Balloon Race and XOXO by Diane Mason

 Hello and welcome, Watercolor Weekend Fans!

Have you seen the new watercolor stamps released this past Wednesday? Bonnie has done it again—these new sets are fantastic! We now have four new watercolor flower sets to create with: 5825 – Geranium Set, 5831 – Rose Set, 5824 – Poppy Set, and 5827 – Hydrangea Set. Additionally, 5789 – Hot Air Balloon Set has been released. This set is perfect for outdoor scenes with balloons flying in the distance. It's also small enough to fit on the pages of mini journals!

I couldn't wait to start creating with these fantastic new sets! Today I'll be sharing a card created with the Hot Air Balloon Set and another one for Valentine's Day using the Geranium Set. Let's dive in!

Balloon Race:

As soon as I saw this new set, I knew I had to paint a Balloon Race scene. What better way than to have those balloons flying over a gnome's mushroom house! For this scene I used the following sets:

5789 – Hot Air Balloon Set

5378 – WC Stone Creek Scene

5785 – Gnomes Set

5790 – Fairy Houses

5788 – Whimsical Mushrooms

5794 – Whimsical Flowers

5122 – WC Bridge Set

5372 – WC Mini Foliage Set

 

All images were inked with N52 and stamped off once before being stamped onto Canson XL watercolor paper. The only exception is the tiny mushrooms and bridge, which were inked with 969 only. First, I stamped the mushroom house from 5788 and then covered it with a mask. I then carefully added the mountains and stream from 5378. I made sure to leave space for the footbridge from 5122 (inked in 969) and then stamped just the continuation of the stream to the left of the bridge. Using a pencil, I extended the hill lines on the left side of the house. Next, I added multiple hot air balloons to the sky to resemble a race.

On a separate piece of watercolor paper, I stamped the little upward-looking gnome from 5785. For a fun backdrop, I painted a colorful sky in blue (526), orange (913), and yellow (991), being careful not to touch the lines of the balloons. The hills and grass were painted in 249 and 177. For the river, I used 526 and a touch of 991 for sunny reflection from the sky.

With the mushroom house mask back in place, I added vines growing behind the house from 5794 in 177. After removing the mask, I added another vine to the right of the little door. Tiny mushrooms from 5788 were inked in 969 and added to the scene. Shadows and contours were added to the rocks, bridge, and mushroom house by pulling color from the stamped images, and additional color was added where needed.

Tiny grass from 5372, inked in 177 was added at the base of the house, mushrooms, and footbridge. An additional clump of grass was added to the bottom right for the gnome to stand on. I painted in cobblestone paths leading from the stairs, near the little door and across the footbridge with 565/969, 969, and a touch of Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White.

The tiny mushrooms were painted with 856, 991, 526, 969, and 565. The mushroom house was painted with 991, 026, 856, 526, and 565. For the gnome, I used 856, 991, 565, N52, 912, and 526. I painted the balloons in a variety of colors: 991, 933, 856, 526, 177, 606, and 969 for the baskets.

Details were added back where needed using gray, brown, red and blue TwinTone markers. Polka dots of Bleed Proof White were added to the roof of the house. Small white dots where added to the tiny mushrooms and the grasses. The gnome was die cut and popped up in place with a pop dot. The finished painting was matted and mounted on an A2 white card base.

The sentiment on the inside is from 5797 – Little Things Sentiment Set. Looks like the orange and yellow balloon just might win the race!

XOXO - Valentine's Day Card:

For my next card, I used the new 5825 – Geranium Set and 5071 – WC Serif Letters Set.

To start off, I drew a pencil line onto my watercolor paper to help align my letters. I inked the letters XOXO (aka Hugs and Kisses) in N52 and stamped off once before adding them to my paper. I then selected varying geranium leaves and inked them in 249, stamping them at the base of the letters using a stamp positioner. Geraniums were inked in 856 and 249, and using a stamp positioner, the flowers were stamped into place.

Using a damp brush, I pulled color from the lines of the images – first the green, then the red. Additional color from the palette was added to create shadows and add details. Next, I pulled color from the edges of the images to add interest to the background. I then added color to the blank areas of the letters in 401. To add shadows to the blue areas of the letters, I mixed N52 and 401. Any details that were lost were added back with a red TwinTone marker or with 249 and a #0 brush. Once dry, all pencil lines were erased.

I trimmed the painting down to a 2-inch strip. Next, I matted the base of an A2 card with floral paper from 5741 – Valentines Paper Pack. I cut two 5/16-inch strips of coordinating paper to border the painting. The painting and border strips were added to the card front at an angle. I painted a geranium bloom and die-cut the tiny heart using a die from 5719 – FB Fence & Window Set. I added a blue bow and a tiny heart to accessorize the card front.

I didn't have any Valentine sentiment stamps on hand, so I printed one out using fonts from my computer. I stamped a geranium in the right corner of my cardstock and carefully added color to the image, making sure not to use too much water on the cardstock.

And what Valentine’s Day card wouldn’t be complete without a little sweet treat to accompany it? I cut two 1-inch by 3-inch strips of Canson Mixed Media paper and randomly stamped geraniums onto the strips. The painting process was the same as the card painting. The strips were then wrapped around a Hershey’s Nugget and secured with double sided tape.

Thank you for joining me today for another Watercolor Weekend! It was so much fun trying out the new release stamps for these cards. I’m sure more inspiration using these new stamps will be coming in the weeks ahead. Until next time – Happy Painting!

Balloon Race:

XOXO - Valentine's Day Card: