Watercolor workshop with Colleen Balija

 Hi friends!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in another virtual workshop with Altenew Educator, Colleen Balija (@irishrosecreations).  This time, we focused on watercoloring, and I had an amazing time, as always. 

Colleen provided us with some pre-work, prepping our card panel, and selecting a color palette.  I found an open source photo of a tropical sunrise or sunset, not sure which, and took my inspiration from it.  My color combination turned out much more bold than I had originally envisioned, but it is so striking! 

During the workshop, we started with some basic techniques- focusing on wet on dry application, and wet on wet application.  Once we were comfortable with that, we moved on to painting our card panels.  

I chose to work with the Fairy Tale Florals stamp set again, because the flowers are quite large, which is great for watercoloring.  I had embossed my image prior to the class, as the raised edges make it much easier to stay inside the lines. 

To start, I laid down a wash of water,, followed by Mountain Mist on all the petals, one at a time.  Once the petals were dry, I went back with Lagoon to add detail to the petals, followed by blending with water.   This is when I discovered that I didn't choose a stamp set that provide some artist drawn lines for shading.  And, since I am hopeless with drawing (or painting) those details in, I decided that I would just work with the loose watercoloring.  When the petals were dry once again, I followed up with some Persian Blue, using the same process.  I love how the colors blended together!   For the leaves, I used the same techniques - starting with wet on wet to add a wash of Limeaid, and then wet on dry to add Emerald. 

I had originally envisioned a soft, muted background, but as you can see that is not what I ended up with.  I used Autumn Blaze to add a wash to the background, and then came back and added more color around the image to provide some shadowing.   Once the background was completely dry, I added some splatters of Jet Black. 

I adhered my panel to a black card base.  I took a small piece of black card stock, backed with an adhesive sheet, and die-cut my sentiment,  and then placed it on my card front.  I finished up by adding some Obsidian Rhinestones.  

I am so glad that I was able to participate in this fantastic workshop!  Thank you, Colleen!  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110 Card Stock:  Black
• Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper 300gsm/140#
• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamp Set
• Altenew Signature Words Dies
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Mountain Mist, Lagoon, Persian Blue, Limeaid, Emerald, Autumn Blaze, Jet Black
• Honey Bee Stamps Obsidian Rhinestones

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy crafting! 

Color and Texture Workshop with Colleen Balija

Happy Saturday, crafty friends!  It is gray and rainy here today, so I did something that I have never done.  I participated in a virtual workshop with Colleen Balija, Altenew Certified Educator.  It was a wonderful way to spend the morning and connect with other ladies who share a passion for crafting.  The topic of the workshop was Color and Texture and oh boy, was it fun! 

Colleen had sent us some pre-work that included creating or finding a pre-made color/mood board.  I had to Google the term, as I had no idea what that was.  

I started looking at stock photos until I found one that caught my eye, and then using Coolor, I created my board.  

This color palette is so far out of my comfort zone, but I had to use it as the colors called to me.  Once I had my color board, I went about identifying the colors that I would use.  I  found that I didn't have the orange inks that I wanted to use, but I did have alcohol markers, so I worked around that.  

She also had us stamp, color and die-cut our focal images ahead of time, along with preparing our card bases and panels.  This allowed us to move through the projects relatively quickly.  

I had prepared enough focal images for three cards.  I only completed two during the workshop, but because I had all of the supplies out, I whipped out the third card shortly after.  

For the first card, we smooshed our inks onto our crafting mat and added water.  We then laid our panel directly down onto the ink and allowed it to absorb the color.  When the panel was dry, we dry embossed it to add texture and then added some paint splatters.  Because I didn't have any abstract embossing folders, I used the Garden Trellis die to emboss it.   I wasn't totally in love with my panel as I felt the ink was too concentrated in places and the texture is not nearly as pronounced as with an embossing folder. However, when I added my floral images and sentiment, it all came together.   I finished it up by adding some enamel dots that I made using Nuvo Drops.

For the second card, we used Saran Wrap to apply ink to our card panel.  I can't believe that I have never tried this technique.  It might be my new favorite.  For this, I used liquid watercolors in yellow and orange.  I just added a drop of each to my craft mat, added water and picked it up with the saran wrap.  I then dabbed it on to my panel.  When I was happy with the background, I dry embossed it using the Burlap die.  Unfortunately, it really doesn't show well in the photos.  I sprayed some Antique Gold Metallic Spray and splattered some black liquid watercolors to my panel and then heat set it so that it would dry.  After adding my focal images, which I colored with Altenew Artist Markers, and sentiment, I finished up with some enamel dots. 

For the last card, I used the same technique as the second card; however this time, I used the Enchanting Vines 3D Embossing Folder.  I added my focal images and my sentiment (which I used my alcohol markers to get an ombre effect) and then added some black rhinestones. 

I really enjoyed this workshop!  I learned several new techniques and ways of using supplies that I have on hand.  One of my favorite learnings was pulling together the color board and then identifying what colors to use. 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper
• Spectrum Noir Premium Ultra Smooth Card Stock: White
• Altenew Stamps and Dies:  You Are Amazing, Scalloped Ornaments, BAF:  Cornflower
• Altenew Dies:  Garden Trellis, Burlap Texture, Waterbrush Hello
• Simon Says Stamp Hello Die
• Altenew Enchanting Vines 3D Embossing Folder
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Wisteria, Hydrangea, Deep Irish, Ultramarine
• Memento Ink:  Tuxedo Black
• Altenew Artist Markers:  Y817, Y608, Y514, Y513, Y207, Y316, Y106, C004, R826, R823. C006, R801, G446, G425, G515, G503
• Pink Fresh Liquid Watercolors:  Orange, Yellow, Black
• Altenew Metallic Spray:  Antique Gold
• Stampin' Up Shimmer Paint:  White
• Nuvo Drops

Colleen, thank you so much for putting on this wonderful workshop.  I learned so much and am looking forward to using these techniques again and again!  Happy stamping!