Fall into Winter by Gennette Houghton

Hello and welcome to Watercolor Weekend! I have always considered November to be a transition type of month. Here in Michigan it is common to see our first snow even though fall is still in swing unless we have had a hard frost.  So today I have a fall and winter card to show you. 

For my 1^st card I used an older set that I am very fond of, the 4701 Clay Pot set, inking it in the 565/969 combo and stamped off twice. Since I wanted this to be the base color I mixed up the same 2 colors to darken the color.  I went over the top of this with 526 and added some more 565 for the shadow areas.  The rust I used 947 with 969 in spots to make the rust look darker in some areas.  The mistake I made is that I should have kept the bottom light so that it didn’t show so much through the grass. Do I think it ruined it? No, I don’t think so, but definitely something to keep in mind. 

I then masked off the clay pot and chose the sunflowers from 5594 Harvest Scarecrow Set inking them in 947 and stamped them off once.  For the petals I used 025 all over and 946 at the base of the petals and any area overlapped or shadowed.  947 and 969 on the center using the 969 just along the edge with a couple of dots of Bleed Proof White for highlights.  The stems I used 126 with 177 for the darker areas especially right under the flower heads.  I used the branch and dried flower from the Clay Pot set after masking the sunflower in the center, using 969 on the branch and 027 on the dried flower. 526 was used for the sky. As I was making this card I saw our first Junco, I call them my winter robins, they migrate from the north to here for the winter and they are a little early this year. So I decided to honor them by adding one to my painting.  Using 4966 WC Bird Bath Set I stamped the bird in N35, using my positioner to position it on the handle. Pulled the color out and added a little bit more for the darker areas, I used a little bit of the Bleed Proof White for some highlights and the belly. 055 on the beak and a black micron for the eye.  The grass I used is from the 5826 WC Large Tree Set 2, inked in 2 colors 177 with a touch in 2 spots of 969. I then cut my image out with the dies from 5588 Journal Oval Frames Die set, I still have the 2 dies connected together. I matted the card with paper from 5835 Mini Journal PP, after gluing the outside piece down, I popped up the center on foam tape. I used 5600 Harvest Sentiment set and used an edge die from the 5543 Journal Template set. I felt it needed something so I added the leaves from KH5951 Foxes set. The leaves are in a bunch of 3, so I inked just the one for the left and the other 2 for the right, using the stamp positioner to place them where I wanted them to be, inking them in 946. I then used 025 for the base adding in 946 in the shadowed areas and darkened the deeper shadow areas with 905. I then used 565 to create a shadow under the leaves and sentiment. 

For my 2^nd, and winter card, I used the KH5951 Foxes Set. I first used a piece of watercolor paper and using N49 I created birch patterns adding more color to the sections while still wet until I was happy with how it looked.  I then ran the paper through an embossing snowflake folder.  Taking the largest die from the 5064 Circle Double Stitched Dies I offset the die so that part of it would be off the page. I then took another piece of watercolor paper and placed it behind and lining up the cut edge, I traced around the circle so I knew where to put my scene.  I then stamped the foxes in N49, stamping off once first, and pulled the color out adding more as necessary in the darker areas.  I used a black micron on the eyes and noses and then added 565 to create my shadows on the foxes and also underneath them.  

Masking off the foxes I stamped in the 2 birch trees from 5826 WC Large Tree Set 2 also in N49 with a stamp positioner, and stamped each one off first. After pulling the color out and adding just a touch more in the birch pattern I then used 565 to shade both sides of the trees and under the branches.  526 was used for the sky and bringing the color in as carefully as I could so that I would have a dark enough background to allow the snow I put on the branches using Bleed Proof White to show. Using the branch from the Fox Set, I stamped it in 879 and then used the bullet tip on the 885 marker for the berries. Adding more 565 at the base of the tree and in sections below the foxes along with Bleed Proof White for the snow on the ground adding a touch more of 565 to give the snow dimension including the snow on the branches. Leaving the right side of my 2 pieces of paper as it is, I then cut my papers down to 4 x 5 ¼ inches doing my best to center the circle and image checking the 2 together to make sure they continued to match together.  After erasing the pencil line, I then glued to 2 pieces together, matting them on a matching gray cardstock leaving just a thin border and then gluing them to my card base. 

Thank you for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed my cards! Until next time. Create….Share….Inspire!