Today I wanna share with you an easy watercolor technique for handmade cards. I know you’ve seen beautiful cards that look like little pieces of art and you might be thinking it is super hard to make. However, I am here to show you that you can color like the pros following the tips I am giving you on this post and on the video tutorial below!
Watercolor technique for handmade cards
The following encouragement handmade cards showcase the Artfully Aware stamp set from Stampin’ Up! This is a great stamp set with line images, which are perfect for a lot of techniques, but in particular for watercoloring with ink pads.
You will see on the video tutorial below how easy it is to watercolor with Aqua painters and ink pads. Make sure you keep reading as I am sharing with you a few tips to make sure you get the best results when watercoloring.
Watercolor Tips
- Make sure you use watercolor paper – this is key as you will see that the color flows better and it will not peel your paper as you color your images
- Use Stazon ink as it will prevent the image lines from smudging when applying color
- Stamp using a stamp position tool like the stamparatus, so that you can stamp over and over multiple times to get a crispier image. This is key to get a nice image, as the watercolor paper is thicker and with texture, so when you are stamping on it, sometimes the image is not as clear.
- Play with the amount of water you apply on your Aqua painter on a scratch watercolor paper, so that you can see how the color looks and get more confident on the look you want to get. The more water you apply the lighter the color will be, the less water the richer the color will be.
- Let dry the image before applying another layer of color. This will help you with shadowing when coloring.
- Clean your Aqua painter in between colors, so that you don’t mixed colors
Card Sketches and Other Details
On this section you will see the sketches I used to come up with these cards, as well well as the color combo and other details.
If this is the first time you are visiting my blog please know that I love using sketches, as I really think that they make the card making process so much easier. I feel like these are recipes you can follow with any products you already have.
That said, let me share with you a few tips when selecting the sketches to play.
- Try to pick sketches that are simple and with fewer layers – this always helps a lot, specially at the beginning as it is easy to visualize when substituting the elements of the sketch with the paper you are using.
- Pick a color combo and select which colors will be the main color and which ones are the highlights – this will help you identifying how to add the colors into the sketch you are using.
- Add embellishments even when the sketch does not call for it
- Modify the sketch as you want, for instance, you can change the shapes of the elements on your card, instead of a circle you can add a square or and oval or a flower.
The color Combo
As usual I followed the colors in the designer series paper that I chose. This is something that never fails for color combination. Try it and you will see that you cannot go wrong when you follow the colors you see in the patterned paper you are using.
- Soft Suede
- Mint Macaroon
- Calypso Coral / Terracotta Tile
- Whisper White
Handmade card #1
As I mentioned before, below you will find the video tutorial for these cards where you will find all the measurements as well as how to watercolor step by step. I think you will enjoy watching the video better than me trying to explain what I did to color it.
Make sure you want the video, since all these cards use the same watercolored image, so you want to see how this is colored.
The sketch is very simple and straight forward, the only thing that I added was an extra ribbon wrapped around the card to add and extra detail that would coordinate with the bow.
Handmade Card #2
This second card is very simple as well. The biggest trick on this one was to get two patterns that coordinate nicely together, and honestly this was the part that took me the longest when planning this card. This is to say that this card is extremely easy to make.
Try to water color all images at once, so that you can put together the cards even quicker. You will see in the video that this is what I did. That way the rest of the card making process goes even faster.
Handmade Card #3
This final card is even simpler in sketch, however, I love how it looks. I think that this is the magic when making cards. Make them easy but have an amazing look. don’t you think?
One last comment I have not mentioned, use the tailored tag punch to make the banner ends on the sentiments. This has become the punch that I use the most because of how it is used for banners in sentiments. Make sure you watch how to do this on the video.
The Video Tutorial
And here it is!! I know I have been referencing to this Video Tutorial thru out the whole post, but believe me, you want to watch it to see how easy it is to watercolor stamped images using aqua painters and ink pads.
On this video I will share the measurements as well, so if you want to recreate the cards you can follow along the video 🙂
Also note that the video is longer because I show you how to make all cards on this video, so watch it when you are not in a hurry 😉
The supply List
If you are wondering what products I used and where you can purchase them, I have you covered my friend 😉 as below you will see the full supply list with the links to all the products. And if you click on any of the images, it will take you to my online store so you can get any of these products.
I truly appreciate your support when you purchase your Stampin’ Up! supplies thru me 🥰 Also if you have any quesitons about these products, don’t hesitate in contacting me to help you 🙂
Want to remember this post for later? Save these friendship handmade card ideas in your favorite board!
