Hello, Ai Watercolor fans! Thanks for joining us this lovely Saturday for another Watercolor Weekend Roundup with our watercolor team! With the countdown to Christmas in t-minus 10 days, we are here with some fabulous inspiration for your holiday cards! These projects are so sweet and have details that give that extra special touch. Take a look!
Hello Watercolor Friends,
My card for the Watercolor Weekend Round-up is one of those classic scenes of dragging the Christmas tree home. Hope you recreate it and tag me on Instagram. I will be attempting to explain, step by step, how I make my Art Impressions watercolored cards so your feedback is welcome. I'm certain it took longer to create this post than it did to make my card (haha). My memory is not so good so I will take pictures along the way.
The first thing I did was create the tree sideways using the 4960 - WC Fir Trees set. I stamped the trunk in sepia and then stamped all of the branches in pine green. I used water on my brush to dab at the colors just like Bonnie Krebs, owner/creator of Art Impressions does on her YouTube videos.
I had watched Sandy Allnock's video on YouTube where she converted the little kids to be dressed in winter clothes so using the stamp positioner, I inked up the little boy stamp from the 5054 - WC Little Boys Set in sepia but I didn't ink the right side of his shirt so he could be dragging the tree. I drew in the hand and arm using the sepia fine tip. Next I used my palette to color the little boy's boots in black, his jacket in sepia and painted his hands in the Prussian blue to make them look like he was wearing mittens. I didn't ink the brim of his hat either, so I could make it a snow hat instead. I used the olive brown from the palette to paint in a scarf.
I colored the hat in with the olive brown from my palette and used the Prussian blue to color in a hat band and ball of fur on top of it. I colored the boys hair with brown from the palette. I do believe it's my new favorite color for hair since my red-headed grandson Caide was born. I used a dab of rosewood on the palette to paint in his face and ear. I used the fine tip of the Prussian blue pen to add the fringe to the scarf and the outline the mittens, hat band and ball of fur. I took my olive brown fine tip and drew in the lines on the hat and scarf.
I stamped the house from the 4962 - WC Rustic Cabins Set in Sepia then pulled the color out of the lines. I used lt. teal on the palette to color in the windows, sepia for the chimney and olive brown for the door, roof and around the windows. I drew in the wreath using the fine tip of the pine green pen and the bow in persimmon. I used the little foliage from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set to created the little bushes. I softened the green foliage with a wet brush then added the little berries with the fine tip of the persimmon pen. I used a lot of water and small amount of African violet on the palette to create the snow, the smoke from the chimney, and a small amount of sky. I added Wink of Stella glitter to the snow. I stamped the sentiment, then I used the Rectangle Double Stitched dies to cut it out and then the largest sized die to cut out the background piece of paper which I adhered to the back of my scene, then I adhered that to the card base. Lastly, I signed my name and date to the bottom right corner using my favorite pen - a Copic multi liner 0.03 pigment ink.
My clear “Merry Christmas” card for today’s Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend is sparkly, fun and festive, just perfect for this holiday season.
Trace the largest circle from the Circle Double Stitched Dies in pencil onto a 4 x 5¼ piece of watercolor paper. Fill the upper 2/3 of the circle with little dots of Molotow Masking Liquid. Let dry completely. Mask off the bottom 1/3 of the circle with post-it notes or masking paper. Stamp the two larger pine trees from WC Tree Set 1 in 72 Pine Green as the lowest row of trees. Next ink up the same pine tree stamps with 72 Pine Green, but first stamp it off onto paper, then stamp it behind the first row of trees for a lighter look. And finally, stamp the small pine tree from WC Tree Set 1 in102 Jade Green behind the second row. Watercolor the Art Impressions way by pulling the color from the lines with water and a paint brush. Scribble 60 Salvia Blue onto your palette and brush in for the wintery sky. Remove the masking fluid and pencil line from the circle with an eraser. Add sparkle pen over all the little white dots left behind from the masking liquid. Then carefully brush on the sparkle pen over the front row of trees (keep in mind the pen is water based so it will move the ink). Cut a piece of transparency film to 8½ x 5½, score at 4¼ for a side folding card. Run a holiday sentiment die through your die cutter on gold glitter paper. Add adhesive to the back of the die cut and dymo strip with adhesive and adhere to the front of the clear card. Center and adhere the watercolored piece on the inside of the card. I opted to put a blank piece of 4 x 5¼ piece of watercolor paper on the back of the clear card to hide the adhesive and have a place to write a sentiment/signature.
I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Other Products: Pencil, Eraser, Christmas Die by Studio Calico, Crystal Clear Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen, 3M Transparency Film, Xyron Sticker Maker and Xryon Mega Runner, Post-It Notes, Gold Glitter Paper, Dymo, Gemini by Crafters Companion
Welcome to another watercolor weekend with the Art Impressions Watercolor design team. For my project, I decided to go with a simple Snowman card. This would make a perfect Christmas Card. I hope you will give it a try.
The Snowman
I inked the Snowman stamp up with several different colors. First I used the African Violet on the areas that I wanted to be white, around the head, and the middle and bottom balls. I inked the scarf in English Red and the hat, buttons and face with Black. Huff on the stamp to make sure all areas stamp well.
To begin, I pulled the color out of the lines starting with anything I wanted to remain white. Note, be careful not to get too close to the red as it will bleed into your white areas.
Next, I pulled the color out of the hat and used my palette to add additional black to the right and left side of the hat, slowly building the color. Once it dried, I added the mini leaves inked in Pine Green to his hat. To create the berries, I used the English Red direct to the paper. To enhance the darkest areas, I used the fine tip of the Black marker.
I lightly pulled some color out of the coal on his face and buttons. I added very little water and used my fine tip to really darken the bottoms of each piece. Make sure to leave the white highlight.
Next, I pulled the color out of the scarf, make sure you leave white space on top. Underneath the scarf should be really dark as well as the crease. I added some additional color from my palette.
After I inked up his branches with Sepia, I used a bit of masking tape to protect the scarf while I stamped his right arm. I used the same tape to mask off where I wanted to stamp his left arm so it wouldn't be so long. There is really no need to add water to the branches.
The Bird
Using Sepia, I stamped the bird onto my stamp positioner so I could place it on top of the branch. I added some Sepia and Vermillion to the bird and added some additional color from my palette and used my fine tip to darken his wings. Make sure you leave white space and darken in the eye.
The Background
To finish up, I diluted my African Violet on my palette with water. I brushed it into the background to create a dark sky, building the color slowly. Be careful to avoid getting too close to the lines as they will reactivate the color and will bleed into your background. Once it is to your liking, let it dry and add snow using a white gel pen or a Sharpie paint pen.
And finally, sign and date your masterpiece! Check out my blog for all the details on how to create the card.
Thank you so much for stopping by today and make sure you check out all the design teams projects. We hope you are inspired to create a card of your own! Tag us on Instagram and use the #AIWatercolor!
Thank you, team! Love these beautiful holiday projects! With a variety of styles shown here, there is certainly something for everyone to try. It is such a special time of year to handcraft a homemade card for someone! Before you send your card in the mail, snap a picture and tag us on
Instagram and
Facebook with
#aistamps so we can see your creations! Wishing you a great holiday season from the Ai Watercolor Design Team!
Happy Stamping!
Doggy Kisses Set
Uptown Girls Set
Sleigh Bells Set
Full of Thanks Set
