Newton’s Nook Reveal Day #1

Hi everyone, welcome to day one of the Newton’s Nook Designs April release week! This month Newton’s Nook is releasing new stamps that you are going to love; and today I am showcasing one of them (Winston’s Honeybees) in a sweet, watercolor scene!

I have loved watercolor for many years; it was the first medium – along with colored pencils – that I started off with in my card making projects (I started card making in 2007). For this scene I have used Windsor and Newton Cotman watercolors to do all my painting. However, I first had to build the scene, so let me start off by telling you about that!

I stamped the bear, beehive, and bees onto my watercolor paper using Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink; because I wanted to create a full scene with this set, I sketched a tree for the beehive to hang from, along with some grass for my bear to sit on.

Adding hand drawn elements to a scene to create something fun and unique is much easier then you would think! If you are a bit unsure about trying it on your own cards, practice by drawing the pieces you want in your scene onto a scrap paper. Then, after you’ve done a few practice tries, go ahead and draw directly onto your scene. You can even take some tracing or graphite paper and transfer your favorite from your practice sketches onto you final art pieces!!

I recommend using a pencil and a good eraser for your initial sketch, which is what I did for the elements on this scene; after I had pencil sketched everything to the way I liked it, I took a black, waterproof multiliner in the same approximate line weight as the Winston’s Honeybees stamps and traced over my sketches. I also took my eraser and gently erased any stray pencil lines that were visible on my paper. After adding those hand drawn details to my scene, I stamped some of the little flowers (also from the Winston’s Honeybees set).

As I mentioned above, I used Windsor and Newton Cotman watercolors; to get the crisp, hard lines around my scene, I had taped my watercolor paper to a hardboard using painter’s tape.

Once the watercoloring was finished and completely dry, I die cut the edges of the panel using some border dies from My Favorite Things. I also gold heat embossed a sentiment that was included in the Winston’s Honeybees stamp set. The scene was then mounted onto a yellow card base and I tied a simple red and white twine bow around the top to finish everything off.

KEEP HOPPING & A GIVEAWAY

Would you like to win the “Winston’s Honeybees” Stamp Set? This set will be given away to ONE lucky winner! Here’s how to win:

Comment on the Newton’s Nook Designs blog and Design Team blogs (see list below)! The winner will be chosen at random from the collective blog release posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Thursday, April 21st at 9pm CST to comment  — winners will be announced on the Newton’s Nook blog post on Friday, April 22nd. Note: If you have already ordered this stamp set and you win, you may replace it with any in stock item of equal value. 

Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Newton’s Nook Designs
Lydia Evans
Larissa Heskett
Samantha Mann
Crafty Math-Chick
Jess Gerstner
Stephanie Muzzulin
Danielle Pandeline
Nina-Marie Trapani
Kimberly Rendino
Yukari Yoshioka
Christy Reuling – Guest Designer

MORE INSPIRATION

If you enjoyed today’s card, here are a couple more recent cards you might be interested in, featuring watercoloring techniques! Click on the photos to be taken to the corresponding posts.

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PRODUCTS

If you are interested in any of the products used in this post, I have them all linked below to Simon Says Stamp. Affiliate links used when possible.

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SIMON SAYS STAMP

https://www.simonsaysstamp.com/product.aspx?id=342752	Canson XL WATERCOLOR PAPER 9×12 Pad 726259	My Favorite Things BASIC STITCH LINES Die-Namics MFT777	Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# SUNSHINE SS9	Simon Says Stamp Premium Ink Pad INTENSE BLACK	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Watermark
*Ranger Embossing Powder PRINCESS GOLD EPJ37477	WHITE FUN FOAM 12 Pack 118711 9 x 12	*3M Scotch PINK ATG ADVANCED TAPE GLIDER 1/4″” Adhesive Glue Gun	3M Scotch SAFE RELEASE MASKING PAINTER’S TAPE Blue 03680

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