Suzy’s Spring Flowers!

Hi friends! Happy Saturday AND Happy Leap Day! Each day is a gift, so it’s pretty special to have and “extra day” every 4 years! I hope you’re doing something that makes you happy! I’m so happy to be welcoming back special guest, Suzy Plantamura!

In lieu of our monthly One Stamp Five Ways post, Suzy is sharing ALL of her NEW Spring Flowers watercolor cards in color for a bright burst of inspiration! Please enjoy!

Tips/Techniques Used:

  • Mix coloring mediums on these cards; I used a combination of watercolors and colored pencils; I also mix the type of watercolors I use as I used Daniel Smith watercolors, watercolor pencils, and Nuvo Shimmer Powders on many of these
  • Use the wet on wet technique for backgrounds by applying lots of water around the image and then add color close to the image so it moves outward from the image; I prefer not to color the entire background, but add more of a “halo” around the image
  • Layer coats of watercolor to build up color intensity by letting it dry between coats
  • Use Nuvo Shimmer Powders for backgrounds and for intense color on the flowers (I used them for the dogwood blossoms); I used them for almost all of these backgrounds; they don’t “stain” the paper like many watercolor dye-based markers do – they move around easily in the water like more expensive watercolors (I seriously LOVE these powders)
  • Shade your watercoloring with colored pencils or watercolor pencils; sometimes it’s hard to get watercolor to be really dark and intense when shading
  • Use a white Uniball for white areas or on edges of petals; I often apply it and then dab my finger on it while it is still wet to get a more muted white (see the edges of the rose petals)
  • Flick paint over images while they are still wet; I like adding flicks of colors to backgrounds for added visual interest
  • Flick white paint over backgrounds/images once they are dry; use white gouache or acrylic paint with very little water for a more opaque look
  • Watercolor sheets of scrap paper with one color or multiple colors – I especially enjoy doing this with the shimmer powders; then use these papers for die-cutting words out of instead of cardstock (see the die-cut word thankful)
  • Sometimes it looks nice to have colored pencil lines on a flower to look like texture – I did this on the set of 3 orange tulips and the rose leaves
  • To create a soft beautiful background like the daisy one, I mixed three different colors of shimmer powders by applying lots of water first to part of the background at a time and then dropping different colors of shimmer powders into the water and letting them mix; once dry add more water and more color on top

That’s a very jumbled mix of tips and techniques, but hopefully they will help. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section. Each month, I have my watercolor card sets on my blog posts during the blog hops so you can always see examples of them colored. Thanks for visiting today and have a great week friends! Suzy

SUPPLIES:

Simon Says Stamp Suzy’s SPRING…
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CZ Design Wafer Dies LIKE YOU czd77…
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CZ Design Wafer Dies MISS YOU czd80…
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Simon Says Clear Stamps LOVE AND…
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Simon Says Stamp A2 THIN FRAMES Wafer…
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Simon Says Clear Stamps GREETINGS MIX…
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Simon Says Stamp THANKS FRAME Wafer…
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CZ Design Wafer Dies THANKFUL 2 czd38
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Simon Says Stamp BOLD THANKS Wafer…
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Ranger WATERCOLOR PAPER Inkssentials…
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Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink Pad…
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Ranger Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder…
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Ranger Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder…
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Ranger Wendy Vecchi Embossing Powder…
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Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER…
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Tonic MORNING DEW Nuvo Crystal Drops…
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Tonic GLOSS SIMPLY WHITE Nuvo Crystal…
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Tonic BLUE BLITZ Nuvo Shimmer Powder…
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Tonic CHERRY BOMB Nuvo Shimmer Powder…
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Tonic VIOLET BROCADE Nuvo Shimmer…
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Tonic SOLAR FLARE Nuvo Shimmer Powder…
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Tonic GREEN PARADE Nuvo Shimmer…
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Tonic FALLING LEAVES Nuvo Shimmer…
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Tonic LILAC WATERFALL Nuvo Shimmer…
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Tonic ATLANTIS BURST Nuvo Shimmer…
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Tonic CATHERINE WHEEL Nuvo Shimmer…
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Daniel Smith ULTIMATE MIXING Hand…
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Simon Says Stamp BASIC RECTANGLES…
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Pretty Pink Posh SPARKLING CLEAR MIX…
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Pretty Pink Posh CARIBBEAN BLUE Jewels
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Pretty Pink Posh WATERMELON Jewels
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Pretty Pink Posh AMETHYST Jewels
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Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel WHITE UM-153
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Suzy for being our guest!

  1. Oh Suzy these are all so beautiful. I don’t know how you come up with so many new ones every month but they are always inspiring and lovely. I have to say your tips are always great as well. I have no questions but have many ideas floating around now.

  2. Absolutely stunning florals, Suzy! My favorite is the gorgeous crocus’s. They are the epitome of spring!Thanks so much for all the fabulous tips!

  3. Stunning Suzy, it was if I was walking in a garden, I love all the cards!
    Thank you so much for sharing your stunning work and all the great tips. Have a wonderful weekend.

  4. I love these images Suzy! I enjoy coloring with pencils, watercolor pencils and sometimes Copics. I’m not the greatest
    at shading and so forth but I love doing it. Thanks for sharing.

  5. These cards are beautiful! Such wonderful colouring! I love watercolour pencil crayons, and liked how a lot of these cards used them!

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