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 - The Great Outdoors!

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! We hope you are enjoying your summer (or winter, to our friends in the southern hemisphere)! Dot, Tricia and Karen are here with a NEW watercolor roundup of beautiful projects! We LOVE how each watercolor artist develops their own style. Let's take a look at these unique projects featuring beautiful outdoors scenes!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I made this floral card using Art Impression's stamps for the Watercolor Weekend. First I stamped the two pots from the 4870 - WC Ornate Container Set after inking them in 969 and then 565 and stamping them off on a piece of scratch paper. I then pulled the color out of the lines. I used No. 93 aubergine to watercolor the decorations on the pots. I placed a mask on the one pot, then used the stamp positioner to stamp the stool from the 5055 - WC Sitting Places Set (using the 969 then 565) under the pot. Next, I watercolored the stool in with No. 105 lt. teal. I used 177 and 249 to stamp in the greenery from the 4867 - WC Foliage Set 2 and 5126 - Foliage Set 4. I used the 565 to stamp in the blue foliage. I used No. 93 to stamp in the flowers from the 4052 - Flower Set and then touched them with a wet brush. I stamped the branches in 969 from the 4964 - WC Branches Set. I stamped the small grass in 177 from the 4051 - Foliage Set around the pot and stool and the pulled the color up and out. I added shadows and sky with 565 and then green 177 from the palette. I took a Sakura Gelly Roll pen and added glitter which you can't see in the first picture but you can see it in this picture below. The glitter adds the most beautiful touch! Try it, if you haven't already. I cut out my image with the 5062 - Rounded Corner Rectangle die.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

Using a larger block, I positioned both my cabin from 4962 -WC Rustic Cabins Set and the rowboat from 5057 - WC Boat Set, as this allows me to determine the right placement. I coloured them with my #969 Chocolate Tombow marker, then pulled out the colour with my damp #1 brush (this smaller paintbrush is amazing for scenes like this that are on a smaller scale!). Using a post-it note, I masked the cabin and coloured up both trees from the 5010 - WC Tree Set 1 with #249 Hunter Green. I did some second generation stamping behind the cabin to suggest some trees in the background. Now I took my pencil and sketched in the hills, shoreline, mountains and lake. With #992 Sand, I painted in the pathway and sandy shore, and used it to paint the boards and roof of the cabin. With the tiny greenery in 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set and my #158 Dark Olive marker, I added some bushes around the cabin, and tufts of grass with the small grass from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1. With a wash of #158, I painted in the grassy foreground. I used the tiny cluster of rocks from the 5128 - As The Deer Set from the Bible Journaling collection, and my #N57 Warm Grey to stamp different clusters of rocks along the shore. I scribbled #565 Deep Blue onto my Palette, and picked it up with my #4 paintbrush, painting in the mountains and water. I went in with a second darker layer of the 565 to add shadows around the rocks, boat, cabin and trees to give a little depth to my scene. Finally, I mixed the #249(green) and #565(blue) to create the shade used to paint the far away line of trees. I used #837 Wine Red to add colour to the boat & chimney, with a touch of #991 Light Ochre on the oars. With a wash of #451 Sky Blue I painted in the sky. To finish, I used my sewing machine to run a line of stitching around the scene, matted it on grey, and adhered it to my base with 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 was inspired by a painting I had seen with boats. I knew I could re-create it with my watercolor stamps, so that is just what I did. Let me tell you how I created my Simple Boats project.

Simple Boats Tutorial

1. I used the small boat from the 5057 – WC Boat Set and inked it up with Chocolate. I stamped it off a couple of times so I could get a really light impression. I wanted this boat to be really light so it would appear to be further away from the other boats. Using my stamp positioner, I positioned it in the upper right corner.

2. With my brush, I pulled the color out of the lines. I added some additional Chocolate from my palette to the areas I wanted to be the darkest.

3. Next I inked the medium boat with Chocolate. I stamped it off once to get a light impression but not a light as the first boat. I decided to use my positioner so I could get them exactly where I wanted them. I added this boat in the middle to the left of my paper. I pulled the color out of the lines and again added some additional Chocolate to the darkest areas. I also added a darker shadow under the oars.

4. I inked up the larger boat with Chocolate and wiped off the bottom. I wanted it to look like it was sitting in the water. I stamped it and pulled the color out of the lines. I added Chocolate to the darkest areas. 

5. I added True Blue, Asparagus, Hunter Green, Process Blue, Deep Blue and Jet Blue to my palette. I added color to each of the boats. I brushed in the water by building up the color slowly making sure to leave lots of white space. I made sure I used softer colors in the background gradually getting darker as I moved toward the front. I added darker shadows beneath each of the boats.

6. I added darker lines at the top where the horizon line would be. I added the mountain with Jet Blue. A light wash of Process Blue to create some clouds. Last but not least, I signed it

7. Using my MISTI, I stamped the sentiment “It’s the simple things” using Gina K Designs Amalgam Ink.

8. I cut it out using the Rectangle Stitched Dies. I added it to Gina K Designs Blue Denim card stock and adhered it to a Neenah Solar White card base.

This was really a lot of fun to put together. I hope you will challenge yourself to recreate something beautiful you see.

Thanks, team! We love Watercolor Weekends - they just get us so excited to create! Share your watercolor creations with us on Facebook or Instagram with #aistamps!

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 - Outdoor Scenery

Hello, Ai Watercolor Fans! Today we have three beautiful projects from our Watercolor Design Team to share with you! As the weather warms up, it is delightful to stamp outdoor scenes! Let's take a look at these cards to inspire your projects this weekend!

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

Hello Friends,

I use all of my Art Impression's stamps for both bible journaling and cards but I only used stamps from the bible journaling line in this card I made for the Watercolor Weekend. I stamped the covered bridge from the 5129 - He Leads Me Set after inking it in both African violet and then in sepia. I pulled the color out of the lines and watercolored the roof and boards underneath in 969 and I used 565 to watercolor inside the covered bridge and in the windows. I stamped the deer from the 5128 - As the Deer Set using sepia, pulled the color out of the lines and then watercolored it with the 947. I darkened the eyes and nose with my super fine Copic liner pen. I stamped the trees from the 5129 - He Leads me Set in sepia and then I stamped the leaves from the 5074 - Bible Flower Set on the trees and dabbed them with a wet brush tip. I used a pencil to lightly draw in my hills, road and water which owner/creator Bonnie Krebs suggested in her YouTube tutorial here. She has mentioned this before but it just clicked for me that I should be doing it on all of my cards - it's so much easier! I used 177, 565 and 969 on the palette to watercolor in the hills, road and water. I stamped the grass from the 5073 - Bible Foliage Set in leaf green and then the flowers in 757 using the dots from the 5074 - Bible Flower Set. I touched them with a wet brush which really made them brighter. I then used a tiny bit of 565 to paint in shadows under some of the flowers, tree and deer. I cut out the picture using the 5065 - Oval Stitched Dies and two background piece using the 5063 - Double Stitched Rectangle Dies. 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 was really happy to see that the smallest bicycle in the 5124 - WC Bicycle Set was the perfect scale to work with the 5013 - WC Door Set, allowing me to create a little scene today! I coloured the door with my N65 Cool Grey 5 Tombow marker, and stamped it slightly to the left of center. Still using N65, I stamped the bicycle and the bricks from 5018 Cobblestone Set, using my stamp positioner to get everything just so. I used 2 pots from the retired 3498 Series 6 Set 2, but the ones in the 4869 WC Small Container Set would work here. With my dampened #4 paintbrush, I softened the lines on all the images, and pulled out the colour to create a few shadows. From the 5009 WC Mini Flower Set, I used the tiny greenery stamp with 158 Dark Olive and the dotted floral stamp with 565 Deep Blue and 991 Light Ochre to add the flowers and foliage to the pots, bike basket and over the door. I dabbed all of these lightly with my brush, as I didn't want to lose the definition of the images. Using my N95 Cool Grey 1 marker and a stamp from the 5019 - WC Wall Texture Set, I added the pale grey stones on either side of the door. To keep them from looking repetitious, I flipped the stamp upside down for the second side, and didn't colour all of the stones. I picked up 515 Light Blue from my palette with a fair bit of water to give an aqua-coloured wash to the stone wall. After scribbling 856 Chinese Red and 969 Chocolate onto my palette, I coloured the door and bicycle in red and used the brown to create a wooden doorframe and pots. I wanted everything to look well worn, so kept my brush strokes fairly streaky. I used 565 to add shadows in and around all of the images. With the small grass from the WC Foliage Set 1 and the 158, I added grass in around the bike & bricks, and with the excess colour after painting them with my brush, I added a pale green wash to the ground. To finish, I used the 5062 Rounded Rectangle Double Stitched Die to cut out the image and used the smallest one in the set to cut out my sentiment (Hello! is from 5136 - WC Sentiment Set 2). Both were matted with some brown cardstock and the sentiment was attached with 3D pop dots.

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

I love these bridges. They are so quaint and you can use them in so many ways for any occasion. I challenge you to pull out your bridges, flowers and foliage and give it a try, I know you will love them too!!

Project Details

Step 1: Ink the bridge from the 5131 – Stone Path Set with 969 – Chocolate. Stamp it slightly to the left. Using your brush, pull the color out of the right side of the bridge leaving a highlight on the left side and fading the color from right to left. Stay within each board section. Using the fine tip of the 969 – darken in between the boards. Pull some of the brown into the foreground in front of the bridge.

Step 2: Scribble some 528 – Navy Blue on your palette. Slowly lay down layers of color under the bridge and to the left of the bridge. Keep your color darker underneath the bridge. Add some darker color in lines to create movement.

Step 3: Ink up the small grass from the 4051 – WC Foliage Set 1 with 177 – Dark Jade. I used my post it tape to mask off the top right of the bridge and stamped my grass by walking the stamp to the right. I added more grass to each corner of the bridge. Using a damp brush, pull the color up and out of the grasses. Pull some of the color underneath the clumps of grass to ground them.

Step 4: I inked up the single flower from the 5074 – Bible Flower Set using 177 – Dark Jade & 847 – Crimson and stamped it several times. I softened just the blooms with a damp brush. I inked up the small dots from the same set using 993 – Chrome Orange and stamped it a couple of times on each side of the water to the right of the bridge. Finally, I inked up the dots in the shape of a cone from the same set with 636 – Imperial Purple and stamped them around the bridge. I softened them with a damp brush.

Step 5: I used the left over ink from my palette (528), watered it down and added it to the sky. I signed my painting.

I cut it with my stitched border die and mounted it on a piece of Gina K Designs Black Onyx card stock. I added that to my mounted background. I used Yupo paper and Copic Marker Refills to make the background. I mounted the entire piece onto a 4.25 x 5.50 notecard.

I loved making this piece and I hope you will give it a go! Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty day!!

Aren't these cards so sweet? Let us know what you think in the comments! Don't forget to follow these lovely ladies on social media! There are pink links next to their name to take you directly to their Facebook, Instagram, etc. so you can follow their daily watercolor journeys. From all of us to you, have a happy watercolor weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Watercolor Weekend Roundup - Happy June!

Hello, Ai Fans! Happy June! It's the first of the month, and also the first Saturday - time for a lovely roundup of projects! Today our team is here to feature bicycles and sunny scenes in their creations! Let's take a look.

Dot Freel - Instagram - Blog - Pinterest

I'm pretty certain my love for anything patriotic started in 1976 in my hometown of Canon City, Colorado when our town celebrated the bicentennial year in a big way! I just put out my red, white and blue decorations in my house and that influenced this idea for my card for the Art Impression's Watercolor Weekend. I stamped the bike from the 5124 - WC Bicycle Set three times using both brown 969 and 86 African violet and a mask made of post-it paper. Next, I pulled the colors out of the lines on each bike then watercolored the red and blue bikes from the palette using NO. 89 persimmon and NO. 50 ultramarine. I stamped flowers from the 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set to fill the baskets using the same colors as the bikes. The foliage for the baskets and on the ground was from the 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 and from the 4051 -WC Foliage Set 1 stamped in three greens - NO. 15 olive green and 177. I used NO. 1 black to watercolor the bike tires. I used African violet to watercolor the shadows under the bikes. I used a fine tip Copic marker to draw the flag and colored in the red and blue from the palette. The sky was watercolored using NO. 50 ultramarine. I cut out the picture and a background blue piece using the 5063 - Double Stitched Rectangle Dies and adhered it to my card base. I cut out a frame from red paper. I stamped the sentiment from the 5136 - WC Sentiment Set 2 and then cut it out with a die from the 5132 - Tag Stitched Dies Set. I used a flag die from 5133 - Stitched Flag Set to cut out the red and blue tags that I adhered to the back of the sentiment using a glue dot. I made the bow for the tag and then used foam to adhere it to to the front of my card. I used a Wink of Stella pen to add some glitter to all of the flowers. The last thing I did was sign and date it.

Karen Day - Blog - Facebook - Pinterest

It's my first time painting the new-for-2019 #5124 WC Bicycle Set and I've paired it with the #4873 WC Cats Set. I began by colouring the bicycle with my #N65 Cool Grey Tombow Marker, and stamping it onto my watercolour paper. I pulled out the colour with a damp #4 brush, leaving more colour where the shadows fall. I was careful not to colour a portion of the rear tire, leaving a space to stamp my cat with the help of my stamp positioner (also in #N65.) Using the trailing vines from the #5126 WC Foliage Set 4 and my #158 Dark Olive marker, I stamped them several times in the bike's basket without reinking. With the floral cluster from the #4052 Flower Set, I stamped multiples with #565 Deep Blue in the basket and around the wheels. From the #5009 WC Mini Flower Set, I used the cluster of tiny flowers, and stamped them into the 2nd basket, using #158 & #565. Also from the Mini Flower Set, I used the dot cluster in #991 Light Ochre, filling in the basket and around the tires. I used the tiny foliage stamp with #158 to fill in some greenery, and then used #856 Chinese Red/#158 to add the tall flowers to the basket. With a damp brush, I dabbed the flowers & greenery, not wanting to lose the definition of the images. Using the two longer grasses from Foliage Set 4, and the small grass from the #4051 Foliage Set, I added grasses around the tires & cat, and then pulled out the colour with my paintbrush to add a green wash on the ground. Taking #565 from my palette, I painted in the sky and added shadows to the bike, ground and cat. I wanted just a touch of colour on the bicycle, so I picked up #515 Light Blue off of my palette and added it to the metal parts. I used #850 Flesh to add colour directly to the cat's ears. I die cut my image with a Wonky stitched square die, matted it with dark blue cardstock and adhered it to my base with pop dots. The final card is 5 3/4" square.

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

Hi Ai Fans, welcome back to another Watercolor Weekend! This weekend I decided to create this card using only 2 stamps sets, the Palm Tree Set and the WC Sentiments set. It reminded me of my recent vacation to Aruba. I call this card “Palm tree kindness”.

Project Details

Step 1: I inked up the large palm tree with 969 – Chocolate and stamped it to the left side of the card. I re-positioned it to be curved to the opposite way, re-inked it with the 969 and stamped it on the right side. 

Step 2: Then, I inked the small palm tree up with the 969 and stamped it to the left of the large palm tree on the left. I re-inked it and stamped it a little higher between the two palm trees. Taking my damp paintbrush and pulled color from the right side of each of the palm trees. I made sure to pull a little bit of color out of the bottom of the trees.

Step 3: Next I inked up the large palm tree leaves (left facing) with 177 -Dark Jade and stamped it several times to the top left of the large palm trees. I then inked up the large palm tree leaves (right facing) with 177 and stamped it to the right side of the large palm trees. I added water to the palms.

Step 4: Using the smallest palm leaves, I inked each side up and stamped it on either side of the smaller palm trees. I added a small amount of water to them.

Step 5: Using my palette, I added 873 – Coral and 969 around the trees making sure to leave white space for the sand.

Step 6: Again, using my palette, I added some 476 – Cyan to the bottom third of the card for the water. I started with it really watered down and then continued to build the color up slowly, using brush strokes to make wavy lines leaving white space (for white caps) and bringing the color to the sand.

Step 7: I added 528 – Navy Blue to my palette and watered it down. I jumped it around to create a sky. I slowly built the color up.

Card Details

I cut the piece down to 5.25 x 4. I placed it in my MISTI and inked the sentiment with Gina K Designs Amalgam Black Ink. I stamped it in the top right corner.

To create the frame, I traced around a large rectangle die and another smaller die to give me a guideline. I drew in some sporadic lines using 969 making sure to go outside of the guidelines. I used water to pull the color out of the lines to resemble wood. Once it was dry, I ran it through my machine using the large die. I then placed the smaller die down and ran it through my die cut machine. This created a frame that I glued in place with liquid adhesive.

I added the piece to a white 5.5 x 4.25 note card using a liquid adhesive.

This is a really easy card to create with very minimal supplies. I hope you will give it a try. Make sure to tag us on Instagram with #AIWatercolor and (@artimpressions, @dotjiris & @tobin0971). We would love to see what you create.

I hope you take some time for yourself and watercolor. Thank you for stopping by, I really am blessed by all the social media love and the incredibly supportive crafting community!

Thank you for the beautiful projects, team! These bicycles are just gorgeous with overflowing flowers and we love the ocean scene, too!

We hope we inspired you to break out your watercolor stamps this weekend!

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!