Creative Watercolor Media - AECP Level 2

 Happy Monday, crafty friends!  I don't know about you, but I am not ready for it to be Monday!  

Today, I am bringing you not one, but two cards for my most recent AECP course - Creative Watercolor Media.  I am not kidding when I say that I was dreadimg this class, and I dragged my heels all the way through it.  Watercoloring is a HUGE struggle for me, but I pulled my bootstraps up, and powered through.  I am SO glad I did!  I learned a lot, and FINALLY feel like I had a few wins with my watercoloring.  

For my project submission, I made a mini slimline card using several of the lessons in the course.  I began by prepping a piece of watercolor paper with my powder tool so that I could emboss my image and not have a mess of embossing powder all over.  Using an embossed image really helped me stay in the lines with the watercolors.  

I smooshed several green ink pads onto my pallette and picked the lightest ink up with a water brush that was mostly dry.   I painted a simple wash over each of the leaves to give them a base.  I then came behind with the midtone and added some depth, and then blended it out with just a bit of water.  Lastly, I added some shadows using the darkest shade of green, again blending with a bit of water.  I love how the leaves nearly glow!  I found that starting at one point on the page and rotating through the leaves allowed the previous layer a bit of time to dry, which prevented me from making a muddy, wet mess, which is what usually happens.  

Next, I moved on to the flowers and followed the exact same process, just changing up the color family I used. 

Once I was happy with my image, I set it aside to dry and moved on to my card panel.  My card base is 3 1/2" x 6", so I cut a panel at 3 3/8" x 5 5/8".  Using the darkest teal ink, I applied ink directly to the edges of the panel and set it aside to dry.  I die-cut my image using the coordinating die and adhered it to the panel using foam tape.  I heat embossed my sentiment on a strip of vellum and adhered it to the center of my card.  I finished up by adhering the panel to my card base,, trimming off any overhang with my scissors, and placing down gold sequins.  

I am so happy with how this card turned out!  I am thankful that I powered through the class and didn't give up!

My second card is actually the first card I made for this class. It didn't turn out quite as I expected, but it is growing on me. 

For this card, I stamped several images on watercolor paper and painted them with liquid watercolors, again starting with a basic wash, and then adding several layers to add shading.  My first attempt was a miserable failure as I broke the rules and used the wrong ink.  Lesson learned.  I just wasn't thinking and picked up my Memento pad out of habit.  Once my images were dry, I die-cut them using the coordinating dies.  

Next, I trimmed a piece of patterned paper to 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 and die cut a square.  I realized that I needed something to ground my critters, so I watercolored a strip in greens and die-cut the blades of grass.  I adhered the grass pieces to the back of the patterned paper and adhered the panel to my card base.   

I then arranged my images and glued them down.  I heat embossed my sentiment and attached with some foam tape and finished up with some black rhinestones.

Even though I really struggled with this class, I am so thankful that I persevered.  

Products Used:

Both cards: 

• Recollections 110# Card Stock: White, Black
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad

Card 1:

• Altenew Bouquet of Love Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Ultramarine, Warm Sunshine, Autumn Blaze, Dew Drops, Aqualicious, Teal Caves, Limeade, Lime,  Fresh Leaf, Baby Pink, Fuschia, Magenta
• Vellum
• Stampin' Up Gold Embossing Powder
• Simon Says Stamp Gold Sequins

Card 2:

• Altenew Hug Me Stamps and Dies
• Stampin' Up Layering Squares Dies
• Honey Bee Stamps Horizon Slimline Dies
• Altenew Pastel Dreams Paper Pack
• Altenew Pigment Ink:  Obsidian
• PinkFresh Liquid Watercolors:  Pink, Orange, Yellow, Light Green, Emerald, Blue, Purple
• Wow! Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Honey Bee Stamps Black Rhinestones

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy stamping!