Stamping with watercolors-video

Today's post is for a friend who requested a video of this floral card I had posted way back in January. I have tried my best to 'copy' the original  and I hope she likes the video!

Here is the video..

 Click here to watch on YouTube

A closer look.....

Stamps-Papertrey Ink-Sweet Life, Sending My Love

Hope you enjoyed the video and thanks so much for stopping by !
Have a great weekend!

Stamping with watercolors-video

Faith

 Some mid week inspiration for you!

I simply love the sentiment and image in this set by Crafter's Companion. The image is huge and fills the card front! I have used Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils for the bird and the background is  mix of watercolor and distress inks.

I stamped the sprigs in the background with watercolors for that loose sketchy look and went over once more with distress inks for that sharper in focus look.

Sharing with Simon Says stamp Wednesday Challenge-anything goes

 Stamps-Sheena- A little bit sketchy 2-Faith,
Spectrum Noir colored pencils-064,084,086,094,
Distress Inks,watercolors

For more inspiration stop by Crafter's Companion Facebook page

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Faith

Smile

Have you all checked out the current challenge over at Crafter's Companion?
..it's all about tags, boxes and bags this month . It runs month long and there is till time to join the fun!

Here is a tag I made for the challenge.... completely colored using Spectrum Noir markers with just a  touch of walnut stain distress ink for the background.

Stamps-Crisalis Classics-A perfect day
Spectrum Noir-FS2, FS4, FS6, FS8,TN3,CR2, CR3, CR6, CR8, CR11, LY1, LY3,EB3,IG1,IB1,CG3,LG2,Blender

For more inspiration stop by the Crafter's Companion Facebook page!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and have a great week ahead!

Smile

Video-Unity Blog Hop

It's Thursday and it's time to hop with the Unity Girls!

 If you have been hopping along then you are at your last stop and should have come here from Stephanie's blog, but if you are just joining in then scroll down for a complete hop list and join the fun!

Today I am showcasing this wonderful image from the June Kit Of The Month- 'In Love With Love'

 Here is the video

#Unitystamps has a new sentiment release today and it's full of these hashtag sentiments..so much fun!

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway.  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I  hope you enjoyed the hop !

and here is the hop list.....

Video-Unity Blog Hop

Cherries and Lemons

Second post for today..for my Crafter's Companion post click here

 As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been working on this piece of mixed media over the last couple of days and it's finally ready to share!

Colored pencil has always been a medium that has been a bit out of reach for me. I enjoy working with it and doing smaller pieces of art, but the larger ones that I see at juried art exhibitions by artists who do photo realistic paintings make my jaw drop!

So a couple of months back, I started to use my pencils more often only to realize how painstakingly slow the process was and how much patience and time was required to achieve what I was aiming for-realism. So I shifted focus to first learning how to use the pencils correctly and noted that Bristol was the choice of paper most colored pencil artists use and I was using watercolor paper and that was  the reason it was taking me so long to fill a small area with color.

But since I like some tooth to my paper and cannot think beyond watercolor paper, especially since I love to watercolor the background, I decided to first apply a light wash of watercolor which would give me a base of color and then go over it with colored pencils. That did the trick..now it started to move quickly since I was not going over the same areas again and again to fill color.

 The above picture has been framed and is behind glass making the painting look a bit darker!
 Framed- Cherries and Lemons- 9x12
 140#watercolor paper-mixed media-watercolors and colored pencils

 This still life is completely from imagination except for the glass vase which I have at home. The lemons and cherries were done with a watercolor wash and pencils while the background is totally watercolor.

To achieve that bokeh effect, I using making fluid and a bottle cap for the shape.

 I have used a blender pencil for blending and not Gamsol/blending solution.

  a long picture heavy post..but I truly enjoyed working on this piece, hope you liked it too!

Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow with a new video!

Cherries and Lemons

Time to relax!

Lately, I have been really enjoying colored pencils and ever since I got the Spectrum Noir pencils, I have been using them even more, in fact they are always on my desk now and seem to be sharing equal space with my watercolors! Over the last weekend, I did a larger piece to frame where I applied a light wash of watercolor and then completed the entire piece using colored pencils! It did take me  a while to complete but am pretty happy with it, considering it was my first attempt at drawing a still life and coloring it with pencils. But doing an entire piece does take a 'lot' of patience which I definitely lack and of course a lot of time. It's not quick and easy like watercolors, especially the way I approach it!

Will share that piece a little later today..till then here is a  card where the entire image has been colored with just Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils  and the foreground shadow has been watercolored.

The large image is by Crafter's Companion and here are the deets.. 

Stamps-Sheena-a little bit scenic-Provence, Crisalis Classics-perfect day-sentiment
Spectrum Noir Blendable pencils-024,014,045,103,088,115,060,073,074
Blending solution

a closer look.....

Here is a peek...will be back in a bit with another post completely devoted to it , after all it's my first colored pencil work ever!

Thanks for stopping by and see you soon....

Time to relax!

Miracle

Another quick weekend post!

The stamp is by Unity Stamps and was released today. It's from the Stamp Of The Week collection.

And now to answer all of you who have left me a comment on my video posts and on my YouTube channel....
.......the most FAQ about  how I stamp the image. ...how do I get part of it black and the rest grey...do I use a black pen?

....As part of the Unity Design Team , we  receive digital images to work with and when I print those images, in order to avoid that dark black outline, I use a photo editing software like Photoshop and convert the image to grey. Now, if you are aware of PS, then one of the ways to do that is to use Paint bucket...but as I have mentioned in an earlier post, I don't do very well with PS and in fact struggle to convert it to grey scale! So it's a hit or miss when it comes to conversion and parts of the image stay black!
...so the part that you'll keep asking me how to do is in fact a 'happy accident'!

But if I have the actual rubber stamp with me, I use distress ink or a grey ink to stamp the image.I hope that answers your question.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week ahead!

Miracle

Be Joyful

Am back with some weekend inspiration for you!

I posted this card on the Unity Blog last week and had some readers ask me how I did the background, so I thought of posting this on my blog and showing some close ups and also some info on how to do the background.

A quick and simple way of watercoloring a background is to dampen the entire area and drop in some pigment and let it do it's own thing...you will be surprised with the results! Just don't fiddle with it once you lay the pigment because by going back with a damp brush you are in fact lifting the pigment off the paper, because the brush then acts as a sponge and absorbs all that wonderful color!

Once the paper was dry, I went back with a dry brush and lifted some color off for the rays. The image is from the Layers Of Life kit by Unity stamps.

A closer look...

That's it for today, have a fun weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Be Joyful

Around the world.

Sharing a card I made using the new Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils . The image is by Crafter's Companion-Stamp It Australia-around the world.

I stamped the image using distress Ink and the rest was done with the pencils .
...Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils-069,110,049,054,046, blending solution.

Keeping the post short..see you soon!

Around the world.

Thinking of you....

Before I get on with today's post, I would like to take  a moment to thank you all for the huge response to my videos...am truly grateful for all the support and encouragement!

 For someone who had never done something like this before, it's really a boost to see that people like and even wait to see what I put up next!  I will definitely try to bring something new every week and hope to inspire you to pick up a brush and start painting. It's  an excellent way of expressing yourself  and can be extremely meditative.

When I read the comments, I feel happy to note that so many of you have started to think watercolors and have even tried to paint, which is a good start, but keep at it, even if it is an 'epic failure' as one of you wrote to me...haha..no art can be a 'failure' according to me, it's a learning process and I would look at it as a journey....you have to start and keep moving to reach somewhere.....so start with what you have in terms of colors, paint as you feel and please don't give up!

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I would say keep a sketchbook. You will be amazed at your own progress by the end of a month of daily painting. Don't tear any pages and keep them as lessons learned.

Thanks again and happy painting!

About today's card, it's a stamp by Crafter's Companion and is from the Stamp It Australia-around the world set. I stamped it using Distress ink and went around it with a damp brush...then went over it using Spectrum Noir blendable colored pencils and blending solution.

Stamps-Stamp it Australia-Around the World,Crisalis Classics-Perfect day-selectively inked sentiment
Spectrum Noir colored pencil-111,blending solution

For more inspiration stop by CC Facebook page.

Hope you liked it and thanks so much for stopping by.

Thinking of you....

Watercolor-Floral-Video

Am back as promised with a video showing you how I painted this soft floral watercolor...enjoy!

Here is a video showing you the process...

a closer look..

For a complete list of supplies and links, do stop by the Yasutomo Niji Blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the video!

Watercolor-Floral-Video

Beauty

Hello everyone and I hope your week has got off to a great start!

I am sharing a card today which I totally forgot to blog. I made it for the current Curtain Call challenge which Unity is sponsoring... the prize is awesome...check it out!

I have used Unity-Layers Of Life -June Kit.

and watercolors..of course!

a closer look...

I have a video scheduled for tomorrow..a floral watercolor piece from scratch...no stamp required...you don't want to miss this one....so standby!

Thanks for stopping by today and see you soon!

Beauty