Happy Holidays Watercolor Cards 2018

Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints

Hi friends! TGIF! Welcome to a VERY special edition of Suzy Plantamura’s “One Stamp Five Ways” feature– we’re introducing a brand NEW and EXCLUSIVE holiday-themed collection of Watercolor cards, perfect to get your holiday mojo in full gear for Christmas! Read on for some fun tips and tricks and enjoy!

Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints

Hello, Simon Says Stamp friends! I usually guest post with a “One Stamp, Five Ways” post, but today, I’m doing something a little different! I have a new watercolor card set that was released TODAY called Happy Holidays, so in the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to show them all to you colored and dressed up ready to give away!

I’ll show you an image of each of the 12 colored and then after the photos, I’ll share some tips I use to color Suzy’s Watercolor Cards. They are all printed on Ranger Watercolor Paper so you can use ANY coloring medium to color them. Here we go!

Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints
Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints

Happy Holidays Suzy's Watercolor Prints

Here are my tips to color and dress up my watercolor cards:

  • Sometimes the designs are meant to go right to the edge of the card, but with printing margins, it won’t extend to the edge; in these cases, I die-cut them to be smaller as you can see in the first photo (Merry Christmas). I also like a card base to show around each to matte them.
  • Use any coloring medium on these or a mix of all as I do! Some of my cards use watercolors, Copic Markers, AND colored pencils.
  • Use watercolors for the larger areas and backgrounds as it gives you the easiest coverage for the least cost! It also goes on transparent which is perfect for backgrounds.
  • Use Copic markers for areas such as the penguin heads as they work best for shading (getting different tones of black watercolor is harder than blending different gray Copic Markers).
  • DON’T use colored pencils next to areas that you want pure white; this means I usually do my shading on white areas with a gray Copic Marker; colored pencils leave a residue that smears into the white areas. At first, I colored the penguin heads with black and gray colored pencils, but the “dust” from them got all over the white part of the penguins ruining them!
  • Colored pencils are perfect for getting the extra shading and fine details you can’t get with watercolors; do you have a favorite brand? I love both the Polychromos and the Prismacolors for different reasons. The main difference is Prismacolors are oil based and they build up a waxy residue which makes them blend really well. The Polychromos are more like #2 pencil lead and they go on softer and the lines show more as they are wax based. I use both for different things and you end up with a total of 270 colors that way! An example is I used them to add texture and dimension to the Christmas Trees as little strokes for branches.
  • I use Glitter Pens by Kaisercraft to add details also as they give a glittery finish that is perfect for the holidays!
  • Add shadows to all of your letters/greetings as it really makes them pop – I use a Copic Marker either C2 or N2.
  • Tonic Nuvo Drops are my jam. Seriously – as in you can’t use peanut butter without jam! I love them for all the details after the cards are all colored. The glitter ones are my favorites, but as you can see in the supply list, I use them all! Add polka dots, stripes, texture, shine, dimension and glitter to all the items on these cards! They definitely give them the finishing touch! You can’t tell in the photos, but some examples of where I used them are: Rose Water on Santa’s bottom lip, Orange Marmalade on all of the penguin beaks, White Blizzard all over the white areas of Santa’s hat, and Moondust (silver) on the buckle on the boot and Santa’s belt.

 

Thank you all for visiting today and making it to the end of this long blog post! I hope you enjoyed this holiday filled inspiration using my newest watercolor card set Happy Holidays. Just think what a perfect gift they would with some markers or watercolors for a crafty friend for Christmas! Or you could use them to make all of your holiday cards this year! Have a wonderful holiday season and very Merry Christmas friends! Suzy

SUPPLIES:

Simon Says Stamp Suzy’s HAPPY…
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch Marker R32 PEACH
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch Marker R35 CORAL
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER R27 CADMIUM RED…
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER C2 COOL GRAY NO. 2
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER C3 COOL GRAY Grey
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER C5 COOL GRAY Grey
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER C7 COOL GRAY Grey
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER C9 COOL GRAY Grey
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch MARKER 110 SPECIAL BLACK
[ SSS ]
Copic Sketch Marker N2 NEUTRAL GRAY…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith PERMANENT BROWN 15ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith OPERA PINK 5ML Extra…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith ULTRAMARINE VIOLET 5ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith GREEN GOLD 5ML Extra…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith COBALT TURQUOISE 15ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith HOOKERS GREEN 5ML Extra…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith SAP GREEN 5ML Extra Fine…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith PYRROL RED 5ML Extra…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE ROSE 5ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith VAN DYCK BROWN 15ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith PHTHALO GREEN BLUE SHADE…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE CORAL 5ML…
[ SSS ]
Daniel Smith COBALT TEAL BLUE 5ML…
[ SSS ]
Faber-Castell POLYCHROMOS COLORED…
[ SSS ]
Prismacolor PREMIER COLORED PENCILS…
[ SSS ]
Tonic WHITE BLIZZARD Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic SILVER MOONDUST Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic PURPLE RAIN Nuvo Glitter Drops…
[ SSS ]
Tonic BLUE LAGOON Nuvo Glitter Drops…
[ SSS ]
Tonic AQUATIC MIST Nuvo Glitter Drops…
[ SSS ]
Tonic GOLDEN SUNSET Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic SUNLIT MEADOW Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic CHOCOLATE FONDUE Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic SHERBET SHIMMER Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic HOLIDAY CHEER Nuvo Glitter…
[ SSS ]
Tonic RUBY SLIPPER Nuvo Glitter Drops…
[ SSS ]
Tonic GLOSS SIMPLY WHITE Nuvo Crystal…
[ SSS ]
Tonic EBONY BLACK Nuvo Crystal Drops…
[ SSS ]
Tonic MIDNIGHT BLUE GLOSS Nuvo…
[ SSS ]
Tonic APPLE GREEN GLOSS Nuvo Crystal…
[ SSS ]
Tonic IVORY SEASHELL Nuvo Crystal…
[ SSS ]
Tonic ORANGE MARMALADE Nuvo Jewel…
[ SSS ]
Tonic STRAWBERRY COULIS Nuvo Jewel…
[ SSS ]
Tonic ROSE WATER Nuvo Jewel Drops 647N
[ SSS ]
Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel GOLD 1.0mm…
[ SSS ]
Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel SILVER 1.0mm…
[ SSS ]
Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel WHITE UM-153
[ SSS ]
Kaisercraft GLITTER Colour Gel Pen…
[ SSS ]
Pretty Pink Posh MARIGOLD Jewels
[ SSS ]
Pretty Pink Posh RASPBERRY Jewels
[ SSS ]
Pretty Pink Posh SPARKLING CLEAR MIX…
[ SSS ]

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Suzy for being our guest!

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  1. I love Suzy’s designs!! They are always so much fun to color. These are so festive!! Wish I had more time to do them!!

  2. I love Suzy’s Watercolor Prints! How fun and festive this SSS Happy Holidays Collection is. Thanks Suzy for creating another awesome collection and for the inspiration coloring them, I can’t wait to play!! ([email protected])

  3. What a delightful set of watercolor cards! The colored samples shown here reveal just how perfect they are for this holiday season. Thanks!

  4. Suzy’s Christmas drawings are adorable and fun to color! Your tips about watercoloring are spot on! Great tips and thanks for the inspiration! Loved your penguins especially!!

  5. Love these! I need to get a collection of Suzy’s cards going so I can have them on hand for my grandbabies. They LOVE crafting with me and have discovered the joy of watercoloring!

  6. Christmas spirit soaring in seeing these new images! These would be perfect for my niece and nephew, who love to colour and make cards with me!
    ~carol

  7. Beautiful colored cards, thank you for all the tips and techniques like using more than one medium to color these fun images!

  8. These are so fun! Thank you for sharing your tips, Suzy! I love how you colored everything, and those penguins are adorable. :)

  9. You color so beautifully- all of your cards are gorgeous! Thank you for the awesome tips, especially about the colored pencil differences. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying some.

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