Some Swatching Love

I recently picked up the new Waffle Flower Color Combos stamp and die set, Bullet List stamp and Swatch tag die.  I also picked up some white gouache to use with my Mission Gold Watercolors.  This is the end product of a play session that started with the messy swatches on black watercolor paper (pictures down below).

After I started on the black cardstock trying out the watercolor without gouache masstone,  watercolor without gouache ombre and the watercolor with gouache on black cardstock, it struck me that I could use my new Waffle Flower products to make a comparison swatch.  So, I added masstone swatches for each color o and masstone color+gouache on hotpress watercolor paper.   A fair amount of die cutting and stamping later and I have a full set of swatches. 

Some things I learned:

1. Most of the watercolors don't work on the black watercolor paper.  I didn't expect them to, but it is something to note.
2. I need more practice on my watercolor to gouache ratio.  Since originally I was just playing, I simply enjoyed the differences in color intensity and tried to learn.  If I set out to make these swatches, I'd have been more intentional about uniformity.
3. I really do love my Mission Gold watercolors.  They are so vibrant!
4. I like the look of the gouache and will definitely try in a card sometime soon.
5. I don't like my handwritting at all!

In the end, such a fun day of crafting.  It didn't produce a card, but it did light my creative fire.  It's good to remember that these exercises help to inspire us. 










I also did my Starry colors and Finetec metallic paints.  These are so pretty, I must remember to use them soon as well.

Black Watercolor Paper Experiments

Brandy and I both picked up some Legion Stonehenge Aqua black watercolor paper.  Brandy beat me to the punch and did some experiments to see how the paper works.  This first card was made using Distress Oxide inks to watercolor the flowers after having stamped and using holographic heat embossed image.  Brandy reported that the paper is somewhat fine for a watercolor paper so she felt that the paper reacted differently than most white watercolor papers.  She also wasn't fully pleased with the colors that she was able to get so she tried her Finetec shimmery watercolors for this second card.

The background on this version didn't create the depth that she was looking for so she fussy cut out the flowers and mounted on a second page, splattering Finetec watercolors in the background.  Brandy is uncertain with both cards, but I think they are very different than normal techniques and so have a charm all their own.  Don't you think they are beautiful too?

Andie for