Remember & Honor and Reel Great Guy Cards by Diane Mason

 Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend! 

Hello, my Ai Watercolor friends and fans! I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend and taking a moment to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Today I’m sharing two cards—one with a patriotic theme and the other perfect for the guys in your life.

Remember & Honor Card:

In honor of Memorial Day, I created a patriotic quilt‑block card. I love quilting, though I haven’t had much time for it lately. While scrolling through Pinterest, a red, white, and blue pinwheel pattern caught my eye and inspired today’s design.

Colors and Supplies Used

Paper: Canson XL Watercolor Paper

Brush: No. 4 round brush

Stamps:

·      4052 – WC Flower Set 1

·      5937 – My Trust Set

Tombow Dual Brush Pens: 528, 856

Dies:

·      5061 – Square Double Stitched Dies

·      5063 – Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies

Other: Foam squares, Fiskars Fingertip Precision Knife, ruler

 

The image above on the left shows the quilt pattern and the number of red, white, and blue squares needed to complete the design. To create my own patterned paper, I stamped the daisy bunch from 4052 – WC Flower Set 1 using Tombow 856 and 528, then softened each flower with a damp brush to give it a watercolor look. For the white dotted paper, I used the multiple‑dots stamp from 5937 – My Trust Set, first in 856 and then again in 528. No water was added to the dotted pattern.

  

Next, I used the smallest square die from 5061 – Square Double Stitched Dies to die-cut 4 red, 4 blue, and 8 white squares. Each square was then carefully cut on the diagonal with a Fiskars Fingertip Precision Knife and a ruler to create the triangle pieces. Just like real quilting, accuracy is everything—clean cuts make the final block line up beautifully.

I cut a 3" x 3" square of white cardstock as my base and began assembling the quilt block, following the pinwheel pattern and adhering each triangle in place. Once the block was complete, I matted it with blue cardstock.

For the card base, I layered blue cardstock and a panel of red embossed cardstock. I created the “Remember & Honor” sentiment on my computer, matted it with blue cardstock, and added a 1⅛" x 4¼" strip of the dotted paper beneath the quilt block for balance. Both the sentiment and the quilt block were attached with foam squares for dimension.

Inside the card, I added a stitched 4" x 5¼" panel and trimmed it with coordinating red and blue cardstock strips.

I had so much fun “quilting” this card—and I didn’t even have to pull out my sewing machine, lol. While this design made a lovely Memorial Day card, it would also be perfect for the 4th of July or Veterans Day. And if you switch up the colors and sentiment, it becomes a pretty card for any crafty friend.

A Reel Great Guy Card:

Masculine cards are always a bit of a challenge for me, but with the help of two fantastic stamp sets: 4900 – Reel Great Guys Set and 6065 – Lakehouse Foundation, plus the always‑amazing 6158 – Story Tile Template Die; I was able to create this fun and fabulous “guy card.”

I began by die‑cutting a piece of Canson XL Watercolor Paper using the 6158 – Story Tile Template Die. All images were inked and stamped in N79. I started with the bucket of fish and the dog floating in a tube from 4900 – Reel Great Guys Set. For the fisherman scene, I selectively stamped the house and mountains from 6065 – Lakehouse Foundation, masking where needed to build the background.

To complete the lower left opening, I dropped the stamp slightly to include the rocky shoreline. Then I shifted the stamp to continue the mountains and aligned the rocky shoreline into the bottom right opening. (You’ll notice in the photo that I stamped the fish into the bottom left window—I ended up restamping, fussy cutting, and popping it up with foam squares later, so that first stamping wasn’t necessary.)

On a separate piece of watercolor paper, I partially stamped the fisherman in the boat, omitting the second fisherman and the far end of the boat. I also restamped the jumping fish. In hindsight, I should have stamped these on Canson XL Mix Media Paper since I planned to fussy cut them—but I didn’t, which meant cutting thick watercolor paper with scissors and a Fiskars Fingertip Precision Knife. Lesson learned!

 Colors and Supplies Used

Tombow Dual Brush Pens:

• 555 – sky and water
• 025, 985 – tube
• 177 – hills, grass, foliage (4051 – WC Foliage Set 1, Teeny Tiny Grass)
• 850, 910 – face and arms
• 228 – fishing vest, fish body, tail, fin
• 026 – fishing shirt, hat, fish fins
• 977, 969 – boat
• 977 (light wash) – dog’s belly
• 969 – dog’s body
• 856 – cheeks, fish bellies, tongue
• 947 – rod handle, roofs, chimney
• N25 – rod
• 228, 026 – house
• 565, 969 – bucket, mountains, rocks
• 565 – shadows

Other Coloring Supplies:

• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White – white flowers, window frames
• Tombow TwinTone Pens – navy, gray, black

Paper & Dies:

• Frame Paper: 6072 – Father’s Day Paper Pack
• Dies: 6158 – Story Tile Template Die
• Other: Foam squares, black Micron pen

Once the painting was finished, I fussy cut the fish and fisherman. I die‑cut a second frame from the 6072 – Father’s Day Paper Pack and adhered it to an A2 kraft card base. I glued all the tiles into place, then added foam squares behind the fish and fisherman so they appear to pop right out of the scene!

To finish the inside, I added a white panel trimmed with a coordinating strip of patterned paper.

Thank you so much for joining me today! I had such a great time creating both of these cards — from the patriotic quilt block inspired by a Pinterest pinwheel pattern to the fun, outdoorsy “Reel Great Guy” scene. I hope they spark ideas for your own weekend crafting. Wishing you a meaningful Memorial Day and a creative week ahead. Until next time, Happy Painting!