the 5061 - Square Stitched Dies, matted, and adhered to my base with 3D foam adhesive.

Be sure to check out the Ai Blog this Saturday to see what Tricia & Diane have to share!

Greetery Bouquets

 When I stamp images like these florals, I often stamp multiples so that they're ready to go for another time.  Today I picked up bits and pieces from 6 different stamp sets from The Greetery, and a few stand alone dies from them as well (love these wood slices!).  Happy to have a couple of generic cards ready to go in my stash.

I used my Beam paints to spatter a little silver and gold paint on my backgrounds, and used some 3D foam adhesive to give them a little dimension.