Floral Cards with a Space Theme (Explore New Ways to Color!)

Hi everyone! It's Jenny here! Today, I'm going to show you how to use watercolor to create floral cards with a space theme! This is easier than it sounds and can bring a really fun contrast of themes – galaxies with florals – to your cards.

Use Stamps with Open Spaces

The best type of stamps to use for this technique are those with more open spaces – it won't work well with super detailed or close-together lines. Of course, you can also use this with outline sentiments, or any image that has lots of space – I just love the juxtaposition of floral and galaxies! I'm featuring the Simple Roses Stamp Set for today's floral card and pairing it with my Artists' Watercolor 24 Pan Set.

It's Easier with Heat Embossing!

I first stamped my images onto Watercolor Paper using embossing ink, and heat embossed with Antique Silver Crisp Embossing Ink. You can also do this using ink, but I find it a lot easier with heat embossing to keep the paint inside the ‘wells' of embossing powder.

Splodge That Paint!

I've created a video showing how I painted the petals and stuck with it, it really looks like a hot mess at first. I used a small brush (number 3 from the Detailed Artists' Watercolor Brushes. I then added dabs (splodges really!) of pink and purple here and there on the petals. Next, I added some more dabs of blue, and then darker blue, leaving a little bit of white still showing. Then, I came in with the black paint, slightly watered down, and blended it in towards the other colors, filling in the white.

Working quickly, I used a wet brush without paint on it to blend a little and remove harsh lines. I also used a ‘thirsty' brush (wet but dried on the paper towel) to pick up any excess paint. I didn't want to add the space look to the leaves as well so just used shades of pink-purple on these.

Add Splatters for Stars

When the paint had dried, I added lots of splatters of white paint. This looks like stars on the galaxies, and also serves to hide any harsh lines you may have missed! Once dry, I used a dry cloth to buff the heat embossing to remove any watercolor paint laying on top to reveal that gorgeous melted silver embossing powder. I then fussy cut out the leaves and flowers – there are coordinating dies but I didn't want the border around the edge (and for that reason, I was a little messier when it came to staying inside the lines).

Ground with a Background Stencil

For my background, I used the Linear Stencil, and ink blended Dark Night Crisp Dye Ink from the center fading out to the edges.

Finishing Touches

I arranged the die-cuts onto the ink-blended panel in my MISTI (without adhering) in order to find the best placement for my sentiment, which I then stamped with Obsidian Pigment Ink. Then, I adhered the florals and leaves with Instant Dimension Foam Tape and added some splatters with Antique Silver Metallic Ink Spray. I finished this floral card with a few matte silver sequins.

How-to Video Tutorial

You can check out the full how-to tutorial featuring this floral card over on the Altenew YouTube Channel and below, as part of my Stylish Cardmaking Techniques with Jenny series!

Supplies Used