Watercolor Weekend - Karen & Tricia Edition

 Hello everyone!

  With the Ai blog taking a break later this month, we are doubling up your Watercolor Weekend inspiration this week, with posts from both Karen & Tricia.   

Karen will start us off with a twister card:

I adore making these!  I've wanted to try this idea for a while...  I started by picking my patterned papers from the new 5812 - Christmas S2 Paper Pack, and used that as my colour palette to paint the front and back images of the snowman from 5815 Mini Christmas Twister Set:

I stamped him using Tombow #N55 (using a grey for a less muddy outline) on some Bristol Smooth cardstock, then painted him in with #312/249/847/N55, and I used my 933 marker directly for his nose.  The dies that are included in the set cut him out so easily!  And they add on the little notch at the top and bottom that fit into the opening for the twister.  I used the 5724 Nested Rectangle Dies to cut out all my background papers, and mounted them onto my card base.

With the smaller (lemon-shaped!) die, I cut the opening for the twister, through all layers of paper (I did trim away a few to make it less bulky).  I cut a frame for the opening out of the same red cardstock for both the inside and outside of my card - I always like to make the inside of the card neat and tidy looking, and glued them in place.  I love the 5072 Block Letters Die Set, and cut the J and Y in red, and a second set in the striped paper from the pack - layering them both for a bit of a shadow effect.  After gluing the back-to-back snowman pieces together, I bent him slightly to fit him into the frame.  I added a sentiment from 5566 Christmas Sentiment Set with some 3D foam adhesive.

I really do love the snow... from the window of my Craft Room, LOL!  And I'm actually intimidated to paint it - but this year, Bonnie has done some fabulous snowy tutorials, and it's really made a difference for me.  My second project uses the new 5822 Rustic Christmas Set:

I positioned both the cabin and birdhouse from the set on the same block so that I could ensure that I got the perspective right, and that they were both straight - then stamped them on some smooth watercolour paper after colouring them in Tombows #969/565.  I then coloured the larger wreath from 5830 WC Mini Wreath Set in #249, and stamped it on the birdhouse.  After masking off the cabin, I added three trees using 5826 WC Large Tree Set 2 coloured in #249.

I painted a mix of #249/565 on the birdhouse, adding darker areas under the eaves, and then painted the cabin in a mix of #947/969, making the beams darker, and then used my brown Twintone marker to draw in the wood siding.  I didn't want a bright red, so I mixed a little 969 in with my 856 for both the chimney and door, and used N55 for the cement porch.  I hand drew the mountains and walkway, painting both in shades of #565.  I always pick one side of the mountains to be darker, and concentrate my shadows there.  I added in a few shadows on all my snowy areas using #565, and painted it as a wash in the sky.  I used Dr. PH Martin's Bleed Proof White to add snowy touches and to create snowflakes and icicles on the roofs.  I hand drew in the red bow on the wreath with my red Twintone marker, and used a sentiment from 5566 Christmas Sentiments.

I die cut my scene with a 5063 Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Die, matted on some rusty red cardstock to complement the cabin, and then adhered it to my 5853 Christmas Magic paper with some 3D foam adhesive.

Tricia has an exciting venture that she is organizing to bring Christmas Cheer to senior homes.  Here's all the information on how you can get involved (and maybe win a prize!): 

Join in the fun and win some amazing prizes while sending kindness and joy to someone in need. We have an incredible gift of making cards, sharing our love, and putting positivity into the universe. 

I would love to give you a chance to win daily prizes as well as be eligible to win the grand prize! Head over to my blog for all the details.

You don't want to miss out!  Get your cards in the mail today. Thank you so much for all of your love and support in this endeavor.  You are all amazing artists and most of all humans.  You make the difference every day when you lift others up and make them not only feel loved and accepted but truly seen.  I am grateful for each and every one of you and I hope you all have a most blessed holiday season.  

Peace and Love, Tricia xoxo

For the Shaker card:

For the Snowy Cabin card: