"Provider, Protector, Leader" and "Live Life in Full Bloom" Cards by Diane Mason

  Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend!

Hello Ai Watercolor friends, and Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads out there! Thanks for stopping by for Watercolor Weekend. I’ve got two fun projects to share with you today — one for Father’s Day and one for a birthday.

“Provider, Protector, Leader” Father’s Day Card:

Art Impressions recently released five new Watercolor Foundation stamp sets: 6065 – Lakehouse Foundation, 6066 – Classic Truck Foundation, 6067 – Wild Buck Foundation, 6068 – Hiker Foundation, and 6069 – Outdoorsmen. These Foundation stamps make it easy to create the perfect scene — just add some florals and foliage, and you’ve got a finished design in no time!

For today’s Father’s Day card, I used the 6068 – Hiker Foundation Set, but with a twist! When I inked it with 565/969, I left out the hiker. Instead, I thought it would be adorable to feature a Papa Bear and his cubs walking along the path. The bears are from the newly released 6064 – WC Bear Set.

To plan my scene, I started by creating a “road map.” I placed the Foundation stamp in my stamp platform and inked only the scene—leaving out the hiker—onto a sheet of plain paper. Then I stamped the bears into the layout. This road map helped me visualize stamp placement, identify areas that might need masking, and decide where to add pencil details.

With the road map still in my stamp platform, I positioned the two cubs over the stamped image. Then I swapped in my watercolor paper and inked the cubs with 565/969, stamping off once to remove excess ink before transferring them to the watercolor paper. Next, I referred back to my road map and placed the Foundation stamp accordingly. Since it's a clear stamp, aligning it is easy. I inked the areas indicated on my road map—leaving out the hiker and a few of the rear path lines that would overlap with the bear—using 565/969. To finish the scene, I stamped the Papa Bear. I masked a small section of the hill at the back left of the path so his leg wouldn’t stamp over it, then inked the bear with 565/969 and stamped him into place.

With all the elements of the scene in place, it was time to start painting. I began by brushing in the sky and water using a mix of 555 and 565, taking care to keep the areas near the trees light so I could add foliage later. Using a pencil, I lightly sketched the path in front of the bear and added a few lines behind him.

Next, I pulled color from the stamped lines to create contours and shadows. I painted the bears with 947 and 969, remembering to leave their faces lighter. For the rocks, I added color with 565, 969, and 947, and I used 565 and 969 again to paint shadows on the mountains. The two tree trunks in the background were painted with 977 and 969, while the fir tree was painted with 947 and 969.

The following stamps and colors were used to add the foliage and flowers:

• Tree leaves: 5372 – WC Mini Foliage Set (leaf bunch), 177, 133
• Large fir tree: 4960 – WC Fir Trees Set (fir branches), 249
• Branches near trees: 4964 – WC Branches Set (small branch), 177, 969
• Leafy vines near the trees: 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 (vine), 177
• Flowers: 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 (blue flowers - small flowers), 555, 249; 5009 – WC Mini Flower Set (red flowers - dots), 856
• Small fir trees in the distance: WC Mini Foliage Set (fir tree), 249
• Grasses: 4051 – WC Foliage Set 1 (small and large grass), 177

For the path, shadows of 969 and 565 were added. The dirt edges of the path were painted with 969. I used a brown TwinTone marker to add details to the bears' faces and bodies, as well as details to the trees, rocks, and path. Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White was used to dot in the blue flower centers.

I die-cut the painting and green mat using dies from 5724 – Nested Rectangle Dies. The patterned paper on the card base is from 6072 – Father’s Day Paper Pack.

For the interior of the card, I used stamps from 6064 – WC Bear Set and 6063 – Just For Him Set. The sentiments and paw were inked with Versafine – Vintage Sepia.

And just for fun, I partially stamped a peeking bear on the back of the card and centered the “Fierce and Fearless!” sentiment at the bottom.

“Live Life in Full Bloom Card” Birthday Card:

For my second project, I painted a simple and elegant birthday card featuring a gold-matted hydrangea. It’s a softer design with a classic feel — perfect for someone who loves timeless florals.

For the hydrangea image, I used the newly released 6062 – Hydrangea Floral Set. I inked the flowers with 526 and 636, and the leaves with 177. After stamping, I used a damp brush to pull out the color and soften the lines, giving the painting a natural, blended look.

To add depth, I layered more 526 and 636 onto the petals, and dropped in touches of 177 to add shadows and shape to the leaves. I used a turquoise blue (84) TwinTone to dot the flower centers and added a few details to the petals. Finally, I pulled color from the stamped image to create a soft watercolor background, tying everything together.

I die-cut the painting and the gold mat using two square dies from 5725 – Nested Square Dies. To create the gold mat, I painted the edges of my watercolor paper with Gansai Tambi metallic Yellow Gold (#903) watercolor paint. The card base was covered with lilac cardstock and matted with patterned paper from 6051 – Mother’s Day Paper Pack. I die-cut a lilac scalloped square from 6047 – Scalloped Square Dies. The painting with the gold mat was popped up with foam tape onto the scalloped square and adhered to the card front.

I die-cut a scrap of watercolor paper with a tag die from 5952 – Portfolio Template Die Set. I needed the tag to have two holes, so I placed the die-cut back into the die, turning it so when I ran it through my die-cutting machine, it would cut the second hole (or I could have used an appropriately sized handheld hole punch to punch the hole). I carefully painted the decorative edge with the same metallic gold paint. To make a lilac mat for the tag, I traced around the outside edge of the tag die with a pencil and cut out the shape with scissors. Centering the tag onto the mat, I used a pencil to mark the holes and then used a hole punch to punch the holes. I stamped the sentiment from 6062 – Hydrangea Floral Set in Versafine Onyx black ink and popped it up on the mat with foam tape. Gold and white Baker’s twine was looped through the holes. The ends of the twine were wrapped around to the back side of the card front and secured in place with clear tape, and then covered with a rectangle of white cardstock to hide the ends.

For the interior of the card, I die-cut a rectangle from white cardstock using a die from 5063 – Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies and attached a decorative strip of patterned paper to the bottom edge to create a mat. Versafine Onyx Black ink was used to stamp the sentiment from 6061 – Tulip Floral Set and Happy Birthday from 6063 – Just For Him Set.

That’s all for now—thanks so much for stopping by for Watercolor Weekend! Until next time, Happy Painting!