Gretchen Barron: Fabulous Watercolor Flowers!

Look at this color! I've been seeing Flower Pot Cards all over the place so I decided to try my hand at a couple this week. The Watercolor flowers were inspired by Sandi MacIver. This is a bit of a twist on a new variation of watercoloring that was shown recently at the Seattle Regionals by Connie Ingram. I, of course, had to try it my own way so here's what I did!

I stamped the flower images from Fifth Avenue Floral onto Whisper White Cardstock using Versamark Ink (be sure and use your Embossing Buddy first to avoid static cling). I sprinkled on Black Embossing Powder and heat set with the heat tool. Working on just one image at a time and working fairly quickly so it doesn't dry out, spritz one image with water to moisten the paper. On the roses, I used two colors and you want to begin with your lightest color first. I used Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose on the pink flower and Almost Amethyst and Lovely Lilac on the purple rose. Squeeze a couple of drops of re-inker onto the lid of your corresponding stamp pad. Then, using my Aqua Painter filled with water, I squeezed a drop or two of water into the lightest color ink to dilute it just a bit and then saturated the stamped image with the lighter color. The trick is to make sure the paper stays very moist. Moving quickly to the darker color ink (again putting a couple of drops of re-inker into the lid) I picked up the color with the Aqua Painter and applied it on the ends of flower petals. Squeeze more water from your Aqua Painter when you need to in order to keep everything very moist. Set the stamped image aside to dry (it takes quite a while to dry, you can lightly hit it with the heat tool but you don't want to over-cook the embossing powder). As it drys, it will continue to blend a bit and the color will lighten slightly. So, when you come back to look at your dried image, it will be slightly different from when you left it. I colored the smaller flowers in a similar fashion using just one color, Taken with Teal.

I just made up my own pattern for the flower pot. I knew that I needed the entire card to fit in an Extra Large Envelope (8 3/4 x 5 3/4"). So I began there. The top of the pot measures about 5 1/4" and the bottom is about 3 1/2". The Pot is made with Taken with Teal and Baja Breeze cardstock. The Baja Breeze was embossed using the Big Shot and the Manhattan Floral Embossing Folder. I lightly sponged Taken with Teal ink over the embossed image and sponged the edges of the Baja Breeze layer. I added a "lip" for the pot which was cut at 5 1/2 x 1", rounded the corners and sponged the edges. Then I added a narrow strip of Whisper White that had been punched with the Eyelet Border Punch and some of the delicious 5/8" White Satin Ribbon. I attached the front of the Pot to an identical back using Sticky Strip and added a couple of eyelets at the top (non SU, sorry) just to make sure it wouldn't pull apart when taking the insert in and out of the pot. All the flowers are cut closely to the embossing and mounted to the card insert with SNAIL and Stampin' Dimensionals. The leaves were cut with the Big Shot and the Flower Layers Die. The sentiment is from Oval All and punched out with the Large Oval and Scallop Oval Punches. Then I thought the card needed just one last touch -- a beautiful Monarch Butterfly from God's Beauty. The butterfly is stamped with Black Stazon Ink on Whisper White and then sponged with Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie Inks and attached using Stampin' Dimensionals. So there you go, a fun and beautiful new way to use your Aqua Painters and Re-inkers! I hope you enjoy making this as much as I did creating it!

Check out my newest Kit On-the-Go, this darling Purse and Set of Cards using the Humor in High Heels set and the fabulous Faux Alligator-Skin Technique. You can purchase instructions only; instructions and Kit; or Instructions, Kit and Stamp Set! Click HERE for more details.

Be sure to visit out my updated Online Store Window with all my current Kit and Tutorial Offers! Kits are available for the Faux Alligator-Skin Wristlets and the Top Note Tea Party Purses along with much more!

Here's a Sneak Peek at an all-new Class Kit On-the-Go and Tutorial that I will be posting on this blog by the end of the week! Make sure and stop back to find out more!

Don't forget the Blog Tour coming up next Monday, April 27th! You won't want to miss it! Hop on the bus for a creative tour through the Occasions Mini Catalog!