A Southwestern Watercolor Weekend

I am using two of the newest sets in the Art Impressions Watercolor line this week to create a couple of Southwestern scenes:

 I am just going to go through the steps to create my oval image today, and I began by cutting out the 5065 Double Stitched Oval Die from my Canson XL Watercolor paper.  I chose the large flat-topped mountain image from 5198 WC Mountain Set, coloured it with my #969 Chocolate Tombow Dual Brush marker, and stamped it slightly right of center, in the top third of my oval.  Since I wanted this to look like more of a ranch scene, I chose one of the buildings from 4962 WC Rustic Cabins Set.  I coloured it in #565 Deep Blue, stamped it off, and coloured #969 over top of it before stamping onto my paper.  With #177 Dark Jade, I coloured and stamped two of the cacti from 5196 WC Desert Set in the foreground, masking each one as I went along.  Then I chose the fence from 4807 Old Barn Mini Set, and used my stamp positioner to place it where I wanted, stamping it in #969 over the masked cacti.  I added the small rock image from the Desert Set in and around the cabin, fence and cacti, as well as the larger rock image from 4763 Southwest set, all in #969.

With all of my images in place, I used my damp #4 paintbrush to pull out the colour in the mountains, keeping the crevices darkest, and spreading the brown down the mountain.  I did the same to the fence and rocks, spreading the brown pigment onto the ground, and creating shadows.  For the cabin, I used #N57 Warm Grey 5 to add a weathered wood look to the walls, using my #1 paintbrush to also paint the suggestion of individual boards.  I picked up #899 Redwood from my palette, and added a red/brown shade to the door and chimney.  I pulled the green out of the cacti with my brush, keeping the top edges of them light or white as a highlighted area.  

Now I scribbled some #565 Deep Blue onto my palette, using it to paint in the sky, add shadows to the mountain, cabin, fence and rocks, keeping in mind that the sun was setting on the right side of my image.  I used the fine point of my #565 marker to add shadow lines directly to both cacti, and on a few other areas of my scene.  I also used the fine point of #991 Light Ochre to draw small yellow lines on the top edges of the cacti, to add a sunny glow to the highlighted areas.  Lastly, I picked up #636 Imperial Purple from my palette, adding touches of colour to the sky, mountains and shadows, which really helped the scenes from becoming too 'brown'.  I matted my images on some warm brown cardstock, and adhered them to my patterned paper with pop dots.

There will be another Watercolor Weekend post on the Art Impressions blog on Saturday, so be sure to check it out to see what Tricia and Dot have created this week!

Together For Christmas

When I see a gorgeous patterned paper like this one, I just have to buy it...  I loved the colours, and the pretty botanical/holiday illustration.  It is "Together For Christmas" by Pink Paislee, and when I was shopping at the Papercrafter's Workshop, I spied this Blue Obsidian Mirror Cardstock by Tonic Studios not far away, and knew that I had to pair the two together.

Scroll down to see how pretty this mettalic blue cardstock is... I put it on a white tag that I sponged with Worn Lipstick and Candied Apple Distress Oxide inks, keeping the center white to give it the illusion of being a round ornament.  I added a few sprigs of greenery and a knot of navy/white Baker's twine to finish it off. 

Six more in my stash!

Freshly Made Sketches #404

A few more simple Christmas cards using this week's Freshly Made Sketch.  They are lovely and flat for mailing!

 I edged each of the branch layers with a little glue and sprinkled liberally with chunky glitter:

Four more for my stash!

Patterned paper is Kringle & Co. by Photoplay.  Stamp is Close To My Heart. Tree die is Dee's Distinctively.

Watercolour class, anyone?

I am teaching a Beginner's Ai Watercolour class on October 20th at The Papercrafter's Workshop in Stouffville, Ontario - and would love to have you come and play with these fun stamps!

If you've never tried them before - or if you own a few, but don't know how to start, this class is for you.  Art Impressions line of watercolour stamps is based around flowers & greenery, and they have a wide range of different containers to choose from.  Here are the two cards we'll be making:

There will be an advanced class happening in the afternoon... more on that in a day or two.  Check out The Papercrafter's Workshop website here for more details.

Just Mason Around

Such a cute name!  Love this stamp set, and can hardly wait to try filling it with different blooms and sprigs of greenery.  I made up a couple of these this week, leaving off the sentiment so that I can use them for just about any occasion (one was a good luck card... and I think the other will be a get well soon card).  I like having basic cards on hand, and adding the sentiments when I need them:

The Greetery Birthday card

I am in love with everything by The Greetery, and was lucky enough to play with several of their sets this summer with my niece!  I used a couple of sprigs that I stamped with Distress Oxide inks and die cut out, and layered them onto a background that I softly stencilled in Broken China ink.  I used my embossing tool to add a raised border line around the edge.

Watercolor Weekend Fall Wreath

A few weeks ago, I posted a summery wreath using my Art Impressions Watercolor stamps, and as soon as the leaves started turning, I created a fall version:

 I began by tracing a 2 1/4" circle onto my Canson Watercolor paper with a pencil to use as a guideline.  I picked my colour palette of softer, faded colours of Tombow Markers.  Using #098 Avocado, I coloured up the leafy branch from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4, stamping it in first and second generation in four clusters around the circle.  Using both of the vine stamps from the same set, I coloured them both up in #992 Sand and tucked them around the greenery (I love it that there are two vines bending in different directions - they make great filler stamps on a wreath!)

Now I wanted to add in the pumpkin elements before my wreath got too full, so I started with the cluster of tiny flowers from 4868 WC Flower Set 2.  Using #533 Peacock Blue I stamped them 3 times in a circle in the lower left corner of my wreath, and then tucked them in three other places around the perimeter.  Starting with the smaller pumpkin from 5059 - WC Harvest Set, I coloured the body in #946 Gold Ochre, and the stem in #098 Avocado.  I masked it, and stamped the larger pumpkin behind it.  I softened the lines with a damp #4 paintbrush, pulling out the colour - leaving the top edges white as the highlight.  I picked up some #879 Brown from my palette adding shadows to the lower sections of the pumpkins, and in their crevices.  I took the wheat image from 5008 - WC Flower Set 3 (I think it's supposed to be lavender, but today they are wheat stalks!) and colouring it with #991 Light Ochre - I stamped them repeatedly behind the pumpkins, and cascading below them.  And finally I used one of the berry images from 4963 - WC Fall Set coloured in #879 Brown and #837 Wine Red for the berries, and tucked them in and around the wreath where I could.  I only dabbed lightly with my damp brush, as I don't want the lines of the images to deteriorate with the addition of too much water.  I picked up #098 from my palette, and wherever I had white space, I hand painted in a few extra leaves.

The sentiment is from the 4205 - Harvest TF Set, stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I die cut my panel with the 5063 Double Stitched Rectangle Die, matted it with black cardstock, and used 3D pop dots to adhere it to my kraft paper base.  I added a few amber coloured tiny sparkles to finish it off.  Be sure to visit the Art Impressions blog to see what Dot & Tricia have come up with!