Watercoloring with Stampin Up Supplies

Hello. Sorry I am so late posting today, since it is almost dark out here in good ole' Ohio. Better late than never. Lately, I have been really into Clean and Simple cards. I have no idea why, but it is what it is. Tonight is no exception. I took a stamp from one of my sets from The Greeting Farm stamp company and did some detailed water coloring, then cut the image out and placed it on a very simple card base. Water coloring is very therapeutic mentally, it relaxes me, and makes me smile. It really isn't hard once you get the hang of it, and use the right tools. Stampin Up happens to have some awesome coloring tools to work with. So first here is the card, then I will provide some instruction.

Feel free to double click on the photo to enlarge it and see the detail of the water coloring. I was frustrated with the way my water coloring looked, so I did some digging and found some instructions somewhere on the Internet. We are so fortunate to have so many paper crafters that blog and are nice enough to show us how to do things. I do apologize, but I can't remember where I saw and read about water coloring. I do invite you to visit the Website and blog link for The Greeting Farm stamp company, as the owner always has some beautiful samples posted on weekdays that her design team has made and they are excellent examples of awesome water coloring. Just click on the store name above, I attached a link to take you right to their store.

Anyways, I use a variety of Stampin Up products and tools when I am coloring a stamped image. I always make sure that I have the following on my table or nearby when I color: Stampin Up Classic Ink pads and refills, SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons, SU Blender Pens and Aqua Painters, Sponge Daubers, Watercolor Paper (cold-pressed 140lb), old wash cloth, and scrap paper of any kind.

What I have learned is to start out with a light color, and gradually color with the darker hues. For instance, if you look at my flower centers above you will notice that the centers appear lighter than the edges. Same thing with the flower petals and leaves. For instance, when I went to color the flower petals, I got out all of my Yellows, tested them in a row next to each other on my scrap paper to see which ones would look best together, then started coloring with the lightest of them, working my way outward to the darkest. I know it sounds intimidating, because it did to me at first. However, the more you practice, the easier it gets and the better your outlined images will look on your cards. I still don't think of myself as an expert on this, I just wanted to share with you, what I do know. I hope I have inspired you to give water coloring a try. The old wash cloth, is for when you get a little too much color or moisture on your blending pen or more specifically your Aqua painter. This brings me to a tip about Aqua painters, a little water, goes a long way. There is no need to fill them up all the way, because then you will have more water than color. Now if you are coloring a sky background that you want really soft looking, then more moisture can be good. The whole thing is a lot of trial and error. I hope however that I have provided you with a good starting point. If you have any questions feel free to email me (see my side bar) or leave a comment. Of course if you need any supplies or tools from Stampin Up, I can help you out there as well. Don't forget to check Stampin Up's web site, to see what their deal of the week is this week! Also, don't forget to click on over to The Greeting Farm's website and blog to see the great colored samples.

Until next time................................Blessings, Lisa