Spotlight on Dad and Beautiful Blooms by Gennette Houghton

Welcome to Watercolor Weekend! I am loving all of the new releases that Art Impressions has come out with lately. From the masculine sets that are perfect for Father’s Day coming up, to the beautiful florals that are great for any occasion. The 6069 Outdoorsman set was originally released as the May Throwback, but due to popular demand it was added into the everyday line. Since I have both hunters and fisherman in my life, I chose this set for my first card.

I first stamped in the fisherman in N49, stamping off once, on watercolor paper. I then created a mask before stamping in the scene.  Since this set is rubber I used my stamping platform and a piece of acetate to help me position the scene where I needed it. After getting it lined up where I wanted it, I then inked it in N49, stamping off once before adding it with the fisherman.  Bonnie did a wonderful tutorial on this set in monochromatic, I was trying to decide how I wanted to color this. Then I came up with the idea to do both monochromatic and color, highlighting the fisherman.  Using a template that is 2 3/4 x 4 1/4 I traced in my guidelines and masked off the edges with post-it tape. I used a mixture of 565 and 969 throughout the monochromatic scene, using different strengths of colors. For the pine tree in the foreground to the right I used the 5954 Woodland Bears Set. For the smaller pine trees in the background I used 5010 WC Tree Set 1, I used full color on the ones in front and for the ones in back I stamped them off once before adding them to the scene.  I also used 5826 WC Large Tree Set 2 for the grass, and 4960 Fir Tree Set for the largest pine, using the largest 2 of the pine boughs. I then went over any of the stamped foliage with a damp brush to blend and soften.  

Now to spotlight the fisherman in color. For the hat I used 228 and 969. 879 for the hair. 992 for the vest. The shirt I shaded with 565 first, then I used 177 to put in the vertical and horizontal lines, I filled in every other square to create a plaid look.  For the pants I used 977, and the boots I used 249 with a little 947. The brown Twintone was used on the fishing pole, however, a stuff toucher had taken off with my pencil and instead of looking for it I grabbed the gray Twintone for the line. It’s a little thicker than I would like, but still works.  Don’t worry, I found my pencil and dutifully chastised the offender. LOL! Honestly, I am just glad it wasn’t my scissors!! (I’m not laughing, you are laughing!) I then matted my card with paper from the 5606 Harvest Journal Paper Pack, and matted my image with 2 different shades of green to finish off my card. 

For my 2^nd card I used several new sets, first I used 6062 Hydrangea Floral Set. Black-eyed Susan are one of my favorite wild flowers here, I always look forward to seeing them scattered throughout our fields.  I am so happy to see green here again and all of the beautiful florals after a pretty cold winter.  I stamped my image again in N49, stamping off once, on watercolor paper. For the pedals I used 055 first, starting from the center I then added in 025 and pulling up into the pedal. 026 was used for the shading.  For the center I started with 947, and going around the outside with 969. I used 879 to shade around the edge and to define the center from the pedals.  126 and 177 was used on the stems and leaves, darkening the areas under the flowers and behind overlapping leaves.  526 was used in the background. 

For the large flower I used the recently released 6041 Flower and Bugs Dies, it is a great stand alone set as well as it’s intended purpose for decorating the 5811 Gift Card Pocket. I cut out 2 sets of pedals, the center, and the elements for the bee, and the tag, all out of mixed media paper.  I colored both sets of pedals with 055 and 025. For the one that would be going on top, I darkened the center with 947. For the center piece of the flower I used 947, 969, and 879.  The bee I colored the main body with N15, the yellow stripes I used 055 and 025, shading the sides on both to give it dimension. I shaded the wings with 565.  I then stamped the sentiment from the same floral set onto the tag with black ink.

 

I matted my card base with paper from 5838 Fall Paper Pack. Taking some solid card stock in green and dark rust, and some vellum, I used the new 6047 Scalloped Squares. I used the largest die on the green card stock, and cut down my die cut piece to fit up in the corner. Counting from the largest down, #4 was used to cut out a piece of vellum, #5 for the rust colored cardstock, and #6 to cut out the floral image.  I also used a flower shaping kit to round out the pedals, center, and the bee.  I then assembled everything together and mounted them on my card. I used foam tape on the bee and the top layer of the flower under the pedals to give some dimension, and the center piece. On the tag I also used some copper ink around the edges and used a lacey ribbon. I wanted the ribbon to lay flat, so I attached it with a stapler.  Thank you for joining me today, and I hope you enjoyed my cards! Until next time, Create….Share….Inspire!