Hello everyone! I just LOVE the card that I'm going to share with you today. This was a card that I shared with 30 other stampin' sisters in Robin Merriman's Go Diva's SWAP group. Yes, that's right ... I made 30 of these babies! But they were so much fun to do, I enjoyed making every one of them and hope those who received them enjoyed them as well!
I used the fabulous new stamp set Fabulous Florets (he, he) along with a sentiment from A Word for You. Other supplies include Watercolor Paper, Black Stazon Ink, Stampin' Write Markers, an Aqua Pen, 5/8" Satin Ribbon, the Big Shot, the Elegant Bouquet Impressions Folder, a White Gel Pen, Blender Pens, a small water spritzer bottle (available at any drug or discount store), rubbing alcohol and Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.
Okay, are you ready to see how I did this? The rest of the card is pretty straight-foward and simple so I'm going to focus primarily on a tutorial for the watercolor technique. Let's go ...
First of all, make sure you use good quality watercolor paper. It's now sold in larger 6x9" sheets in the new IDB&C so you can just cut it down to the size you want. I cut it at 2.5 x 3.75" for this card. Stamp your image with Black Stazon Ink (very important so that it won't bleed and smear). A line-art image works best for this technique so that you can color it in. Next, roughly fill in the color with Stampin' Write markers -- I used Melon Mambo on the inside of the flowers and outlined the edges with Pumpkin Pie. You don't have to be careful at this stage of the game, just get some color in there. It will spread out and blend in the next steps of the process. Click on the photo to view it larger.
The next step is to use a Blender Pen to smooth out the ink just a bit and begin to blend the colors together. Again, it will continue to blend in the later steps so don't expect perfect at this point. Just blend the colors together as best as you can with the Blender Pen. I usually work in a circular motion to pull the colors into each other and out to the edges of the stamped outline.
Next, I used Old Olive to fill in the stark white background. For this step, I used a few drops of re-inker and an Aqua Pen filled with water. Make sure the tip is wet and then dip it in the ink. You may want to dilute the ink just a bit. Then just paint the background color around the stamped flowers in a sweeping diagonal pattern. I wanted to leave some hints of white showing through so I was careful to not completely saturate the background with color. Now, here comes the really fun part. Make some Shimmer Spray by mixing several drops of the Shimmer Paint into the rubbing alcohol in your misting bottle. Shake vigorously before and during 
use. Hold the watercolor paper up (you may want to use a Color Catcher or cardboard box behind your card to avoid the back spray saturating everything on your workspace) and spray away. You also want to make sure you are doing this in a ventilated room so that you are not overcome with the rubbing alcohol fumes. Remember to keep shaking the spray bottle as you work. The Shimmer Paint adds the most beautiful light dusting of sparkle on your watercolor masterpiece. Use your own discretion as to how much to spray these but I really saturated mine because I wanted them to definitely shimmer and glimmer. This step also helps the colors to blend together even more, adding to the watercolor effect. Set the entire piece aside to dry. I spread all 30 of mine out and let them dry overnight before I came back to finish the card.
I hope you can see the shimmer in the photos. They really did turn out wonderfully! Each one turned out unique and different and beautiful!
Well, I hope you enjoyed my little watercolor tutorial today! I'm so happy to share it with you. I do hope you'll back soon for more ideas and inspiration!
And don't forget, I'm got a little CASE contest running! Click HERE to see all the details and view the entries that have been submitted so far. I hope you'll decide to play along as well! There's a great prize package waiting for some lucky participant!
Thanks, everyone, for stopping by! I'll hope to see you again soon!
Your card is awesome. Thank you again for sharing your technique on watercoloring it.
Posted by: Joan Norman | July 07, 2011 at 05:53 AM
Thanks so much for sharing this gorgeous card, and the wonderful tutorial--I can't wait to try it!!!
Posted by: Stacy O'Dell | July 07, 2011 at 07:38 AM
Thank you so much Gretchen. I cased your card this morning. Used Poppy Parade instead of Melon Mambo. Thanks for sharing. (Just started blogging so let me know if you can get to my blog with the link below)
Posted by: Mary Kay | July 07, 2011 at 07:53 AM
Thank you Gretchen for sharing your card and tutorial. I have never been much on water coloring, but with your instructions, you make it seem pretty easy to do. I will be giving this a try.
Posted by: Sandy Hill | July 07, 2011 at 08:33 AM
Lovely card, Gretchen. Using the homemade shimmer spray to help blend the colors is a great idea and shimmer is always good!
Sue aka The Soggy Stamper
www.soggystamper.com
Posted by: Sue Erickson | July 07, 2011 at 12:13 PM
Absolutely gorgeous!!! Breath taking and I love it so much!!!
Posted by: linda zaworski | July 07, 2011 at 07:36 PM
I love your card....I just made a card using the same stamp set...check it out on my blog...www.bethfesperman.blogspot.com
thanks for sharing your awesome creativity!!!!
Posted by: Beth | July 07, 2011 at 08:01 PM
This is gorgeous. I love this idea and will give it a try. Thanks for the tutorial.
Posted by: JoAnn Burnham | July 07, 2011 at 08:25 PM
Thanks so much for sharing the watercolor technique with us, Gretchen. I've been wanting to try that and just wasn't sure what to do. I can't wait to give it a try with this set. Your card is just beautiful!
Posted by: Sue O. | July 07, 2011 at 08:57 PM
wonderful directions and explanations.
Posted by: sandy k | July 08, 2011 at 12:42 PM