I love coloring with Stampin’ UP!’s blends so much that I tend to ignore the many other coloring tools they offer. I’m going to remedy that with this post by showing you how to watercolor with the watercolor pencils and a blender pen. It’s really quite easy. Take your pencil and color the area. Shade it by laying down more color. Then, when you’ve finished, take a blender pen and ‘smooth’ it out. The Happy Birthday to You stamp set is perfect for this technique. Let’s take a peek at how that looks.
Today’s Project
I just love the Daffodil Delight and Night of Navy color combination. The deep blue really makes the yellow pop. The image is framed using the new Sweetly Stitched dies. I know I may have mentioned it before, but they are my new go-to dies for creating a frame for a focal point! I tend to use a lot of frames for my focal image because they help to ground the image so it doesn’t feel as if the image is just randomly stuck there! Take a look at a closeup of the card.
You can’t really tell from the photo, but the Parisian Flourish embossing folder adds just the right amount of texture to the large layer. It keeps the bigger part of the card from being too boring. And, you can’t really see that the flowers are also colored with Wink of Stella and are very sparkly. In-person, this card is full of texture and sparkle. I wish you could see it!
Make the Inside Pretty
Usually, I do more on the inside, but stamping Happy Birthday in Night of Navy ink seemed to be just enough for this card. So, I left it at that. What do you think? Is it enough?
Don’t Forget the envelope
The envelope on this one is very subtle. I embossed the envelope flap with the Parisian Flourish embossing folder. I think it adds just the right amount of texture and detail to the envelope for this card.
I’ll leave you with one last picture of the card with the envelope. If you’d like to make this card, the instructions are below. And, at the end of the post, you can find a list of supplies. Clicking on any item will take you to my online store.
You can Make It, Too!
Happy Birthday To You
Instructions
- Make Your BaseCut an 8.5 X 11 sheet of Whisper White card stock in half. Score it on the long side at 4 1/4. Fold it in half. Run a bone folder across the crease to make it nice and crisp.
- Cut Your LayersCut a piece of Night of Navy cardstock to be 5 1/4" X4.Cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock using a Sweetly Stiched die and your favorite die-cutting machine.Cut a piece of Night of Navy cardstock using a Sweetly Stitched die and your favorite die-cutting machine.
- Emboss Your Base Layer and EnvelopeEmboss the large Night of Navy layer using the Parisian Flourish Embossing folder and your favorite die-cutting machine.Emboss the envelope flap using the Parisian Flourish Embossing folder and your favorite die-cutting machine.
- Assemble Your LayersGlue the large Night of Navy layer to the card front using Tombow Multipurpose glue. It works best with embossed cardstock.Attach the small Night of Navy die-cut to the Whisper White die-cut.Attach the Whisper White die-cut to the card front leaving enough room for the sentiment.
- Stamp the SentimentsStamp the Happy Birthday sentiment on the inside of the card using Night of Navy ink.Stamp the Celebrate sentiment on a piece of Whisper White cardstock cut to 2 3/4" X 3/4" using Night of Navy ink.
- Stamp & Color the CakeStamp the cake on a Whisper White scrap using Stazon ink. TIP #1: You must use Stazon ink when water coloring because it's an alcohol-based ink that won't bleed when the water hits it. TIP #2: Clean your stamp immediately with the Stazon cleaner so that your stamp doesn't get ruined!Color the image using Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Garden Green, and Rich Razzleberry watercolor pencils. Use more color where you want shadows and less color where the light is shining.Use a blender pen to 'smooth' out the color by blending it.Finish off by coloring the flowers with Clear Wink of Stella.
- DIe Cut the CakeDie-cut the cake using the Birthday dies and your favorite die-cutting machine
- Attach the ElementsAttach the die-cut cake to the Night of Navy panel using Dimensionals.Attach the sentiment to the front below the panels using Dimensionals.
- Add a Pretty KnotTake a 6" piece of Whisper White Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon and tie a square knot.Trim the ends.Attach the bow to the cake stand using Glue Dots
- Add Some Pretty PearlsColor two large pearls with the Dark Night of Navy Blends: TIP: Use the smaller end so that the brush tip doesn't get ruined.Attach the pearls to both ends of the sentiment.
- DONE!
If you’d like to try to recreate this card, you can find a list of the products I used at the end of this post. Need a demonstrator or a catalog? Drop me a line and I’ll put one in the mail. And, f you ever have any questions, please feel free to comment or email me. And, don’t forget to Pin this post so you can find it again!
