2018 #3 Watercolours with ESN {by Debs Wainwright}

2018 Topic 3: Watercolour

Beautiful splashes of bold watercolours splashed onto watercolour paper creates an awesome background for Sara's stamps. Debs shows us how so effortlessly, and in the process makes beautiful cards into a gift set. Fabulous!

Hi everyone, Debs joining you today, and I'm sharing this little card/notelet set I created using some of Sara Newman’s new stamps which were perfect for what I had in mind. I used ESN 23 &24 . (Stockists list at the foot of this post)

I have always loved those writing sets which were popular when I was a teenager, you know, pretty cards which you would write your letter on with matching envelopes, all kept together in a box which usually matched the cards (... maybe that's me showing my age). There was something sophisticated and grown up about them; remembering them was my inspiration for today's project.

I love using watercolours as the results are often unpredictable which suits my personality, they also lend themselves to spontaneity and freedom which I love to incorporate into my art, the set I used were Gansai Tambi by Kuretake, which are currently my favourite mainly because of the beautiful golds they have which are unusually opaque.

I loved how the colours bled into each other and blended so well. Having wet the surface first with clean water I couldn't predict the outcome, of where the paint would move to on the card, which adds so much fun, and does away with the worry that it might go wrong.

I have a passion at the moment for using gold in my art and these cards were no exception, again it's impossible to predict where the paint will land when you flick it from the brush which just adds to the enjoyment. I also loved how edging the cards in gold worked, I used my non-dominant hand for this, to keep the freshness of uncontrolled colour.

As mentioned earlier Sara's new stamps have a loose style which works so well for me, and were perfect for keeping the uncomplicated look which I sought to achieve. I didn't want anything that looked over worked or too contrived I wanted something anyone could look at and know they could achieve the same look.

Although I used watercolours, you can achieve a similar look with Infusions, by adding water to them in a palette and using them as a paint in the same way, just remember you will get a more vintage look.

The great thing about watercolours is their translucent properties which make them perfect for all kinds of art, whether you want to create a one layer piece or want to build up your layers, or use them in your journals. using them more neat gives a more intensified colour or add more water to increase the translucent properties. Sara’s stamps work perfectly with this style, as there are elements which can be painted and shade added for depth as well as others that can stand alone as part of mixed media or even CAS. 

I hope I have inspired you to have a go with watercolours, there is nothing to be afraid of as the medium is so forgiving, and they work so well with any stamp you want to use with them.

Take care everyone

Hugs

Debs xx

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I'm teaching a mixed Media Project in Tullie House, Gallery and Museum on April 21st 

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The current topic link Topic 3: Watercolours will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, March 4th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

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2018 #3 Waterolour Zinskis with ZA {by Chris Dark}

2018 Topic 3: Watercolour

An absolute feast of ideas tonight from Chris. She made some fantastic samples for Elena upon her new release, and now I can see how she created her amazing backgrounds: oxide inks and infusions and a gel printing technique that looks like so much fun! Plus a grunge paste bonus too! You are in for a treat tonight! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Chris with you today and I'd like to share some watercolour projects using the new Zinski Art Stamps by Elena from her fantastic latest release.

I love watercolour so this was an obvious topic for me, I like the traditional kind and also the gorgeous array of water based products on the market these days including powder, pencil, crayons and markers but I also love water based inks, similarly there are pad, pencil, crayon and marker forms of these, there is a lot to choose from and I have to admit that I have chosen most of them over the years!

Have you used watercolours with a gel plate? You would think that being water based and having been spritzed with water they would bead up and not print well but they do spread out perfectly for quite a solid result similar to using paint but with the transparency you get with water based mediums.

I used a small gel plate with Distress Oxide inks in a patchwork style to create A4 sized master boards to turn into an Art-Zine (you can see below how to cut and fold) but I could go on creating master boards like this for a whole crafty session as I enjoy the process so much. You can see below how I used the extra master board I created. I also broke out my PaperArtsy Infusions which can be put to use on the gel plate but this time I layered them over the top of the dried gel prints, you get interesting textures this way.

I'm delighted with how this little art-zine turned out, it's such a great way to try out a new set of stamps but I really wish I had added some extra stickers and made the title 'sheeple I know', I might do that later!

Here you can see how the mono printing progresses, I varied the angle to get the patchwork effect. You can make marks before you print too, I made a concertina of paper and dragged it through the ink before making the print!

Now it gets more interesting with the addition of the Infusions.

Adding some text stamping in the same ink colours creates a harmonious background and PaperArtsy Glazes are marvellous to give a play on matte and shine, here I used Fresco Finish Metallic Glaze mixed with Magenta Infusions stencilled through the Kim Dellow 048 mask .

To create the Zine fold the master board in half width ways, fold each outside edge into the centre (gatefold), open out then fold in half lengthways. Cut as shown above on the length between the two outer sections and push those outer sections in to form the Zine pages. 

I used Inktense pencils for colouring which are water based ink in pencil form that you activate with water, it's similar to watercolour pencil but is a nice vibrant ink.  A bit of  Fresco Finish Gloss Glaze over the top of the sheep gives subtle extra shine.

All the hearts and flowers within the sheeples are slathered with glitter glue, I like to have some twinkles.

I like to stamp the sheep upside down too, it looks as if they're bouncing around in the air! I also added some white pen and Inktense pencil doodles to lift the background a bit.

With the extra master board I made ATCs using some gorgeous Zini's again coloured with the Inktense pencils with lots of doodles and mark making in the backgrounds.

Infusions are also fantastic for mixing into grunge paste, the water in the paste activates the colour and here I created a lovely greeny blue colour. I also coloured the ribbon with the Infusions, that's such a great way to colour co-ordinate your project! The background is Infusions and Inktense pencil watercolouring here and there and this amazing chef is also coloured with them.

Here you can see the inktense pencil watercolouring a bit closer where I've painted in a very loose style on the Chef's whites and the cake.

I had a lovely day of creative play and as you can see watercolour can mean pretty much any water based colouring medium. I've used a few here for some ideas so even if you just make a background with infusions you've had a watercolour play and can enter! Every time I play with infusions I enjoy them more and more, they are so versatile and next time I will definitely try them on my gel plate as the base layer. 

Thanks for joining me tonight and I hope you have some creative time this week.

Website: http://sketchingstamper.blogspot.co.uk/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/chrisd99/
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We always hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. 

Our creative team love to read your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired!  

You must complete step 1 AND 2 to be entered into the draw. 

To join our challenge:

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2. Make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 3: Watercolours will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, March 4th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy creative apron. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2018 #3 Watercolours: Chunky Book with EEA {by Ellie Knol}

2018 Topic 3: Watercolour

Who knew  A little book could be so much fun and hold so many watercolor secrets! In this post I adore how Ellie has used so many techniques to create a lot of different effects with her ecoline watercolours! Theres glues, paint, paste and loads more....take a look and find out her tricks! ~ Leandra

 

Hi everyone, it's Ellie Knol here with you today, and I'd like to share with you how to use  your beautiful watercolored paper. I LOVE how watercolor always make for beautiful backgrounds... 
I've altered a hard board baby book into a colorful booklet.. a feast for the eye. 

A picture I grabbed from the internet, to show you what it looks like: it has rather thick boards, which I liked for this purpose.
 
These books (I have more) have been in my stash for quite a while, waiting for me to get the moment of light to create something with it.
 
I removed all of the top (glossy) paper of the booklet, which leaves you with a blank booklet; you will now have to reinforce the spine with a piece of fabric.  

Before doing anything to change the booklet, I painted the outsides with Snowflake Fresco Finish paint, also the outside of the pages; closing it tightly first will help not getting any paint on the pages itself. Also make sure you add paint to the fabric on the spine.  

I've added pieces of shells which hang down with some knotted thread. The shells were colored with a bit of alcohol ink.
I've added structure paste randomly to the spine to cover the fabric partially. It gives it some structure and covers the part where I attached the threads with knots; makes it look as if it's supposed to look like this, hehe.  

The stencil with numbers PS021 

... and structure paste was used to make the no 1 on the spine.. you never know, I might want to create a second book in near future. 

I painted the number and spine yellowish (just here and there) with Yellow Submarine Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic paint to match the yellow color in the background. 

OK.. this post was about watercolors.. right?
I've created a larger piece of a background on watercolor paper with a technique where you use white glue to create a resist. Any pattern will do, and I experimented with stampiing with white glue, I used a stencil to create patterns, and splattered the glue as well... the sky is the limit here. 

Let the glue dry properly before adding color. I've used Ecoline in spraybottles, but any watercolor spray will do the job, or even the normal watercolors.  

As you can see here, I've used salt in the wet watercolors to create little dots of color. Cut the background up to fit the pages and front and back cover of the booklet. I adhered it to the book with bookbinding glue. 

AND.. yes I had to use some stamping!! 

These beautiful and versatile stamps from Everything Art EEA01

... are great for this. They're really great to add as background stamping. I've stamped it all with Archival black ink. 

I've added white highlights with a white acrylic marker around the stamping, and also in the background ! To me that adds the final touch!! 

A picture of the overall of the booklet. I would've liked to be able to photograph all sides at once, as I really LOVE how this has turned out.  

I especially like how the back cover has turned out.. the contrast between lighter and darker colors, but also the stamping around the edges. Guess what stamp I've used for that? Yes, part of the collaged stamp in set EEA01

I actually came to the conclusion that I've also could've used water-diluted transluscent Fresco Finish paints to do the coloring.
Go grab a book with hard covers, and alter it the way I did, or maybe you have other ideas to alter a book.. just go play and enter our watercolors challenge !!
I will certainly make more books like this, maybe a little bigger, with thinner board pages maybe.. just look around in second hand shops for booklets to be altered if you don't have any in your stash!!

Hope you liked this and see you again! 

Ellie Knol from PAPER-STAMPS-COLOR !!

                  http://ellieatcs.blogspot.nl/

Owner of : https://www.facebook.com/groups/DutchArtJournal/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008479362838

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I will teach 2 workshops early March at my home;
... you can find details on my workshop blog: Kom spelen met papier, kleur en stempels!  

We always hope that you  learn something interesting from our blog. 

Our creative team love to read your comments so much, so please take time to let them know you've been inspired!  

You must complete step 1 AND 2 to be entered into the draw. 

To join our challenge:
1. Leave a comment on the Topic Introduction Post and go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy Apron. 
2. Make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 3: Watercolours will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, March 4th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy creative apron. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!