Home Sweet Home – Greeting Card

Watercolouring is still a new technique for me, but I’m working on it. I decided to pull out one of those daunting stamps that has a lot to colour. It’s an oldie (retired before 2002), and one I’ve never used, but I decided to take some crafty time and a good movie and just sit and paint. I’m happy to report that it turned into an incredibly relaxing experience, and now I’m shopping for more watercolour supplies!

I stamped this large wood mounted, rubber stamp from Stampin’ Up! onto a piece of Stratmore Bristol Smooth Surface watercolour paper. I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black, but in future I think I’ll try Versafine. I’ve heard Versafine holds up better to watercolouring.

Then I just sat down with my thin watercolour brushes and my Artist’s Loft Watercolours from Michaels and played. I tried different colours, shading, techniques, etc., until I found a flow that worked for me. The hardest part was getting the blue sky background – I wanted subtle, so I really thinned out the paint with water and just let it flow.

There were some details of the stamp that the watercolouring covered up. To bring them back to the surface I used a very fine micron pen in black, but I had to be careful not to do too much, or the outline details would overpower the watercolouring.

To finish this card I mounted the watercolour panel to a cardstock matte in yellow gold, and then placed that entire piece on a navy card base, the front of which had been embossed using the Pine Wood Planks embossing folder, also from Stampin’ Up!

Supplies

Cardstock – Recollections, Bazzill and Strathmore Bristol Smooth Surface Watercolour paper
Stamp – Stampin’ Up! Home Tweet Home
Ink – Memento Tuxedo Black
Embossing Folder – Stampin’ Up! Pine Wood Planks
Watercolour Paints – Artist’s Loft from Michaels
Bakers Twine – Recollections
Micron Pen (01)