Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Three Unique Projects Inside!

Hello Ai Watercolor Fans, and welcome to another Watercolor Weekend post! It's a great day for stamping, don't you think? Check out these three lovely projects to inspire your weekend creations! Remember to check out the pink links by the designer's name to hop over to the personal blog, instagram, or other accounts so you can continually be inspired throughout the week!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I hope you like my beach scene card I made using Art Impression's stamps for the Watercolor Weekend. I wanted to make the brick wall after watching Art Impression's Creator/Owner Bonnie Krebs Bible Journaling video on YouTube, where she showed us you have to add the color first. The first thing I stamped was the lighthouse from the 5069 - My Fortress Set. I inked it up first with the brown 969, then I inked it up with 565 but I didn't ink the water part on the bottom of the stamp. I stamped it off on a piece of scrap paper before I stamped it on my watercolor paper. I stamped the little girl next from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set using the 969 and stamping it off first. I stamped the little puppy next to her from the 4959 - WC Dogs Set using the same 969 and stamping it off first as well. Those Tombow markers are really juicy so I tend to stamp everything off first when I use them. I used a T-ruler and permanent Copic Marker to make the two wall top lines and the bottom line. I used a pencil to make the water line and then colored the water in with 528 and the sky as well. I pulled the color out of the lines of the light house and used 757 on the palette to watercolor the red lines on the light house and the little girls swim suit. I used NO. 47 pale pink to color the little girl's skin. I used 565 to darken the windows, 969 on the roof and door, and then I took the fine tip of the Tombow twin tone pen to darken each window. I used 158 for the hat and the ground cover. I added a little 969 to the cliff side but only used 565 to shadow the rocks and light house. I colored the girl's hair and the puppy with 969 and darkened his eyes, nose and mouth with the Copic marker and then I used that marker to put dots on the rocks in the crevices. I used some 969 and 565 to watercolor the brick wall and then I masked off the little girl, puppy and the top and bottom of the wall with post-it tape runner. I used the bricks from 5127 - Build My Life Set and inked them up with 969, then stamped them off on the scrap paper twice before stamping the wall. I stamped the grasses from the 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in the green 158. I inked the birds from the My Fortress Set in 565, and stamped them after stamping them off first on the scrap paper. I took a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and added some glitter. I signed it with my Copic pen and cut it out using the 5063 - Rectangle Double Stitched Dies. I used the largest die to cut out the background piece of paper.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I started by tracing a faint circle in pencil on my Canson XL watercolor paper to use as a guide. I began with the leafy green image from 5126 WC Foliage Set 4, and #249 Hunter Green, stamping it around the circle in both first and second generation. I wanted to have a strong contrast of greens, so I coloured the stem of a flower from 5008 WC Flower Set 3 in #126 Light Olive, and the petals in #565 Deep Blue. To fill in a few areas, I used the tiny foxglove (quite possibly my favourite Ai watercolor flower!) from 4052 Flower Set coloured in #533 Peacock Blue. I love the versatility of this stamp, I can stamp it repeatedly to be as long as I like, and because it's so tiny, it allows me to bend the blossom one way or another to suit my design. Using two of the branches from 4964 WC Branches Set coloured in #969 Chocolate, I tucked branches in and around the wreath to finish it off. I very lightly used my damp #1 paintbrush to dab the leaves and blossoms, keeping them mostly intact (I didn't want to lose the image definition). I used a TT42 - Twintone marker in 42 Navy to add a few dots around the foxgloves to finish them off. I looked at several of the birds from different sets, and found that this one from 5030 On The Sparrow Set in the Ai Bible Journaling collection fit perfectly inside the wreath - so I coloured him with #969 and used my stamp positioner to set him just inside the bottom of the wreath. I pulled out the colour with my brush, and added in touches of #533 on his wings and tail. I kept my wreath quite loose and open, making it slightly irregular - and really love the look! I can hardly wait to try a fall version. I matted the image on some periwinkle cardstock and stitched it down with my sewing machine. I tied some twine around my kraft cardstock base and attached the image with some pop dots.

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Hi Watercolor Fans! Welcome back to Art Impressions watercolor weekend. For my project this week, I decided to make an interactive card. This was so much fun to make. Come along with me and I’ll tell you how I made my Reveal Wheel Wagon.

I wanted to create a watercolor card using my new reveal wheel dies. I used the Add-On window and Essential Shapes stencil. I cut a rectangle out of the watercolor paper. First, I inked up the wagon with N25 & 569, stamped it off and stamped it in the bottom right corner of the paper. I used my Round 6 brush to pull the color out of the lines making sure the sides are darker and leaving a highlight. 

I added some additional color from my palette. Next, I inked up the small grass from the original foliage set with 249. I stamped it underneath and around the wagon. I pulled the color out of the lines. I inked the leaves up and stamped them along the top of the wagon. I wanted to make sure to stamp outside where the window will be so the flowers on the wheel fit.

I cut the wheel out of watercolor paper. Using the template, I stamped more foliage and flowers in different colors on each side. (After I already cut it I realized I didn’t need the template as by doing the whole wheel there is no break in the flowers). I used the small vine and the medium vine inked in 249 and stamped it several times. I added the small dots, daisy bunch and single flower to the wheel. I chose pink, orange and purple as they go so well together and I wanted it to be cohesive. I added water to the foliage and then the flowers. I added some additional color from my palette (mostly yellow onto the orange flowers). I added some wink of stella to the flowers and the wagon for a bit of shine.

Using 565 from my palette, I added a sky, which I also used on the wheel so it would blend with the background. I signed and dated it. I used a scrap piece of black card stock with the reveal wheel die and did some partial die cutting. I embossed the celebrating you from the Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words stamp set to it with white embossing powder.

I cut the craft paper with the reveal wheel card die. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to put the card together. I cut the opening in the watercolor paper (after making sure my wheel lined up). I then cut another window in the Kraft card stock in the same spot. I added my wheel and assembled the card. I added it to a white card base. To complete it I stamped the arrow so you know which way to spin the wheel (not that it matters in this instance).

I love to find ways to stretch my dies and stamps and this worked perfectly. I think I may do some more of these.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you join us this watercolor weekend. Tag us on Instagram with #AIWatercolor and #AIStamps. 

Have a crafty day!

Thanks, team! We love how creative and diverse the projects are this week! From larger scenes like Dot's to beautiful wreaths like Karen and even interactive cards like Tricia, there is so much you can create with Art Impressions Watercolor stamps! Have a super weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - World Watercolor Month Continued!

Have you been making extra watercolors this month? July is World Watercolor Month (#worldwatercolormonth), so let's celebrate! We all know practicing is so important to build your skills. But it can be so fun, too! Join us in a watercolor adventure by sharing your artwork with hashtag #aiwatercolorchallenge on Instagram, along with Bonnie (@bonniekrebs.biblejournaling)! Ok, inspiration time! Let's see what the design team made especially for today!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I made this card using Art Impression's stamps for the Watercolor Weekend. I stamped the little girl in 969 from the 5053 - WC Little Girls Set and stamped her off on a piece of scratch paper then stamped her on my watercolor paper. I used the stamp positioner to stamp the bench also in 969 from the 5055 - WC Sitting Places Set. I pulled the color out of the lines, then I watercolored the skin in with No. 47 pale pink, her cheeks in No. 55 iris purple, her hair in 969 and her overalls and headband in 603. I used 67 bubble gum pink to paint stripes on her shirt. I used 158 to watercolor the bench. Next, I stamped the umbrella in 969 from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set. I used a ruler and the Tombow twin tone brown fine tip pen to extend the umbrella pole under the bench. I pulled the color out of the lines then colored the umbrella in 158, bubble gum pink and 636. I stamped the small grass with 177 from the 4052 - WC Foliage Set 1 and pulled the color out and up. Then I stamped the flowers in 177, 636 and 55 iris purple from the 4868 - WC Flower Set 2. I used 565 to watercolor the sky and add some shadows under the bench. I used the 5062 - Rounded Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies to cut out the scene and background pieces then adhered them all to a card base with double sided tape. I added my name and date to the corner and drew the eyelash with a very fine black pen.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

Today I'm featuring the 5014 WC Window Set. The base is cut with a 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" stitched rectangle die, from Canson Watercolor paper, and I started by colouring the smaller window in the set with my N55 Cool Grey 7 Tombow marker, stamping it about 3/4" down from the top edge. Still using the N55, I stamped the kitten from 5016 WC Mini Critter Set on the window sill, and the pot from 4869 WC Small Container Set about 3/4" below the window. I masked off the pot, and stamped the bricks from 5018 WC Cobblestone Set with N55. With the fine point of the marker, I sketched in the curtains directly on the paper. (If you're nervous about adding details with a marker, use a pencil to get it exactly as you like, first!). I used my damp #4 paintbrush to pull the colour out of all the lines, dragging it towards where the shadows would fall. I scribbled 992 Sand onto my palette, and painted it in streaky strokes to suggest weathered wood on the shutters. I used 947 Burnt Sienna to add colour to the kitty, and the terra cotta pot, going in a second time to add another layer of colour where the shadows would be. With 177 Dark Jade and a sprig from 5007 WC Foliage Set 3, I created the vine leading up from the pot, through and over the shutters, adding a few smaller sprigs using the tiny greenery in 5009 WC Mini Flower Set to fill in a few areas. With 533 Peacock Blue/177 Dark Jade I coloured the floral cluster from the Mini Flower Set and added it to the pot. With the tiny dotted flowers from the set, and the 533 marker, I put clusters of flowers throughout the vine. I dabbed all the foliage with my damp brush to soften all the lines. With the tiny grass from Foliage Set 4051, and my 126 Light Olive, I added grass around the pot & cobblestones, then pulled out the colour to add a suggestion of a grassy area on the ground. I picked up 565 Deep Blue from my palette to paint in the shadows on the window, around the shutters and cobblestones to add a little depth to my scene. You really can't see it in the photos, but there is a faint wash on the wall of 491 Glacier Blue, which softens the look of the wall quite nicely.

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Hi AI Fans, welcome back to Watercolor Weekend! I decided to try out a design that I fell in love with when I was young. We used to go to the beach and they had a guy who airbrushed license plates, shirts, hats etc. This was a design that I just loved and always wanted so I decided to re-create it using my AI watercolor stamps. I call it Silhouette Stamping. It was so easy and fun, I hope you will give it a try.

Here is how I did it!

I began by adding PINK to my palette. I added water and painted from the horizon line up sporadically using a horizontal brush stroke. I left lots of white space. I added another layer of PINK to it. Once that dried I repeated the same steps with the YELLOW, PURPLE and GRAY. 

I added BLACK to the horizon line with my paint brush. I added water to my PINK, YELLOW, PURPLE AND BLUE and painted a light wash of each color for my reflection in the water below the horizon line. I made the YELLOW a little darker near where the sun would be. 

Once that was completely dry, I inked up the large palm tree with BLACK ink. I stamped it below the water. Using my brush, I pulled the color out of the left side of the tree to create dimension. I re-inked the stamp and stamped it again to the right of that tree, angling it so the tops weren’t too close. I again pulled the color out of the left side of the tree.

Using the left and right palms, I inked them up using BLACK ink and stamped them several times on each side of each tree. To create the palms closest to the tree trunk, I only inked the end of the stamp. I used a damp #2 brush to pull the color out of each of the palms using a brush stroke.

I added BLACK to my palette and created the sand using a horizontal brush stroke. I put the sailboat on my small acrylic block and inked it up with BLACK ink. I stamped it off once and then stamped it into the middle of my sky. Using my #2 brush pulled a small amount of color from the left sides of the sails and the bottom. I also added some black beneath the boat for a shadow. Finally, I signed and dated it.

Once the painting was complete, I cut it out using my Stitched Rectangle Die. I added it to a 4.25 x 5.5 inch card made from Gina K Designs Wild Lilac cardstock with GKD Connect Glue.

That’s it, easy peasy! Tag us on Instagram and let us see what you are up to!

Have a crafty day!

Don't forget to leave a comment to tell us what you like about these projects! Also, remember to join the fun with our #aiwatercolorchallenge!

Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - July is World Watercolor Month

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! Did you know that July is World Watercolor Month? How cool is that! We hope today's projects inspire you to break out your stamps and play to celebrate the occasion all month long. Without further ado, here is your weekend inspiration!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I made a "Beach Babe" with Art Impression's stamps for the Watercolor Weekend. Summer in Las Vegas always finds me wishing I was on a beach where I can cool off in the ocean. I stamped the palm tree trunks in 969 from the 5120 - WC Palm Tree Set first, then I used a pencil to sketch in the lines for the ocean and the sand. I watercolored in the sand with 992 and the ocean with 526. The water was too light so I added some 565 which darkened it nicely. I stamped the palm fronds in 177 and pulled the color out of the lines. I watercolored the sky using No. 36 manganese blue and stamped the birds in 565 from the 5069 - My Fortress Set. I stamped the beach babe in 992 from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set and the puppy in 992 from the 5016 - WC Mini Critter Set. I used 77 pastel peach to color in the girl's skin and 603 to color in the girl's hat and suit. I used 969 and No. 1 black to color in the puppy then darkened his eyes and nose with the fine tip of a Copic multi liner pen. I stamped the flowers in No. 6 violet from the Flower Set 4052 and touched them with a wet brush to bring out the color. I used 565 to create the shadows. I used letters from the 5072 - Block Letters Die Set to cut out the word "beach" and then used adhesive foam to give them dimension. Lastly, as always, I added my name and date to the corner.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

This little shed from the 5121 WC Garden Shed Set looks like a beach hut to me, so I stamped it using my Tombow marker #969 Chocolate. With #676 Royal Purple and #703 Pink Rose, I stamped the tiny dot cluster from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set in and around the hut, to suggest tropical flowers, and added the tiny foliage stamp with #158 Dark Olive for greenery. From the 5120 - WC Palm Tree Set, I used the two trunk images with #969 to add the trees behind the hut, then with #126 Light Olive and #158, I added in the different palm fronds. Using my #4 paintbrush, I pulled out the brown of the trees and the shed, and only lightly touched all of the flowers and foliage to liven the colours. I painted the hut with #991 Light Ochre, and a bit of #969 to suggest painted wood, and added #515 Light Blue to the door and painted it to suggest the ocean in the background. I used #N65 Cool Grey 5 and the stepping stone image from the 5018 - WC Cobblestone Set in front of the hut, and then painted a wash with #126 to indicate the grass. I added #565 Deep Blue to my palette, then painted in the mountains, a soft sky, and added it around all of the images to indicate shadows. I stamped the sentiment from 5136 - WC Sentiment Set 2 using Versafine Onyx Black ink, then mounted my image onto the base using pop dots. I layered some paper flowers and a wooden button to the bottom corner of my card, along with a few loops of May Arts twine. The paper flowers and the flowers on the image were all touched with a Wink of Stella pen, so they're quite shimmery in person! And you can't really tell in the photo, but that background paper has tone-on-tone sunglasses all over it.

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

To begin, I inked the elf with the 969, stamped it off and then stamped the him to the right of the middle of the paper. Using a mask to protect him, I inked up the mushroom with the 969 and, using my positioner, stamped it underneath the elf.

I pulled the color out of the lines of the elf and the mushroom. I added some additional 969 from my palette to add some shadows onto the mushroom. I added some 954 to my palette and added it to the arms and face of the elf. I added some 969 to his pants and 535 to his shirt, adding shading around the bottom of his shirt.

I decided that it would be fun to try to use the long grasses from the 4875-Garden Wagon Mini set to create some fireworks. I am always looking for ways to stretch my stamps and this was perfect. I inked one of the grasses up with 847-Crimson and stamped it in a sort of circle a few times without re-inking, being careful not to ink the small flowers on the ends of the stamp. I did the same with the 535-Cobalt.

To create the fireworks look, I pulled the color out as far as I could in a wispy motion. I tried to pull the color out as far as I could in all directions. I added some additional red and blue to the mushroom as a type of reflection. Next, I added some N25 to my palette and slowly built up the color in the background. To add some sparkle to my fireworks, I added some Wink of Stella.

I cut the piece down using my Stitched rectangle die. I used some Gina K Designs metallic silver paper for the base and Blue Denim cardstock for the frame. To see how to create the gate fold, Jennifer McGuire does it perfectly...check out her blog here.

We LOVE to hear what you think about our bimonthly projects! Share a comment below, and we hope you can whip up a little watercolor time this weekend! Also, did you see that Bonnie (@bonniekrebs.biblejournaling) is hosting a Watercolor Challenge on Instagram that we hope you'll join! Simply use #aiwatercolorchallenge on your Instagram post so Bonnie and Ai Fans can see your work!

View this post on Instagram

Hey, guess what! July is World Watercolor Day! How fun is that?! I thought we could do something to celebrate what has become one of my most favorite creative outlets. Who wants to do a 31-day challenge with me? All you have to do is post one watercolor stamping project a day and use the hashtag #aiwatercolorchallenge (be sure your account is set to public so we can see!). Everyone who completes all 31 days (with 31 different projects) will be entered in a giveaway for a $50 Art Impressions website credit! Who's in!? Here is my first one! #aiwatercolorchallenge #aistamps #aiwatercolor #watercolorstamping #worldwatercolormonth #watercolor #stamping

A post shared by Bonnie Krebs (@bonniekrebs.biblejournaling) on Jul 1, 2019 at 9:44am PDT

Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Sweet Sentiments

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! It's a beautiful Saturday morning, and time to share beautiful projects from our design team to inspire your creations this weekend! Let's take a look!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

Here's the card I made for the Art Impression's Watercolor Weekend. It could be my granddaughters on their trip to Hawaii in March. I stamped the shed from the 5121 - WC Garden Shed Set using both 86 African violet and brown 969 after I stamped it off on a scratch piece of paper first. I used the brown to color in the roof and door knob area. I used 17 steel blue to watercolor the shed and the windows. I stamped in the palm trees from the 5120 - WC Palm Tree Set with the brown and green 177. I used the smallest palm frond to stamp the ground cover and then used the flowers from the 4052 - WC Flowers Set 1 in the pink 725 for the flowers. I used 101 tropical with a touch of green mixed in to color in the water using straight strokes and brown to watercolor the sand. I stamped the little girls from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set using the 40 brownish grey then colored them with yellow 993, 77 pastel peach, steel blue, pink 725 and brown 969. I stamped one flower at a time with the pink for the swimsuit and then added a yellow dot in the centers. I used the fine tip of the 45 sepia to add hair strands to both girls. I used 86 African violet to add the shadows under the girls, trees and house. I used very little of the blue and a lot of water to color in the sky. I cut out the picture using the 5063 - Double Stitched Rectangle Dies and adhered it to my card base. The last thing I did was sign and date it.

You can find more inspiration by following me on my Instagram account here.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I've had the idea for the dress card floating around in my head for awhile. I wanted to use the Ai floral & foliage stamps to create a sort of life-like embroidery look, and kept going to create a grouping of wedding themed items. I sketched the outline of my dress in pencil, directly onto my watercolor paper, and indicated where I wanted the higher points around the hemline to be as a stamping guide. Using the Daisy Bunch in Flower Set 4052 and my #703 Pink Rose marker I stamped it three times without reinking, multiple times around the hem, and again on the neckline. I repeated this with the tiny cluster from 5009 WC Mini Flower Set in #676 Royal Purple. For my last flower, I used the Mini Foxglove from Flower Set 4052 and #533 Peacock Blue, stamping it three times in a row to create the flower stalk. With my #126 Light Olive marker, I coloured just the tip of both of the trailing ivy stamps in 4876 WC Foliage Set 2 New to fill in the greenery, making sure to change directions to keep it looking random. I used my damp #4 paintbrush to dab at each of the flowers & foliage to soften each image and enliven the colours. It then became apparent where the holes were on my 'embroidery', so I used the small green from 4876 WC Foliage Set 2 and #158 Dark Olive to fill in those white spaces. I left these as is, not using my paintbrush, as it defined the shape of the foliage a bit more. I traced the pencil outline of the dress with #533, and used this colour with my brush to add some shading. I picked up #565 Deep Blue from my palette and painted a background wash around the dress. I went in with all of the markers directly onto the image to add in a few deeper colours. The sentiment is from WC Sentiment Set 2, stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. I used my sewing machine to stitch the panel to some coordinating cardstock and adhered it to my base with pop dots, then glued on some iridescent sequins. 

The colours and stamps are all the same for my other two projects. For this card, I sketched in the cake and the table, just adding foliage to each layer. I sketched in a heart as my cake topper, and painted in a few ripples on the tablecloth. I stamped this sentiment separately, matting and stitching around it, and adhered it with pop dots going off the right edge. 

As a fun little add on, I painted a bouquet and drew in a ribbon bow underneath it to use as a placecard.

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Welcome back AI fans to Watercolor Weekend! I wanted to do a simple project for this weekend, so I decided to do this Simple Things Vase. This project is really easy and quick. I have done a video for you to show you just how quick. 

Project Details

Step 1 – Ink up the Vase from the WC Decorative Vase Set with Blue. I wanted my vase to be white so I am using the tombow 569 but you can use any marker you may have. Bonnie Krebs uses 565 a lot in her videos. I stamped it to the left side of my paper to allow room for my sentiment. Next, pull the color out of the lines along the right and left side of the vase. This creates the illusion of the vase being round. I wanted the area under the spout and the right side under the handle to be really dark.

Step 2 – Cover your vase with a mask, I am using a piece of Post-It tape. Stamp in your foliage. I am using the leaves from the Foliage Set 4, but you can use any foliage/vines you may have in your collection. This is the greatest part of Art Impressions watercolor line; all the stamps can be used together for any project. Therefore, you don’t have to feel like you can’t create this project because you don’t have the exact stamps I am using. I inked them up with 158 and stamped them a few times. Add water to the leaves.

Step 3 – Ink the flowers with a color of your choice. I used the Daisy Bunch from the Bible Flowers Set inked with 905. I only inked up the top 3 flowers and stamped them in a circle a few times. Stamping items in groups of three is visually appealing so I stamped one in the middle and one on each side of the vase. Add water to the blooms.

Step 4 – To create a little more interest, I used the vine from the Bible Foliage set to create different leaves around the blooms. I inked it up with 249 and stamped it several times around each of the blooms. Add water to the leaves.

Step 5 – Ink up the dots (they remind me of lilacs – although I keep calling them violets LOL) with a purple. Unlike the daisy bunch, this stamp is walked out to create the lilac. Again, I stamped three different blooms. Add water to the blooms. I added a small amount of 569 from my palette underneath the vase to ground it and create a shadow.

Step 6 – In order to create some additional interest, I added the accent flowers to the vase. This created some height and I just love how they look on any project. I inked them up (I used the left and right stamp) with the 379 and stamped them several times around the vase. No need to add water to these.

Lastly, I signed and dated it. 

Card Details

I stamped the “It’s the Simple Things” to the right side of the panel using a sentiment from the WC Sentiments 2 set and some Gina K Designs amalgam ink. I thought it needed a little something more, so I added a flower to the bottom right side of the sentiment. This was done using the lilac stamp and the vine. 

Easy peasy right? I think so. We hope you will join us this weekend and show us your creations on Instagram using #AIWatercolor. Check out the video here if you want to paint along with me.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a creative weekend! See you soon!

Thanks, team! These projects are all so gorgeous! From beachy scenes to hand-drawn elements to customize your creations, to a lovely floral arrangement with video tips! What an awesome day! Be sure to leave a comment below so we can hear what you enjoyed about this week's installment. We'll see you again soon!

Happy Stamping!

NEW VIDEO! Patterned Beach Umbrella Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

The summer weather is upon us, so it's time for another tropical Watercolor Wednesday! This week, Bonnie creates a little girl playing in the sand, with a patterned beach umbrella above her. Bonnie uses the branches of our WC Palm Tree Set to create the design for the umbrella, perfect for any beach scene!

Don't forget to subscribe to our channel and click the "bell" to be notified of our new uploads! We love it when you join our Ai Watercolor subscribers, and we always enjoy bringing you new ideas!

Have a sunny Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zICudN3_l-Y

NEW VIDEO! Beach Shack & Girl Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

Can  you tell we're ready for summer? It's another tropical paradise for Watercolor Wednesday! Bonnie transforms our WC Garden Shed into a beach shanty with swaying WC Palm Trees behind it, with an adorable little girl playing in the sand in the foreground.

What's your favorite tropical location? Leave a comment on this video over on YouTube so we can dream of sunny days with you!

Have a sunny Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YWdg92zY9fE

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Bikes and Beaches!

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! It is time for another Watercolor Weekend, a special blog post featuring projects from our Watercolor Guest Design Team. Today we welcome Karen Day as our new design team member! You may remember Karen's beautiful cards from our weekly design team, so please welcome her back in the comments. Inspiration today includes plenty of beach-inspired scenes, as well as that cute bicycle we all love so much. Let's take a look!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

 Hello Watercolor Friends,

You may think it's a little early for beach scene cards but my three grandsons, Conor, Caide and Charlie, are in Hawaii right now probably in a similar scene. Lucky boys! I made this card for the Art Impressions Watercolor Weekend using the brand new 5119 - WC Beach Boys Set. There's also a WC Beach Girls set which I have to get! The first thing I did was stamp the boy in the middle (Caide) using 40 brownish grey. Next I stamped the beach ball and then masked it off and stamped the standing boy (Conor) also in the 40 brownish grey. I stamped the third boy (Charlie) again in the 40 brownish grey. I used 77 pastel peach on the palette to watercolor each boy. I used 6 brown to color in the hair of the boy in the middle. I used 969 brown for the other two boys' hair. Coloring their trunks was fun. First I added the stripes and flowers using my favorite Copic Multi Liner 0.03 pen. I colored the trunks and beach ball using the 5 yellow, 565 blue, 725 pink, and 34 pale green. I used the 969 brown to color in the shovel handle and 40 brownish grey for the actual shovel. I used 990 to watercolor in the sand and 565 to color in the water and 36 manganese blue for the sky. I added 565 blue to the palette to watercolor in the shadows under the ball and kids. I used the 40 brownish grey fine tip to add the dots to the sand. I stamped 3 of the birds using the 40 brownish grey from the 5069 - My Fortress Set. I used a Signo White Pigment Ink pen to add white caps into the ocean, the high light on the ball and dotted the centers of the flowers on the swim trunks. I used my Copic pen to sign and date it. I cut it out and framed it using the 5062 Double Stitched Rounded Rectangle Dies and a rounded corner punch for the card itself.

You can find more inspiration by following me on my Instagram account here.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

I started creating my image cluster by stamping the puppy from the WC Mini Critters Set, the sitting little girl from WC Beach Girls Set, the beach ball from WC Beach Boys Set - masking each as I went along - and finally stamping the umbrella from WC Beach Girls Set. I coloured each of the stamps with my 992 Sand Tombow marker, except for the girl, where I used my LP38 Oyster Grey Marvy marker. I wanted a paler shade for her skin tone, as she's sitting partially in bright sunlight. I also used the fine tip of my LP38 marker to draw in the blanket. With a damp WC Brush4 paintbrush, I softened all of the lines, and then began filling in the colour by scribbling my markers onto my palette: Tombow 991 Straw for the hat/ball; Tombow 885 Warm Red for the umbrella, and added more water to make it more of a pink shade for her swimsuit & the ball. I used my LP86 African Violet Marvy marker to create the shadow under the umbrella, and in and around all of the images on the blanket. Her skin tone is made with several layers of Tombow 850 Flesh, and then I used the same colour to sketch in the suggestion of a sandy beach. I picked up the LP86 with my brush and painted in the water, and after watering it down a little more, used it to paint in the suggestion of a sky as well. *Design tip! You'll notice that I placed everything on the left side of my painting, leaving the upper right corner mostly white. The white space provides a sense of balance for the cluster of images. I could've added a sentiment up there, but felt like it would've been too busy. To assemble my card, I popped up the image and the stripey pink frame that I created with adhesive dots with my periwinkle cardstock peeking out from behind. Happy painting!  

Tricia O'Bin - Blog - Instagram - YouTube - Pinterest - Facebook

Someone shared the photo on Facebook and I love it so I thought I would try to recreate it using my Art Impressions watercolor stamps. I was very happy with how it turned out.

Step 1 - The Planter: I stamped the planter from the WC Window set inked in 969-Chocolate. I left off the bottom of the planter so I could stamp the small grasses below it to ground it. I added some additional color (969&569) from my palette and added some additional lines to make it look like wood slats. I also added some additional details with the fine tip of the marker.

Step 2 - The Bike: To protect the planter, I masked it off and stamped the bike inked in Chocolate. I pulled the color out of the lines and added some additional color from my palette.

Step 3 - The Foliage & Flowers: I inked the small vines from the Foliage Set 4 set with 249-Hunter Green and stamped it into the planter as well as both bike planters. I added water to the foliage.

I used the small flower from the Foliage Set 2 inked with 725-Rhodamine Red and added them to the planter. I used the same color to ink the single flower from the Mini Flowers set and stamped it into the back planter. I used 636-Imperial Purple to ink the small dots in the Mini Flowers set to stamp into the front and back planters.

I inked the small grasses with the Dark Jade and stamped below the planter. I added water to all the blooms and grasses. I added a small amount of 526-True Blue to the sky. Sign and Date! 

Step 4 - The Card: I cut the square out with a stitched square die. I cut mat from Gina K Black Onyx card stock about 1/8 bigger than the square. I added some white craft foam to the back of the watercolor piece. I had a piece of watercolor background that I had from another project made from watercolor markers which I used to cut a stitched banner from the new stitched banner dies. I cut a little bigger one from Black Onyx card stock. To make the weathered wood background, I scored a white piece of card stock at 1" intervals. I added some Dark Chocolate ink from Gina K Designs direct to the paper in long swipes. Finally, I white heat embossed the Hello from the new WC Sentiments 2 set.

I assembled the card and added it to a white card base. And that's it!

Thank you, team! These projects are just so lovely! Like what you see? Be sure to leave a comment to let us know! Also, don't forget to follow the pink links by the designer's name to visit and follow them on social media, you're sure to find more project ideas with them, too!

Happy Stamping!