Try This Unique Watercolor Painting Technique on Your Next Card!

by May Sukyong Park

Hello, Altenew friends! Norine here. I'm so glad to see you again! I have a bright and cheerful card for you today using a unique watercolor painting technique. If your weather these days (or outlook on life in general) is a little Decembery and you could use a pick-me-up, I think this might be the card to do it! Once again I'm breaking color rules, but I think it's justified!

Let's get started:

Altenew PoppyGarden 24PanWatercolor 2 scaledI used the Poppy Garden Stamp Set to make this card, along with the Artist Watercolor 24 Pan Set to paint with. First, I painted on Altenew's Watercolor Paper Pad and fussy cut the stamped and painted flowers.

Altenew PoppyGarden 24PanWatercolor 6 scaledTo begin, I started by cutting a piece of watercolor paper slightly smaller than the traditional A2 card size and painted stripes of paint from bottom to top, varying the length of the stripes and doing a wash of paint, from darker at the bottom to lighter at the top.

In order on the background, I painted stripes of Fiery Sunset, Cherry Blossom, Shades of Purple, SeaShore, Rain Forest, Summer Afternoon, and a last stripe that is a mix of Cherry Blossom and some Fiery Sunset.

unique watercolor painting technique for handmade floral cardI painted the stripes alternately, leaving a space between every other stripe, and letting the paint dry before moving on to paint the stripes in between. Doing that allowed for a slight overlap of color without one wet color seeping into the neighboring wet stripe.

close-up image of unique watercolor handmade floral cardThen, while the background panel dried, I stamped two of the blooms and two leaves from the Poppy Garden Stamp Set. First, I stamped and hand cut a mask so I could have one of the flowers tucked behind the other and the leaves tucked behind the other flower. I stamped with Obsidian Pigment Ink and heat set with clear embossing powder.

unique watercolor stripe effectNext, I began painting the flower arrangement in a way that loosely matched the colors of the petals with the stripes on the background.  Unconventional, I know, but I like it and I love the vibrant enthusiasm of the colors!

I painted the first layer with the colors in the areas where I wanted them; then, to get a pleasing blend, I went back and added more depth to the colors with a 2nd layer of paint while the first was still not quite dry.

friendship card, handmade floral DIY cardSetting the flowers aside to dry, I stamped two sentiment stamps for the greeting. The “I've been thinking of you” is from the Poppy Garden Stamp Set, but the “dear friend” is from the Say It With Love Stamp Set. I also added some black paint splatters, and while those dried, I added foam tape to the back of the fussy-cut flowers. I adhered the card panel to a folded card base of off-white cardstock, then glued the dimensional flowers on top.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!  Maybe you'd like to give this a try but are drawn to other colors. This technique will work with whatever colors you choose because the magic is in the repetition of color order between the background and the stamped flowers.

Thank you so much for stopping to visit and have a wonderful day!

ede187f4 8921 4438 ad7c 498d56ff1dce

15 comments
0

You may also like

15 comments

barbara lassiter September 9, 2020 - 10:04 AM

This is stunning! Love the technique and the colors!

Reply
Joy Meadows September 9, 2020 - 10:15 AM

A gorgeous card, Norine! Love everything about it.

Reply
Karen Hale September 9, 2020 - 10:35 AM

Absolutely gorgeous, Norine. Love the rainbow colors. Thanks for sharing this great technique.

Reply
Ann Ito September 9, 2020 - 10:44 AM

As always another beautiful card from Norine that inspires! Putting this technique on my must try list.

Reply
Lee M September 9, 2020 - 11:04 AM

Absolutely stunning! And you’re right, I’m not sure I’d change up colors on the same bloom, but it works, and does do beautifully. Stand out! ❤️

Reply
Maureen Reiss September 9, 2020 - 11:14 AM

Beautiful!!! I love a good rainbow and this fits the bill!!!!

Reply
Theresa September 9, 2020 - 12:33 PM

This is brilliant and so pretty. I wish that you did videos Norine. I’d love to watch you create this.

Reply
Melissa September 9, 2020 - 2:56 PM

Beautiful water color card as always. Would love to see a video of your water color techniques.

Reply
llong932 September 9, 2020 - 9:16 PM

WOW! Who would have thought stripes and bold color flowers would look so pretty together? Yet another new technique to try! Thanks, Norine.

Reply
dawnnz September 10, 2020 - 5:05 AM

what a stunning technique Norine.

Reply
Stacy O'Dell September 10, 2020 - 8:54 AM

I absolutely LOVE this card, the colors, the background, everything about it!!!! I, too, would love to see a video of you creating this card, but just am thankful you shared it !

Reply
Karen bradsher September 10, 2020 - 8:56 AM

Love the color in this card. It pops

Reply
Tara Prince September 10, 2020 - 2:58 PM

so very pretty!!

Reply
KarenAnn September 18, 2020 - 11:02 AM

Lovely and so inspirational ! Your color choices are so appealing…will definitely give this a try.

Reply
maureenchandler September 18, 2020 - 12:18 PM

I love love love everything about this card!!! Thank you so much!

Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.