I have been exploring some more with watercolours since my
previous posts and thought it would be a nice idea to share the techniques with
you that I have learned over the past week. This is a super long post from me!
First, here is the card that I am most pleased with. I
completely cased the card and technique from the wonderful Betsy Veldman as
seen
here. I stamped and embossed my image using white embossing powder
onto watercolour paper, I then generously applied distress inks in 5 different
colours over the image, deliberately going over the lines. Once you have
completed this, spray the whole piece with a mini mister to make the inks bleed
prettily like watercolours and leave to dry. So easy, right?
There are many ways that you can achieve watercolour
effects, even if you don’t own any! Let’s run through a few;
Ink Pads.
You can turn any dye ink pad into a watercolour medium. Stamp your ink pad on
to a craft sheet/acrylic block/glass tile and pick the colour up with a wet
paintbrush. I like this method if I want to watercolour a small element
quickly. Distress Inks are made for this, however I use all of my dye ink pads
for this method and re-inkers are fantastic.
·
Brush
Pens. Brush the colour onto the stamp with your pen, spritz the stamp with
water and stamp or stamp and spritz the paper with water or use the ink pad
method. This is how I first learnt to watercolour stamp when I started crafting
a number of years ago. My Marvy le Plume pens are still going strong!
·
Watercolour
Pencils. Well, obviously these are great for this, however I also like to
use the shavings when I sharpen the pencil to create paint for a ‘wash’ when I
am in a pinch and can’t find a specific colour.
·
Chalks.
I have quite a few palettes of chalk cubes which I rarely use. For best
results, spritz the chalks a few minutes prior to use and then use a wet
paintbrush to thoroughly wet the cube then paint. Leave the chalks to dry and
they can be used again for their original purpose.
·
Gelatos.
These can be used directly on paper and then you would go over it with a wet
paintbrush. I like to slice some of the gelato off the stick on to a Pringles
lid, add a little water and ‘smush’ the water into the paint to create a thick
paste, this can then be watered down. I’ve had great success adding mica
powders to these, and the other great thing? Leave it in the lid to dry and
simply wet to reuse, you can make your own custom colour palettes by mixing the
gelato colours!
·
Spray
Inks. Spray on your sheet and use the ink as is or add a little water.
·
Alcohol
Inks. Drop some ink on a non stick craft sheet and go in with a wet
paintbrush. This is good for very pale washes.
·
Eyeshadow.
I like to use old eye shadows by scraping off some of the powder on to a craft
sheet and adding water. I have found that most shadows contain mica so they
will add a shimmer to your finish. I picked up some vibrant matte purple and
green shadows cheaply that create a really bright effect when used in this way.
·
Food
Colouring. Obviously this is an old school staple, I loved mixing my own
colours to use when I was a kid, although I find that when you do mix them they
tend to turn a sludgy colour. Gel food colouring is even better, especially if
you want bold colour.
I am sure that there are many
more, these are just the ones that I have acquainted myself with.
This one is easy peasy and super quick. White embossed sentiment washed over with different watercolour paints.
I hope this post inspires you to give watercolours a try, you'll be so glad you did!
Thanks for stopping by,
Ang.
