Easy Mail Watercolor Card + Celebration + Hop

Hello Everyone, welcome to a very special blog hop that I am hosting in celebration of surpassing 1,000 YouTube subscribers! There is lots of inspiration being shared today, and you will even have a chance at winning some fabulous prizes!

I have been so blessed with the opportunity to not only be able to work with some really wonderful companies, but to make some beautiful friendships as well. The creative journey I’ve been on has been nothing short of wonderful and I cannot say how happy I am to be part of such a fabulous industry… the crafting world!

Helping me celebrate the passing of 1,000 YouTube subscribers this past January are some of my dearest friends; I would like you to meet Ellen, Katrina, Kelly, Maria, Ruby and Virginia! These girls have all been so supportive of me and we each have a special connection. I love them all and am so honored that they each said yes when I asked them to participate in this little hop. :)

For my card today, I am sharing a technique I like to call watercolor layering. I love the look of “messy” watercoloring, where you can see multiple layers of color on top of each other that creates a blend of freestyle and artistic into one.

I used distress inks to do my watercoloring, but feel free to substitute distress inks for any type of watercolor medium you have. For those of you interested in the colors I’ve used, I have them linked below (at the end of this post).

The images I’ve used in my card are from Simon Says Stamp’s For To Us stamp set, and the sentiment is from the Thanks a Bunch set by the Ton.

In the beginning creation process of this card, I was going to heat emboss the sentiment straight onto the card. However, by the time I had finished watercoloring I felt that the sentiment didn’t stand off the paper as much. To remedy that, I heat embossed the sentiment onto some vellum and adhered it down right over top of the original sentiment. I love how the vellum gave the sentiment a bit of pop off of the design and really finished off the card nicely.

I wanted to mention this because it is a perfect example in showing how you can take a card that you feel isn’t working out quite right and keep working with it until you are happy with the end result. It happens to the best of us… So never give up on a creation; there is usually a way to make it work out! :)

To see how I created this card, be sure to watch the video below! I post videos on my YouTube channel regularly, so if you enjoy, be sure to give it a “thumbs up” and subscribe to my channel so that you can be sure to never miss my new videos!

 

 

 

MORE HOPPING, GIVEAWAYS & SPECIAL SPONSORS

 

I have been so blessed to work with such fabulous companies that have continually supported me in my creative work for them as a Design Team member. A few of them were kind enough to sponsor my hop with a few prizes for those of you joining in on hop!

Neat and Tangled: $25 gift certificate

Newton’s Nook Designs: $20 store credit

Pretty Pink Posh: $25 gift certificate

To enter into the giveaways, please leave a comment on this post, as well the other hops listed below. You have until Friday, February 12th to submit your comments. Winners will be drawn at random from the collective blogs and will be notified by email.

Now grab a cup of your favorite beverage, cozy up in front of your computer and go visit my friends… leave them some love and enjoy their creations! I tell you, these girls all ROCK!

Nina-Marie Trapani
Ellen Haxelmans
Katrina Trapani
Kelly Latevola
Maria Sabina Riata
Ruby Naz
Virginia Lu

PRODUCTS

[one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Simon Says Clear Stamps FOR TO US sss101573 Create Joy[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”][/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit [/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And White 660425[/one_fifth][one_fifth_last padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Simon Says Stamp STITCHED RECTANGLES Wafer Dies sssd111455 In Stitches[/one_fifth_last]

[one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Bazzill 40 LB VELLUM 8.5 x 11 White 25 Sheets[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Canson XL WATERCOLOR PAPER 9×12 Pad 726259[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Heidi Swapp GOLD LAME Color Shine 00791[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets[/one_fifth][one_fifth_last padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Simon Says Stamp Premium Ink Pad INTENSE BLACK Ink065[/one_fifth_last]

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ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker 025320[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TWISTED CITRON Ranger TIM43294[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad SCATTERED STRAW Ranger TDP40149[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CANDIED APPLE Ranger TIM43287[/one_fifth][one_fifth_last padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPUN SUGAR Ranger TIM27164[/one_fifth_last]

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Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CRACKED PISTACHIO TIM43218[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TUMBLED GLASS Ranger TIM27188[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MOWED LAWN Ranger Summer TIM35008[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PICKED RASPBERRY Ranger Summer TIM34995[/one_fifth][one_fifth_last padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad FESTIVE BERRIES Ranger Winter TIM32861[/one_fifth_last]

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Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SHADED LILAC Ranger Spring TIM34957[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CRUSHED OLIVE Ranger TIM27126[/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”][/one_fifth][one_fifth padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”][/one_fifth][one_fifth_last padding=”5px 5px 5px 5px”][/one_fifth_last]