Inspire Me Monday: YouTube LIVE Watercolor Painting

Howdy everyone!  Allison Cope here!

Today we're going to do something a little different!  Later today I'm going to go LIVE on YouTube (HERE) with a watercoloring project for a last minute Valentine's Day card.

You will also be able to see it after the live as well on the same link above.

Please join me at 2:00pm EST on YouTube and we'll have some fun together!

See you then!

~ Ally ~

Inspire Me Monday: Brusho & Copic Markers

Howdy and welcome to another Inspire Me Monday!  I’m Allison Cope and I’m your hostess this week.

Today I’m going to share a fun Fall card featuring the “Chrysanthemum XL” stamp set and some Brusho and Copic Marker coloring.

So grab a mug of your favorite warm drink and join me in my craftroom!

Click here to watch in HD.

For my sentiment, I used the “Giving Thanks” from the “Fortunes of Fall” stamp set.  Here’s a look at the final card…

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you get inspired and go and create something fun this week!

~ Ally ~


stamps: Power Poppy (Chrysanthemum XL, Fortunes of Fall)
cardstock: Strathmore (Cold Press Watercolor), Recollections (110# White)
ink: Versamark, Catherine Pooler (Peppermint Scrub), Copic Markers
dies: MFT (Stitched Rectangles), Elizabeth Crafts (Happy Birthday)
dots: Kraftin’ Kimmie (Lovey Dots)

Inspire Me Monday - You Don't Always Have to Finish It!

Hey all! Jessie here today, with a sneak peek of the new Clear Stamp release coming later this week. Also some of my ramblings.

I started off by stamping out the soon to be released, Big Sexy Blooms stamp set, on some Arches 140lbs hotpress watercolour paper. If you think this set is great, wait till you see what else is coming when peeks start on Wednesday!

I painting in the negative space, so the space where there are no flowers with a light blue colour. That kills off the white space that will not be filled with colour at the end, by using a light blue it will still read as light space between the florals.

It is hard to see here, but I put a super light wash of colour over all the petals in the floral to, again, get rid of the white space and make it easier to build up the layers of colour.

 Those of you that play along in Kathy Racoosin's Daily Colouring Challenge, will understand this one. This card is not complete. You do not have to finish everything in one sitting. This weekend was cray busy. My son had a baseball tournament on Saturday, then we went golfing on Sunday. But I spent about half an hour colouring. And this is what I accomplished1 It is okay that this will take me till Thursday to complete!

You can see how as I add the darker paint near the center of the floral you start seeing the depth of colour. 

After I got all the initial layers of red layered on, I pulled out Moon Glow (Daniel Smith) and put that over top of everything. This will grey out all the colours and mute out the start of the flowers. Then I get to come back in with the reds and bring that colour back.

Layering colours is one of the most import things to achieve the depth of colours I like to have in my floral cards. those initial layers, and the moon glow will shine through the bright reds that are being layered on top.

So this is as far as I got on Sunday. But I hope you enjoyed the little bit of info. And always remember it doesn't have to be finished in one sitting!

Make sure you come back on Wednesday to see what everyone has made for the New Release coming very soon!

Hugs
Jessie

Inspire Me Monday with Kathy Racoosin

Hello Friends! Welcome to another Inspire Me Monday. My name is Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker and I am super excited to share with you today. 

Today I hope to inspire you grab a pencil and alter one of your stamps for a new look literally drawing a few lines. I am inking up this beautiful Amaryllis Bliss. 

Even though this is a holiday flower I love the wide open spaces on the petals for watercoloring. Tombow markers are super easy to watercolor with and awesome for on the go watercoloring. 

Gina K. Designs amalgam ink is great for "no line" watercoloring plus the ink can be used for alcohol markers. 

This card is pretty tall and narrow measuring at a pretty solid 10 inches. 

The paper that I prefer is cold pressed and 140 lbs . I love the texture of cold pressed paper instead of the hot pressed that is smooth and no texture. 

Cut your watercolor paper to it's desired size. Draw two lines from the top of the flower. If your lines are crooked that can be even better ... more natural so don't worry about how your lines might look. 

Sketch a vase and stamp the sentiment inside the vase. Stamp a leaf onto your stem. 

Start watercoloring on one of the flowers that doesn't stand out as much. I like to think of it as a warm up. Be sure to leave some areas white without any color. 

Start with a first layer of color and once it's all dry add another layer color on top of the first layer. 

To make the smaller flowers stand out I used some dark grey on the parts of the flowers that touch the main center flower. 

You can see how intense the color can be when you add a second layer. When I travel and talk about my coloring tips this is my mantra. 

Don't worry about what direction the light is coming from because that is to stressful. If you create a darker area and a lighter area on each petal or stem etc. that will please the eye and your coloring will look great. I like to say that I am faking it because I really don't know where the light is coming from but, it looks pretty good because I have those light and dark areas. Does that make sense? I sure hope so! 

Let's bring back the joy of coloring or painting. Step outside of your comfort zone and draw a stem for a tall and dramatic card. Don't be afraid to add those dark areas because that will really enhance your coloring. 

Thanks for your visit today and have a great week! Hugs, Kathy Racoosin

Inspire Me Monday: Experimenting with Color!

Hello Friends, My name is Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker. I am in the middle of a 30-day coloring challenge and for me it's Day 18! If you are curious what the 30 Day coloring challenge is or if you have been watching from the sidelines, now is a good time to jump in and get your feet wet. You can read about The 30 Day Coloring Challenge HERE.

For me the challenge is time to experiment with my coloring and not only try different mediums but, to go out of my comfort zone. One of the great things about the challenge is to bring back the love of coloring and not have that pressure to finish a card. Many times during the course of the challenge, I might color a partial image. My mantra is to find some you time for 10 minutes a day.

With that said, I really went out of my comfort zone for today's post and thought I would share my process with your today.

These are the different phases of this painting! I completed the first one all the way on the left and then my twin sissy came over. I was going to coach her how to make bone broth and my spicy chicken vegetable soup. (I will have a photo recipe at the end)

So while I was instructing her, I started on the second clip in the photo. When I was "finished," she would have this weird expression lol so I would keep on adding color.

I began by stamping this beautiful illustration from Marcella in the Amaryllis Bliss Stamp Set.

After a little masking and another little bit of stamping, I was ready for paint.

Usually, I like to paint a blue background but I wanted to try something different. So, grey was my choice. I used a super thin multi-liner to darken the nooks and crannies. I also outlined the stamen so I wouldn't lose them once I started painting since the ink color is fairly light. 

I thought it would be fun to add some shading before I started adding the color.

Leaving white areas was an effort and purposeful on my part.

This is where the problems began. I should have used different colors on the flowers. Since I got the nose snub from my sissy, I kept on adding color. LOL!

I added an overlay of blue and purple and softened some of the white areas. Should I have stopped sooner? 

Something was still missing for me. Once the added black on top of the grey in the background, the colors popped more and I liked it better. My sister didn't like the background and my husband said maybe it's to much color haha!

The moral of the story is, I did enjoy the process until I added the 4th layer of color. By that time, I was in deep and invested a lot of time but, all in all, it was a great learning experience.

My favorite bloom is the one on the far right with the turquoise and the brown showing through. I would love to hear your honest opinion. Should I have stopped after the second layer? Would you ever consider adding grey or black to the background?

Thanks for letting me share and I hope you enjoy what you are coloring! Now, as promised, my recipe for Chicken Vegetable Soup! Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you join me in the final stretch of the 30 Day Coloring Challenge!

Hugs, 
Kathy 

Creative Confetti: Tag You're It!

Hi Power Poppy Peeps! If you celebrate this beautiful season, are you ready? Have you made your lists and checked them twice? I have to say, I am about 2/3 of the way there. I am trying to "be still" however and realize that the real reason for the season is so much more important than if I bake cookies or get that one last gift. :-)

Having said that, we all need a "time out" to create, don't we? Well, for this week's challenge, I tried to focus on something small that you could do to 1. get in the spirit and 2. take some coloring time for yourself!

HOW TO PLAY: It's just as simple as the graphic says! Create a gift tag! Now, while my little bit of inspiration below is a Christmas tag, it doesn't have to be! Make one to have on hand for birthdays or any other holiday for that matter. I just knew this was something quick and easy that would still give you some time to create! 

On to my creation! 

I decided, for my tag, to pick up a medium that I don't often gravitate toward  -- watercolor! It's soothing and I love the dreamy feel it creates when your project is all wrapped up. To get started, I picked up the Power Poppy set called Let Your Heart Be Light. I love, love, LOVE those poinsettias!

To create, I have to say I followed some of the same principles that Ally used in THIS tutorial. Now, I don't have Brusho but I did use Distress Inks to both stamp (Vintage Photo) and paint (Barn Door, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Antique Paper).  I started by stamping in Vintage Photo and then added a wash using Tattered Rose Distress Ink using a water brush. From there, I just added droplets of ink from my reinkers to a palette and diluting the color, gradually built up my color to where I wanted it to be. Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on watercolor. I have a lot still to learn about shading and really controlling the color but, each project is a chance to hone in on that. 

Here's a close up for you! I am kind of a "scribbler" when I watercolor and just let the ink flow where it wants to. Again, stuff I need to work on! ;-) 

Now, it's your turn! Do you have a last minute tag you'd like to create for that special gift or special someone? I hope you play along with me this week because "Tag, You're It!" After you get those fingers inky, remember to link up your creation below. If you play along, you'll be in the running for a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop! 

Thanks for stopping by! I will say that Creative Confetti will be taking a 2-week break to enjoy the holidays. I will go ahead and leave this linky open, just in case you want to revisit any of the challenges we've ushered in this month. And... we'll announce the December winner when we come back January 8th! I hope you have a beautiful holiday with family and make some amazing memories to cherish for years to come!

Blessings & Peace!

~Julie

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspire Me Monday: Watercolor Tips & Tricks

Hello all! Kathy here from The Daily Marker bringing you another edition of Inspire Me Monday! Are you one of those crafters who enjoys watercoloring or are you one that tries, always wishing for better results? If you said the latter, maybe a few of these tips can work for you? 

I am the kind of crafter who loves to color when I am traveling and it just so happens I'm away for the weekend with some friends. I packed some minimal supplies to lighten my load, but I had enough to be able to share some tips and tricks with you all.

It’s no secret that I love Power Poppy’s extra large flowers so I packed this beautiful flower from the Chrysanthemum XL set. Also, did you see it's on sale right now? 

My Mini MISTI is usually always in my bag but, this time, I forgot it! So, to try to get a great impression with this large stamp, I ended up placing my paper (Fabriano 140lb. extra white cold pressed) on top of the flower to stamp it and that worked fairly well.

To prep my paints, I wet my desired colors and put some in the palette. By adding more water and really diluting the paints, you get a nice wash and I think it’s easier to paint this way. 

I love the details in this flower, but let's be real, it does take time to color this beautiful illustration! That's why using a simple watercolor was a must for me. Alternating the shades of red and purple was easy and appealing to the eye.

Creating in this way is super easy to do while you are chatting with friends. Another tip? Adding a wash of a darker color can really make these blooms pop, see?

I think the wash really works well since there is so much color variation on each petal.

Once my background was painted and dry, I used a sharpie marker to outline each and every petal. Of course, this isn’t necessary but, I believe the effort is worth it.

To give the petals just a little more pop, I decided to accent them thanks to a little white gel pen.
Outlining an image and adding white gel pen will make your colored images pop. I encourage you to stamp an image twice and practice on the spare image to see if this might work for you!

And what you see above is my final colored image. When I get home, it will be easy to add a sentiment for someone special. 

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven't delved into watercolor, maybe some of these tips will help bring out the best in your watercolored images. I hope you give these tricks a try! 

Have a great week and I will see you next year! Wishing you Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 

Hugs, Kathy