Hi Altenew friends, it's Jaycee with another edition of Creativity Unlocked featuring the new Botanical Illustrations Complete Bundle and a Perfect Pairing video tutorial!
Welcome to Creativity Unlocked, where we highlight a new product from this month’s new collection! Discover each product's endless creative possibilities and get inspired to create the paper crafting ideas we share here. Keep on reading for exclusive tips from our designers, handy tips and tricks, and stunning project inspiration from talented crafters.
Keep on reading for more tips and project ideas using this new stamp, die, and stencil set!
Botanical Illustrations Complete Bundle
Do you want to add a stunning botanical backdrop to your paper crafts? This is a bundle of Botanical Illustrations Stamp Set, coordinating die set, and layering stencil set. This stamp set features outlined peony flowers and leaves drawn in a realistic style. The images are great for creating beautiful floral compositions, along with die-cutting and layering. The Botanical Illustrations Layering Stencil Set adds color and depth to the images from its coordinating stamp set. With a bit of ink and your favorite blending brushes, the flowers and leaves will be beautifully colored in no time!
You do not need to be an expert in drawing or have years of practice. In this video tutorial, I have three quick and easy lines to master that will add a range of value and depth to any floral scene.
To make these cards, all you will need is a few simple sketching tools:
- Your favorite botanical stamp set. I used Botanical Illustrations Complete Bundle.
- Fine Liner Pen Set
- Permanent Black Crisp Ink
Sketched Contour Lines
Contour lines follow the curvature of the petal or leaf shape. Think about how the globe's longitude and latitude lines are projected on a flat surface; you know that the shape is a sphere based on the spacing between these lines.
By sketching contour lines, we create the illusion of depth on a flat surface. This enables us to create a range of values on a white flower with black ink.
Stippling Dots
The stippling dots are another sketched element on the botanical art card. These dots give contour but are also a fun textural element to create color value with a single shade.
I take a lot of inspiration from the art of tattooing. These dots also represent the repetitive motion of the tattoo needle creating shading on the skin. I like to use a mix of evenly spaced dots and sporadic stippling for a wide contrast range.
Solid Shapes
Finally, to fill in large areas and create large areas of shadow, sometimes it is helpful to add sketched shapes. I used these shapes to accentuate the depth between leaf veins. Adding a range of values is important so that the entire image is not one color.
These solid shapes are also helpful to fill in the center elements of flowers, such as stamens and pistils. It is important to leave small highlight areas to distinguish between petals so as not to lose the outline stamp's initial detail.
I hope you try out these 3 techniques in adding sketched lines to your cards. Thank you so much for watching my Perfect Pairings with Jaycee episode on the Altenew YouTube Channel!
Designer's Tips!
Stamp your image on top of patterned paper to get a pre-colored version without the trouble of coloring.
Need help with layering? We've got you!
Download the layering guides below:
- Botanical Illustrations Stamp & Stencil Set Layering Guide 1
- Botanical Illustrations Stamp & Stencil Set Layering Guide 2
1 Product, Multiple Ways!
Before you go, here are a few card ideas featuring this new stamp/die/stencil set!
Create a Pinterest-worthy side-folding tri-fold card – just like Anna did! It might look complicated, but she actually created this card without doing any masking at all. Find out how she made this card here.
Textured background, gorgeous focal point, black splatters, and shiny sequins! Betty's card ticks off all the boxes of a timeless and elegant card.
These stunning botanical illustration images are so fun to color with your fave coloring medium! Emily chose to color in her images using Alcohol Markers. She created a mini-slimline card front from black cardstock and dry embossed it with the Gems 3D Embossing Folder to add some lovely geometric texture to the background of her bright flowers. Check out Emily's card inspiration.
This beauty by Erin incorporates a lot of fun card making techniques – heat embossing, marker coloring, stenciling, and die-cutting! We love how she left some leaves uncolored, which added some extra interest to the card.
Holy moly, check out this stunner by the amazing Erum!!! An ink-blended background + a stunning floral focal point = the perfect combo!
What do you think about the new Botanical Illustrations Complete Bundle? Which project/s caught your eye? Comment below! Thank you for stopping by!
Materials and Supplies:
