Valentine Countdown #4: World of Love

Time for the next installment in the Valentine Countdown! It is another little watercolor work. I have realized recently that I do very few projects without watercoloring taking part in the process lately. It has such a big impact on the finished project and I enjoy it so very much :)

This card is another little card, a 3"x4" totally watercolor paper card.  Here is how I created it:

• Tape the card flat on the board. Wet  most of the front of the card with clean water with an Aqua-painter. 
• Drop Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe into the wet areas and allow to blend and combine. Dry with heat tool if you want to speed it up.
• After the watercolor is dry, stamp the globe image and the sentiment (from PTI Love Notes) in Soft Suede. 
• Die cut the "love" from Early Espresso and adhere to the card front. But be careful, make sure the ink from the stamped images is dry or it will smear. You made need to hit it with the heat tool to dry it if you are impatient, like me :)
• Open card to the inside, apply painters tape about ½" from the bottom of card, taping down to a board and creating a mask at one time. 
• Apply a little water again with the Aqua-painter, then add add Mint Macaron and Tip Top Taupe ink, like was done on the card front.
•  Allow to dry, or dry with heat tool. Remove tape. All done!

I used Canson 140lb cold press watercolor paper here. I believe this is considered a student grade paper, but I have had good results with the things I have been doing with it. Be sure to use a good quality watercolor paper, like SU watercolor, Canson or Strathmore 140lb cold press, Tim Holtz Distress watercolor, or even Arches 140lb cold or hot press. There are so many great papers out there, but the 90lb or less varieties will warp more and not make a good card base.

And in case you are wondering, the difference between cold press and hot press is that the hot press has a smoother finish and will take a stamped image easier. There are several other differences, but for my purposes, that is the biggest. That and it is much harder to find and the price is generally higher :)

I have taken a couple of the Watercolor for Card Makers classes through OnlineCardClasses.com and really enjoyed them, and I would like to think they have improved my skills, and that with practice, I will become much better at watercoloring!

Both of these inks have several colors "unlocked" when they are used in watercolor techniques, so they give a big effect with little effort. There are just a few ink colors that are like this, and Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake are a couple others that will give you a great variation of color. 4

I do believe this card is going to end up in my husband's lunch box soon :)

What do you think? Are you ready to give it a try yourself? I would love to see what you create! Post a comment with a link to your creation so we can all check it out!

And if you would like to purchase some of the items I used today, here are some convenient links to help you out :)  And if your order is less than $150, please use this month's Host Code: PCUN2KHD

Product List

The Open Sea Clear Stamp Set

[123032]

$19.00

The Open Sea Wood Stamp Set

[128454]

$27.00

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$5.00

Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[119686]

$7.00

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad

[138325]

$6.50

Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[138330]

$3.25

Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Ink Refill

[138331]

$3.25

Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad

[138326]

$6.50

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

[126978]

$6.50

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$17.00

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

[138309]

$7.00