Good Morning Fellow Stampers!
Happy Hump Day!! Whooo Hoooo -- I think we're finally going to get some cooler more March-like weather around here. At least that's what they're predicting. I'm okay with that. It's been way too warm for March; and my rose bushes are starting to show budding out which is NOT good! I haven't even done the Spring pruning back yet! Sheesh!
Today I thought I'd share with you the projects from my Watercolor Class a week and a half ago. I had wanted to do this last week, but . . . you know, best laid plans and all!! We're starting to get back on track around here, so here's to a "catch up" blog post today!!
The feature of this class was the brand new Watercolor Pencils introduced in the Spring Occasions Catalog! These pencils are absolutely dreamy! They are smooth, creamy, and so easy to work with. Everyone was ooooing and aaaaahhhing in class over them. So I started out class with an easy 3-step project . . . take the little bunny image, and color it once using the pencils and a blender pen; the second time with the pencils and an aqua painter; and the third time, just straight dry! This gave my class a chance to see the difference between each technique and use, and to get a feel for the pencil and how to move color around on an image. Just as an aside, this image is inked onto a "mixed media" paper made by Canson. It's perfect for all types of artwork mediums. Although in the past I have purchased this paper at a true art store (like Guiry's in my area); Michael's has now started carrying this paper in their stores this year.
I then moved everyone to a true watercoloring technique using an Aqua Painter, the Watercolor pencils, and this beautiful image from the Remarkable You stamp set, inked in Basic Black Archival ink on watercolor paper. This was a lot of fun! You are free to play and move color as much or as little as you want; allow the color to dry, then add more color; etc.! Watercolor paper is of course very absorbent and resilient and is meant for taking on a lot of water. Watercoloring is really a lot of fun, and these pencils make it so easy. As you can see from my samples, no two ever turn out the same. I cut all of the class projects on 4" x 5-1/4" pieces of paper so that the gals could take them home and create final projects of their own making. These shown here today, are my final versions using our class projects.
Next, I taught the gals how to do a watercolor wash putting color directly to paper around these wonderful images from the Beautiful You stamp set, and then moving the color with the Aqua Painter. These are stamped on Whisper White cardstock which does not respond as well to a lot of water; so it was a good lesson on "less is more," keeping the brushes a little bit dryer and working the color carefully and quickly; allowing a good drying period between any more addition of color or movement.
We then moved to the gorgeous Mediterranean Moments stamp set, and using this image on Shimmery White cardstock, I had them return to the Blender Pen technique, and showed them how much more resilient Shimmery White cardstock is to a watercolor technique than Whisper White is. These beautiful images from that stamp set are perfect for coloring and playing. How relaxing actually!!
The final project of the class was to take what we had learned and use it on the Inside the Lines designer series paper from Sale-A-Bration, creating this beautiful card which I featured on my blog the prior week. You can see more of this post HERE. Now this really is "coloring" at its ultimate best, and using the Aqua Painters, you can really achieve some beautiful works of art with this paper! Again, it is not watercolor paper, so you don't want to overdo the water; but the end result really is lovely!
So there you go! I'd encourage you to purchase this set of pencils and just play! They are really terrific; and best of all, they have colors from each of our color collections, so they are so versatile! As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact me.
And now . . . as I hinted on my Facebook page yesterday . . . it's time for a little Blog Candy Giveaway!! I've begun the Spring Clean Out in the DDS Studio . . . soon it will be time for my Annual Clean Out Sale. It's time to "clean house" and find space again after a long fall and winter of "hoarding." LOL As you can see from my pic below -- I've done a major "housecleaning" on the card stash. This is everything from card swaps, to my own creations. This week 5 lucky entrants will get a collection of approximately 12 cards/projects (my choice), to enjoy and use as they wish. Some may be of current brand new product, and others may be of retired items. All of them are beautiful and I know you'll enjoy them.
To enter, leave a comment on this blog post and share with us what your favorite Sale-A-Bration product has been this season! All comments must be in by Friday, March 24th. The random drawing will take place this weekend, so be sure to check back and see if you are one of the lucky 5 recipients!! :-)
We're counting down the final days of Sale-A-Bration. Take advantage of the New Products released yesterday to choose from for your SAB freebies. And get those orders in today before it's too late!!
Until Next Time . . .
