​Today's watercolor challenge is all about using Gelatos by Faber Castell as my chosen coloring medium.  I love Gelatos but I don't use them very often, so I was excited to work with them again.  They are so versatile!  Since there are several techniques with Gelatos, I chose a wet technique where I scribbled them onto wax paper first.  Next, I dipped a round brush in water and picked up the scribbled Gelato color onto the brush and proceeded to watercolor my image (I think Penny Black) that was previously stamped on Strathmore watercolor paper.  The more water on the brush, the lighter the color.  To really intensify color, I took my wet brush directly on the Gelato tube.

​Even though you can't see the detail, I splattered gold paint (Peerless) to fill in the background.  I also used a Quickie Glue Pen (Tombow) and added glitter to the flower stamens and a little white Uni-ball Gel Pen.  Happy Birthday sentiment (Stampendous) was colored using Gelato directly on the edge and blending with a brush.  Ribbon and gems (A Muse Studio).

Here are the Gelato colors I used for the card.  If you aren't familiar with Gelatos, there are numerous YouTube tutorials to help you through all the techniques! 

​I'd say my favorite wet technique is water coloring as in my card today and my favorite dry technique is to Gesso cardstock, scribble on color over the dried Gesso and blend color with a baby wipe.  Perhaps next month, I'll work with that technque!

Black and white color pop!

I've been in a doodle phase lately, which worked perfectly for this month's watercolor challenge!  Basically, I paint shapes on watercolor paper without any sketching first and once dry, I add double line doodling.  It's a fast process and I love the end results!

Prior to starting this card, I wanted a black and white background and decided to paint splatter on a white cardstock card front first.  I "forced" some splatters by directly painting larger shapes.  Now the background was ready for the colorful flowers!  I purposely affixed a couple flowers off the edge of the card and cut away the excess for visual interest.

I had so much fun with the first card, I decided to hand paint horizontal black lines on a second card!  I hand painted lines using a fairly light touch and a round brush with a good point.  No pre-measuring was done as I just started painting the wonky lines.

For both card assemblies, I used some principles of collage that are super helpful when figuring out where all the pieces go in a visually pleasing manner.  For more information about collage, find the link to a previous blog post HERE.

Here is my painting session showing all my silly flowers and leaves and the doodling that really brings out the final shapes.  I worked with Canson watercolor paper and Sakura Koi watercolors.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

It's bunny time!

Today is all about painting bunnies freehand.  Thanks to a YouTube video HERE, I learned I could actually paint them without sketching first!  It was a fun process and my favorite part was adding the little faces with a micron pen.  The grass and flowers grounded them nicely.  The added diecut border gave the card a whimsical appeal.  TIP:  The border is actually heart shapes that is tucked behind the paper to reveal just the tops of the hearts.

I used a waterbrush and Koi watercolors on Strathmore paper.  Papers are 6x6 paper pad from Echo Park A Day in the Life.  Diecut is from A Muse Studio.  Sentiment is Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Crazy Talk Collection.

The inside of the card serves as a border on the right side of the card front.

I was having so much fun painting the bunnies, I made a second card that I ended up doodling.  Rather than a waterbrush, I used a round brush.   ​Oh those cutie patootie faces!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Easter!

XOXO

LYN

We are back from a holiday pause and I'm so excited to be posting to this month's Watercolor Challenge!

This month, I am working with watercolor pencils (Staedtler 24 Karat Aquarell) and a waterbrush (Jane Davenport B).  I recently dug out this watercolor medium and have been totally enjoying working with them.  

My card is an example of using watercolor pencils in four different techniques as follows:

​1.  Swipe the waterbrush over the pencil point to pick up color and paint the gnome images that were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink on Canson watercolor paper.  Go back to swiping the pencil point as needed to get the desired color.

2.  Use the pencil directly on the image and blend with the waterbrush for highlighting or depth.

3.  For the sky, I used regular cardstock (Hammermill Color, Copy, Cover), and swiped color onto the waterbrush.  Working quickly, apply the color randomly and lightly.  Keep adding color as needed.

4.  Splatter the sky by flicking the waterbrush over the pencil point that is aimed at the sky.

The stamp set (Photoplay Tulla & Norbert by Becky Moore) has a matching 12x12 paper kit (flower box stickers and Lucky sentiment).  NOTE:  To eliminate the adhesive backing, just rub with powder and the adhesive disappears!  I do this trick in order to add foam mounting tape.

The St. Patricks Day embellishment (Amuse Studio) was stamped in Altenew Fresh Leaf ink.  I diecut three additional circles and glued them all together to create thickness.

To create the rainbow edge, do Step 1 above on watercolor paper and cut a 1" strip and affix to the bottom of the card.  Gold narrow washi tape (my stash) divides the rainbow edge from the flower boxes.

It's that time of year for the Salmon River Fine Arts Center's annual 6x6 Community Art Show and FUND-raiser!  This is my third year participating in this event and I'm excited to be a part of so many wonderful 6x6 art pieces.  Follow the link above for show details.

Meanwhile, here are my three watercolor submissions.  Since I was back in NY when I painted two of the pieces, winter themes seemed a natural choice.  The third painting was finished in FL and was inspired by needing to see signs of spring after a month of grey days in NY!

Robin in Winter

Cardinal in Winter

Chickadee in Spring

I began using Tim Holtz Distress Cardstock and a Penny Black Slapstick/Cling stamp (Alight).   My "loose" plan was to use Distress Inks to color the image with the "direct to rubber" technique.  I decided to grab Tombow Markers instead to color directly onto the rubber.  Rather than color the entire stamp, I began coloring one leaf at a time with a green marker that I spritzed with water and stamped using The Misti tool.

Here's where the "experiment" happened.  Because the paper is textured, the stamped result was very mottled looking.  I picked up a small round brush and using just a little water, began painting the Tombow marker color that blended beautifully! 

I continued the direct to rubber coloring technique with each leaf and blended each one with the brush and water.  As the leaves dried, I worked on the berries.  The bird was colored a section at a time starting with the brown tones and then his belly.  To add more color, I scribbled Tombow color onto glass and "painted" using the small round brush mostly to the leaves. 

​


​Red Wink of Stella added a little pop to the berries.   

While trolling Pinterest recently, I came across cute little gnome ornaments by Patti J. Good Designs that I just had to create!  After making one ornament as per her instructions, I added my own creative twist.  This is my first batch of gnomes with red hats.  I'll be making hats in other fabrics shortly and will post them on Pinterest.

I cut the bottom of the hat in a curve rather than straight and I hand stitched the side seam of the hat as I didn't like the hot glue result.  I made the hat slouchy (a folded pipe cleaner inside the hat and glued to the beard provides the support to make the hat slouch and not collapse) and I turned up the hat brim once so it's less thick.  I've ordered jingle bells to affix to the end of the hat for further cuteness.  I would embellish the hat brim with tiny buttons as an option also.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

It's another fun month of watercolor at Happy Little Stampers!

My take on this month's card has a feel of yesteryear with its browns and muted greens and reds.  This technique was inspired by a WPlus9 YouTube video (HERE) begins with stamping with Distress Oxide ink, spritzing prior to stamping and once stamped, pulling ink with a brush for a watercolor effect. 

The birds needed something in the background, so I masked them and then stamped the trees behind them, which filled in the open spaces.  Ink blending the edge of the card warmed up the overall scene.  Even the ribbon was smeared with Distress Ink and spritzed and purposely wrinkled for an aged appearance.

I will tell you that the YouTube technique used Distress Watercolor paper.  I experienced ink smearing (as if it wasn't dry) on the Strathmore paper, so test your inks and paper first before trying this technique!

Supplies Used:

Paper:  Strathmore
Stamps:  Penny Black (Feathered) and (Landscape), Sentiment (Scrapbok.com)
Inks:  Ranger Distress Oxide (Gathered Twigs, Forest Moss, Carved Pumpkin, Aged Mahogany, Hickory Smoke), Versa Fine (Crimson Red)
Accessories:  Ribbon (Amuse Studio)

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

​LYN

Here's the photo inspiration for HSS Challenge #400!

Autumn is my favorite season of the year and I couldn't wait to join this challenge!

The story behind this card is that I started the background using Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors while convalescing on the couch from foot surgery in New York State this summer.  Fast forward to now where I'm in Florida and there's absolutely nothing visually autumn here other than decorations; however, my love of fall has gotten me through this card design!

I stamped Woodsy trees (Penny Black) using Versafine Vintage Sepia and The Misti.  For further color pop, I found just the right cardstock (Bazzil) in my stash.  Wrapping twine (FSJ) and adding a stitched tag (MFT) that was stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Vintage Sepia and a sentiment from Spellbinders Seasonal Motif stamps.  Stitched borders (Lawn Fawn) were added to both the card front panel and tree panel for additional texture and interest.  The tree panel is also raised with a section of craft foam.  The sparkly stickers are from Stampendous (discontinued).

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN

  

My favorite month of the year is here!  I love everything about Autumn and, especially, creating cards!

Today's card is reminiscent of my shabby chic, vintage card making days and it was fun to re-visit that style again.  Since I am still recovering from foot surgery and living on the couch, I sketched, painted and doodled pumpkins and leaves one afternoon and hand cut them out knowing I would do something with them once I could negotiate the stairs up to my craft room, which was about two weeks ago.

Lots of layers and edge distressing going on.  I love mixing patterns and textures!  My BIL made me actual twig buttons years ago and it made a perfect embellishment along with the cute wood bird.

​Here's the inside sentiment, one of my all time favorites for fall:

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Art Impressions, Impression Obsession, Stampendous
Papers:  Canson Watercolor, Honey Bee 6x6 Paper Pad (Sweet on You)
Accessories:  Kuretaki Gansai Tambi Watercolors, Dipping Pen, Winsor Newton Calligraphy Ink, Memento Cocoa Ink, Tombow Multi Glue, Twine (A Muse Studio), Prima Distress Tool, Wood Bird (my stash), Cross Hatch Die (Simon Says Stamp)

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

LYN