Blooms for Mom by Gennette Houghton

Hello, and Welcome to Watercolor Weekend!  May is the time of year here where the garden nurseries start gearing up for the season just in time for Mother’s Day.  There is something about all of the flowers that let you know the warmer months are here and everything is coming out of the deep sleep of winter.  We are usually not out of the woods here until around the end of May, I have seen frost clear into June, and as early as August.  Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons, the colors of both can be extraordinary.

For my 1^st card I used 5981 My Joy Set, I inked my stamps with Distress Ink in Pumice Stone and stamped off once.  I started with a circle die to use as my guide, tracing the inside with a pencil on my watercolor paper.  I took both of the flower sprigs, overlapping the stems just a bit to fill the outside of the circle.  I then used the stamp positioner to place my butterflies, leaving the very bottom one off.  For the stems and leaves I started with 126 and then shaded with 177.  The flower petals I used 676, focusing most of the color to the center and shaded areas.  For the centers, I started with 055 as the base, I then used 025 to paint a “C” on the shaded area. I use just a bit of 026 right at the bottom of the “C” to add a bit more depth.  For the butterflies, I started with a black micron for the bodies and antennae. For the pink butterfly I used 725 and 947, the blue butterfly I used 526 and 565, the yellow butterfly 055 and 025, and the purple butterfly I used 636.  I then added a background with a mix of 526 and 177, and then decided to add a bit more of the 177.  I then went through and added 565 for a shadow throughout the whole scene.  I die cut my image with my original circle die, and then used a matching green cardstock and cut that out with 6045 Scalloped Circle Dies, using the largest.  5939 Fairy Garden Paper Pack is what I used to mat my card base and then assembled my card.

 For my 2^nd card I used 5744 SF Picket Fence.  I stamped this also in Pumice Stone and stamped off once.  I have a piece of acetate that is cut down to 2 ¾ x 4 ¼ that I use as a guide for the scenic foundations.  After stamping on my watercolor paper, I place and center the guide over my image and trace out some guidelines with a pencil.  This helps to keep the edges clean so you are not trying to fill in unnecessary space.  For any edges that I am stamping in flowers or foliage, I use post-it tape along the guide.  I started with the house, keeping everything towards the left edge light, focusing more of the color towards the front of the house.  For the roof, trim, and porch, I used a mix of 947 and 177.  Then I shaded with 565.  For the dormers and door I used 312, adding extra details in with the same color.  For the door knob I used 969.  I started with a pencil and ruler on the windows to draw in some guides for the panes of glass, and then used a mix of 249 and 565.  Adding in some more 565 for the shadow areas, and then decided to add a bit of 177 as reflections.  For the tree trunk I started with 947 and then shaded with 969.  I put in a wash of 249 on the back hills, and 177 on everything towards the front with the exception of the shading by the porch where I added in some 249.  I shaded the path with 565, and added 526 to the sky before putting any foliage in.  For the birdhouse I used 969 on the pole, 947 and 969 on the roof.  For the hole and perch I used 969, 312 and 565 for the main part of the house.  I shaded both the fence and trellis with 565.   These are the sets and colors I used for the foliage and flowers.

 

4964 WC Branches Set / 969

5372 WC Mini Foliage Set / brush line 249, shaded with 565

Tree foliage 126 and 177 together

5126 WC Foliage Set 4 / Vines, by the mailbox mix of 126 and 177

House, Trellis, fence, front corner 177 (vines)

4052 Flower Set 1 / daisy bunch 905

Salvia 565

4051 Foliage Set 1 / grass, mix of 126 and 177 

For the shadows in the pathway, I stamped both the vines and salvia in N60 stamping off once first.

Bleed Proof White

 

I then matted my card base with paper from 5832 Gnome Paper Pack.  After cutting my image down leaving a bit of a white border I then matted it onto a dark brown cardstock and assembled my card.  Thanks for joining me today, I hope you enjoyed my creations! Until next time! Create….Share….Inspire!

 

Floral Butterfly and SF Picket Fence by Karen Day

 Hello Ai Watercolour fans!

I've gone all floral this week, with a butterfly concept that I've had in my head for awhile, and have finally put it on paper:

I wanted to create a butterfly totally out of Ai flowers/leaves.  I was very inspired by the new 5936 - My Hope Set and 5937 - My Trust sets from the Bible Journaling line, so I pulled them out and set to work.  I first practised on scrap paper, drawing a pencil outline of a butterfly, in order to plan out which stamps would fit inside the shape.  I also picked my colour palette, as planning out what colour each of the flowers would be was an important part.  

*One key thing to keep in mind, is that you are trying to create mirror images - in that the left and right sides of the butterfly should mirror each other.  So unless you have stamps that mirror each other, you have to choose images that will work on both sides.  If you look closely at my project, you'll see that the sides are not mirroring each other, but I made choices that were as close as possible.  I also stopped what I was doing frequently, to look at my work, making sure that I was keeping it balanced on each side.

I'm not going to go into great detail about my project, as I realize that it's pretty involved, and not for everyone.  But the process itself is an easy concept.  As per my practise piece above, you can see that I sketched out a butterfly shape, then chose the larger blooms that fit.  Then I just used the Daisy Bunch from Flower Set - 4052 in orange, and the tiny leafy sprig from 5009 - WC Mini flower Set in lime green to fill in around them all.

I created a wash of #249/565 to dab onto the background, and then I made the body using the rose trio from 5258 - Flower Set 4, and the foxglove from Flower Set - 4052 all in #565.  I knew it was meant to be when I spotted the two flower stamps from the My Hope set that were perfect for the antennae.  The colour palette that I used is: 403/565/126/346/933/993, and the finished card size is 6 1/2" x 5".

My second project is using one of the pretty Scenic Foundations stamps.  This is 5744 - SF Picket Fence:

I stamped my image onto Canson XL Watercolour Paper using Tombows 969/565, then began painting in my scene as follows:  #476 on the house and birdhouse, using a darker shade of it on the shadowed walls, and lighter where the sun hits.  #977 was painted onto the roof, and as shades on the tree.  #177 was washed as the grassy hillsides and stamped with the line of shrubbery stamp from 5372 - W Mini Foliage.  The foliage stamp from the set was used with both #177 and #126 to add a leafy canopy to the tree.

With the main sections painted, I added in the flowers and greenery using the Salvia stamp from Flower Set - 4052 in #565, the daisy bunch in #933 & #946 and the small vines from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #177 added all the greenery including the vine on the trellis.  I touched everything with a damp brush, and then added a few dots of Bleed Proof White Paint for some softer flowers.  The windows and shadows were painted in using #565, paying special attention to the picket fence, and adding some shadows to the flowers.  I die cut my image, mounted it on some tan cardstock and attached it to my card with 3D foam adhesive.  The background paper is from 5892 - Easter S2 Paper Pack.