Whimsical Watercolors by Karen

 Happy Watercolor Weekend, everyone!

Valentine season is almost upon us... and if you don't own any Valentine stamps, no problem!  Use what you have.  You can do a lot with the right sentiment, or just adding a heart to your card (or in my case, a heart shaped balloon!)

The 5785 - Gnomes Set has been so popular, so I decided to use the largest gnome - stamping him in Tombow #969/565 onto my Canson XL Watercolor Paper.  I didn't intend to make him a Valentine, but realized with his arm extended up, that I could easily attach a balloon, so I also stamped the heart shaped one from 5722 - Birthday Journal Set, then sketched in the string with a fine marker.  I pulled out the colour with a damp brush, then started adding #991/992 to his pants and mitts, and #526 to his jacket.  I used layers of #847 on his hat, adding layers of colour to the sides, and finally shading with a bit of #565.  N57 was painted in on his shoes, again layering to achieve my darker shades, and it was also used to paint around the edges of his beard, to give it some texture.  

I also used #847 on the balloon, using layers to create the shadows - focusing on the underside of the balloon to suggest the rounded shape.  A little #533 was washed around him, and #565 streaked at the base, to ground the image.  He was cut out with 5724 - Nested Rectangle Dies.  The sentiment is from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink and adhered with 3D foam tape.  My background papers are from 5741 - Valentines Paper Pack.

I really love making wreaths with my Ai stamps, so created this little whimsical one with an assortment of stamp sets:

I started by planning my wreath out on scrap paper, stamping the images to see what worked, and how to place each image within my design.  Beginning with 5788 - Whimsical Mushroom Set, I stamped the house in #N57, masked it - and stamped the large and small mushrooms behind and beside it.  I kept the masks in place, and started to build my wreath outwards from there.  I added multiples of the following:

Fern from 5830 - WC Mini Wreath Set in #126

Small broadleaf fern from 5830 in #296

Leaves and strawberries from 5795 - Berries Set in #249/847

Round leaf stem from 5828 - WC Poinsettia Set in #346

Twig from 4964 - WC Branches Set in #969

Mini Foxglove from Flower Set - 4052 in #565

I touched everything with a damp brush, painting in more colour where needed.  I used shades of #847 on the strawberries and mushroom lids, using layers of colour to achieve darker tones.  #565 was painted on the door and the smaller mushrooms, and shades of #977/992 were painted on the mushroom stems.  I made sure to concentrate shadows under the mushroom lids where it would be the darkest, and added the grass directly to the paper with the 126 marker.  There was a lot of 'white' space in my wreath, so I pulled out colour from the leaves, and painted it in and around them, to fill gaps and keep the arched shape of my wreath.  A final touch was adding black dots sprinkled around the image.  I used my sewing machine to stitch the square down to a green mat, and adhered it all to my 5 1/2" base with 3D foam tape.