NEW VIDEO! Intro to Watercolor Stamping!

Hello Ai Fans!

This week, we have a back-to-basics for our Watercolor Wednesday! We get asked by new watercolor stampers all the time, "Where do I start?" and "What supplies do I need?" Bonnie will take us back to the beginning with an overview of our favorite tools to achieve beautiful, watercolor paintings with the use of our rubber stamps!

For Watercolor Stamping, there are some necessary supplies to get the desired look.

Basic Supplies
1. Watercolor Paper (Canson XL or Strathmore)
2. Synthetic, Round Watercolor Brush #4 (Connoisseur)
3. Water-Based Markers (Tombow Markers - Bonnie's Favorites)
4. WC Foliage Set 1 and WC Flower Set 1
5. A Main Image Set of your Choice
6. Watercolor Palette and Acrylic Blocks

Let's explain these more in detail!

Watercolor Paper is very important for this technique, as when you stamp in water-based ink, it keeps the color on top of the paper, so you can easily move it with a damp brush. Cardstock and alcohol-based markers will not work for this project series. We prefer Canson XL or Strathmore watercolor paper and use the textured side, as it does not oversaturate the paper with color.

Our Connoisseur #4 Brush is a coveted item, as no regular brush will do! One, your brush has to be synthetic, as natural hair brushes will sag and not hold its shape with water on it. The synthetic gives us the 'bounce' we are looking for as we blend and gently tap around the image. This brush is also the perfect size to pull color from your main images and blend your flowers and foliage.

Although any water-based marker will work for this technique, we highly recommend you use Tombow Dual Brush Markers on your projects. First, we like Tombow markers the best because they are very wet, so when stamping your multiple impressions, you can get up to 10 images, where other markers you might get 3 or 4. Second, Tombow has highly pigmented colors, so when you are blending, you do not need to work as hard to blend. Third, we love the bullet tip on the other side of the Dual Brush Pens (or use our TwinTone markers for an even finer tip), which give us the ability to add darker shadows and details to the image to really make areas pop!

To get stamping, we suggest starting with our WC Foliage Set 1 and WC Flower Set 1. These basic sets are what you will carry through all your projects. You will see the grasses, vines, flower bunches, and long stems used in any watercolor we create. We started with these two staple sets because if we created sets with everything for one project, you would end up with a multitude of tiny grasses or flowers! Once you have these two, you can pick and choose whichever scenes you would like to create, such as gorgeous containers, stunning structures, or beautiful landscapes.

To help beginners get started, we created the Watercolor Starter Bundle, combining our original WC Foliage Set 1 and WC Flower Set 1 with our WC Decorative Jars Set at discounted price! These three sets can be mixed and matched to create a range of unique projects!

We add color to many of our images (washes of the sky, color to main images) and the easiest way to do this is by rubbing the brush tip of your marker onto our Ai Watercolor Palette and pulling the color off with your brush. This gives you great control over the amount of color going to your image, and you can easily shade by adding layers of color. Our palette is a game changer, perfectly white so you can see your color, and you can always reactivate the dried ink with your damp brush.

Another great option to add to your collection are our tiny Acrylic Blocks. We offer square blocks in 1", 1.5", and 3" to offer smaller sizes for your little images, like the teeny tiny grass and daisy bunch. Bonnie is often suggesting to permanently adhere your tiny stamps to our 1" block with super glue so you don't lose them!

Now check out this great introduction to watercolor video with Bonnie, as she shows the step-by-step techniques in building your foliages and flowers, and how to add them together in this teapot from our WC Decorative Jar Set.

Do you have any other questions as a beginner? Maybe even intermediate or advanced questions? We are working on a Frequently Asked Questions video and would love for you to leave a comment on this video for our next project!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FfoCE7naVQQ

NEW VIDEO! Autumn Swing Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

The seasons are changing and the colorful leaves here in Oregon inspired this week's Watercolor Wednesday! Bonnie featured another set from our latest release - the WC Swing Set! We love the elements she pulled from the WC Desert Set, WC Foliage Set 4, WC Branches Set, and WC Flower Set 1 to add pops of red and yellows to this bench design!

Hop over to our YouTube channel if you have missed any of our latest videos and leave a comment on this video of any autumn or winter scenes you would like to see! We are excited to bring you new seasonal designs in the next coming weeks!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T7MlkP_Fayw

NEW VIDEO! Window Composition Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome to a NEW Watercolor Wednesday! This week, Bonnie combines a few of our watercolor sets to create a beautiful WC Window Set composition. She adds a hanging basket from our WC Small Container Set, a watering can from our WC Wishing Well Set, and a sleepy kitty from our WC Mini Critters Set! Check out the full YouTube video for this challenge project to combine a few elements your watercolors!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/m9ustau0UrM

NEW VIDEO! Beach Scene with Circle Frame + HSN Thank You

Hello Ai Fans!

We are back for a NEW Watercolor Wednesday! This week, Bonnie creates a watercolor circle frame to view the tropical, beach scene on the inside of her card! She used our Circle Double Stitched Dies to create a frame and opening in the front of her card, then used the inner circle to watercolor a beach shanty beside the water, with a palm tree hanging over the top.

WE WANT TO KNOW - Do you use die cuts on your Watercolor designs? Click over to this video and leave a comment! We love when you share what you are creating with us!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DXdcAWHP6r8

NEW VIDEO! Bridge & Cottage Scene 2 Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome back, Watercolor Wednesday fanatics! We have been enjoying traveling around this summer meeting many of you during at retail shows! Thanks for tuning in and sharing your watercolor projects with us!

This week, Bonnie wanted to create a second Bridge & Cottage Scene (view our first video here) and transforms the bridge by selectively inking and placing in front of our WC Garden Shed image. We love how with a little sketching, you can create depth to your image with color from your palette!

WE WANT TO KNOW - What do you want to see on Watercolor Wednesdays? Click over to this video and leave a comment, and who knows, you might see your request in an upcoming video!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pBiSKn-685M

NEW VIDEO! 2019 Class Exclusive Watercolor Set

Hello Ai Fans!

It's time for another Watercolor Wednesday, and one many of you have been anticipating! We are revealing our 2019 Class Exclusive Set, a free bonus when you attend a Watercolor Class at one of our 2019 Retail Shows! This set is only available by taking the class, it is not sold online or in stores, so we hope you find the nearest location to you and join a class!

In this video, Bonnie creates an adorable flower cart with four small containers and a canopy top. She fills the flower pots with blooms and branches from our WC Mini Flower, WC Flower 1, and WC Foliage 3, and WC Foliage 4 sets. She also adds a sweet bird from our WC Bird Bath Set to the top! Even if you don't have these stamps, you can still learn new tricks and techniques from this video for your watercoloring!

If you are attending a show this year, hop over to the video and leave a comment telling us what city we will see you! We have a lot of shows on our calendar, so make sure to check out our 2019 Show Schedule and make a plan to visit Ai!

And make sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for an inspiration image using sets available on our website!

Have a great Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8R_AsQNdEGo

If you LOVE our Class Exclusive design and are unable to make a class, our Watercolor Design Team member Dot Freel created a similar image with our WC Flower Cart, WC Small Container, and WC Beach Girls (umbrella) Sets! 

Hello Friends,

Have you seen the 2019 Exclusive Stamp Set of a flower cart only available by attending a class at one of the events? I haven't been able to attend a class but I used stamps I already own to recreate the one Art Impression's Owner/Creator (my favorite artist) Bonnie Krebs watercolored.  I stamped the flower cart from the 4073 - WC Flower Cart set in both 45 sepia and 86 African violet and and then I pulled the color out of the lines. I used Tombow N15 on the palette to color in the wheels and parts of the cart. I used 67 bubble gum pink to color in the cart and added lines with the fine tip.  Next I used a stamp positioner to add the three pots in sepia from the 4869 - WC Small Container Set inside the flower cart and then painted them in using the 34 pale green and blue 526 and used the fine tip to add the lines.  I then stamped the umbrella from the 5118 - WC Beach Girls Set in both the sepia and African violet and watercolored in the pink areas. I brushed in some sky using blue 526 on the palette with lots of water. I stamped the grass from the 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 in with green 177 in the center pot. I stamped the vines from the 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in green in some areas then switched to the 48 leaf green in other areas. I stamped the tall grasses from the 5007 - WC Foliage Set 3 in green along the ground. I stamped in the heart flowers in pink 725 from the 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set and I used the dot flowers in blue 526 in the pots. I mixed the African violet and sepia on the palette to create the shadows on the ground.

I cut out the picture using the 5132 - Tag Stitched dies and cut out the hole enforcer from that die set. I adhered a bow out of silk ribbon with a glue dot. I cut a piece of pink card stock with the 5063 - Double Stitched Rectangle Dies. Then I ran it through my Big Shot inside an embossing folder. I used double sided foam tape to adhere the tag down and then used my Copic pen to sign and date it.

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

NEW VIDEO! Cascading Flowers from Jar Watercolor

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome friends to another bright and beautiful Watercolor Wednesday! This week, Bonnie uses our Decorative Jar Set in a different way, with it spilling beautiful blooms in a cascade downward! We love this unique take on this stamp and hope you enjoy the colorful flowers, reminding of us the springtime outside!

Do you have some favorite flowers from our Watercolor collection? Hop over to the video and let us know what your go-to flower stamps are! Subscribe and click the bell on our YouTube channel for all the latest Ai videos!

Have a colorful Watercolor Wednesday!

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qSMpCQ4hDNg

Watercolor Throwback - Beginners Info & Urn

Hello Ai Fans!

Welcome to a special Watercolor Throwback! We are so excited to have how many new friends joining in our watercolor technique, and it's always a great idea to get back to the basics! Bonnie created this step-by-step tutorial on how to get started and create a basic container image back in January 2018, and it's a great image to start with!

Also, did you know we have 155 videos on our Watercolor Wednesday playlist? With endless hours of tutorials, we invite you to check out the playlist and find a video you haven't viewed before! Hop back to this video and leave us a comment on the new tutorial you found!

Happy Watercolor Wednesday!

For Watercolor Stamping, there are some necessary supplies to get the desired look.

Basic Supplies
1. Watercolor Paper (Canson XL or Strathmore)
2. Synthetic, Round Watercolor Brush #4 (Connoisseur)
3. Water-Based Markers (Tombow Markers - Bonnie's Favorites)
4. WC Foliage Set 1 and WC Flower Set 1
5. A Main Image Set of your Choice
6. Watercolor Palette and Acrylic Blocks

Let's explain these more in detail!

Watercolor Paper is very important for this technique, as when you stamp in water-based ink, it keeps the color on top of the paper, so you can easily move it with a damp brush. Cardstock and alcohol-based markers will not work for this project series. We prefer Canson XL or Strathmore watercolor paper and use the textured side, as it does not oversaturate the paper with color.

Our Connoisseur #4 Brush is a coveted item, as no regular brush will do! One, your brush has to be synthetic, as natural hair brushes will sag and not hold its shape with water on it. The synthetic gives us the 'bounce' we are looking for as we blend and gently tap around the image. This brush is also the perfect size to pull color from your main images and blend your flowers and foliage.

Although any water-based marker will work for this technique, we highly recommend you use Tombow Dual Brush Markers on your projects. First, we like Tombow markers the best because they are very wet, so when stamping your multiple impressions, you can get up to 10 images, where other markers you might get 3 or 4. Second, Tombow has highly pigmented colors, so when you are blending, you do not need to work as hard to blend. Third, we love the bullet tip on the other side of the Dual Brush Pens (or use our TwinTone markers for an even finer tip), which give us the ability to add darker shadows and details to the image to really make areas pop!

To get stamping, we suggest starting with our WC Foliage Set 1 and WC Flower Set 1. These basic sets are what you will carry through all your projects. You will see the grasses, vines, flower bunches, and long stems used in any watercolor we create. We started with these two staple sets because if we created sets with everything for one project, you would end up with a multitude of tiny grasses or flowers! Once you have these two, you can pick and choose whichever scenes you would like to create, such as gorgeous containers, stunning structures, or beautiful landscapes.

We add color to many of our images (washes of the sky, color to main images) and the easiest way to do this is by rubbing the brush tip of your marker onto our Ai Watercolor Palette and pulling the color off with your brush. This gives you great control over the amount of color going to your image, and you can easily shade by adding layers of color. Our palette is a game changer, perfectly white so you can see your color, and you can always reactivate the dried ink with your damp brush.

Another great option to add to your collection are our tiny Acrylic Blocks. We offer square blocks in 1", 1.5", and 3" to offer smaller sizes for your little images, like the teeny tiny grass and daisy bunch. Bonnie is often suggesting to permanently adhere your tiny stamps to our 1" block with super glue so you don't lose them!

Now check out this great introduction to watercolor video with Bonnie, as she shows the step-by-step techniques in building your foliages and flowers, and how to add them together in this urn from our WC Ornate Container Set.

View on YouTube: https://youtu.be/qC4BL-JZDTM

Enjoy the Day Watercolor by Jil Lebel

Hello Ai fans!

I was really inspired to make a bright flowery card because of the warmer weather here. This card is more of a general card, but it could easily become an Easter card if you use a basket in place of the pot.

I started by inking up the sitting bunny with 979 - Brown and stamping it in the center of my watercolor panel. I also stamped it onto a piece of masking paper, cut it out and placed it over the stamped bunny.  I then inked up the tall bunny with 947 - Burnt Sienna and stamped it to the left of the sitting bunny.  The next step was to ink up the pitcher with 969 - Chocolate and 565 - Deep Blue before I stamped it to the left of the bunny.  I used the stamp positioner to help me with the placement of all of the items before I stamped them.  I removed the mask from the bunny and pulled the color out of the lines on all of the images.  I also added more color as needed by scribbling my colors onto my Watercolor palette. I darkened the eyes and noses on the bunnies with the Chocolate Marker.  I also added the detail to the pitcher with the 565 - Deep Blue. I added grass with the tiny and small grass with 177- Dark Jade.  The Flowers were added with 177 - Dark Jade for the stems and 925 - Scarlet and 885 - Warm Red.  The sky is done with 493 - Reflex Blue and plenty of water.  The last thing I added was the greeting with 565 - Deep Blue.  I used my Misti so I could stamp it several times to get a dark impression.  It is cut out using the Circle Double Stitched Dies.

Thanks for stopping by and Have a Great Day!