Hi friends! Happy Easter Sunday! Please join me in welcoming back special guest Anna-Karin Evaldsson! We are very honored that she inspires us weekly on our Monday Challenge blog as well, so be sure to check out her Layers of Ink blog too! For now, read on for this GORGEOUS Peonies panel tutorial! Enjoy!

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here today with a fun and easy tutorial, perfect for spring and summer projects. When I saw the Pretty Peonies background stamp, I knew I wanted to turn it into the focal point of a project. It is such a pretty stamp. We will be doing a watercolor technique, with some simple masking.

I started out planning to make an art journal page, but after having colored the flowers, I changed my mind and turned the panel into a wall-hanging instead. But, you can of course make a card or an art journal page instead, or use it as a background for a scrapbooking page. The wall-hanging would make a great Mother’s Day gift, or you could do three of them in different colors and use as home décor.

Start by white embossing the Pretty Peonies stamp on a square piece of watercolor paper (7.3 x 7.3 in). Always be careful when using a heat gun so that you don’t burn yourself. For the masking, I used a Molotow masking pen. You can also use a white oil-based wax crayon or a white candle. Or you can skip the masking all together.

I used Distress Inks for the watercoloring, but you can also use watercolor paint. Smear the inks on a non-stick craft sheet. Mist with water and pick up with a paint brush. By varying the amount of water, you can get different shades of color from the same ink pad. Watercolor the flowers, using two or three shades on each flower, to create depth and dimension. I like having the stamp next to me so that I can see the printed design since some of the white lines might be hard to see.

Continue with the leaves. Don’t worry about perfection, going outside of the lines just looks good, since it makes the white embossing more visible.

When the ink is dry, carefully rub off the masking liquid, giving your flowers great highlights. If you are not happy with one of the white areas, you can paint it over – but that doesn’t work if you have used an oil crayon or a candle for the masking.

I used Distress Markers to darken the colors in some areas.

When I was done coloring, I didn’t want to add too many other details to this piece. To add interest, I layered and distressed various types of white papers: vellum, bright white paper, and another piece of watercolor paper. 

Apply tape in the center areas only and stitch around the main panel with a sewing machine. I mounted everything on chipboard to give it strength. 

Die cut the sentiment using the SSS Big Happy die. I die cut it from White Diamond and Spring Green glimmery papers.

You can also cut out the peonies and use them on card. 

The masking liquid technique is easy to do, and adds great highlights. You don’t need to worry about leaving some of the white paper showing while coloring. 

The Simon Says Stamp glimmery papers have such a nice shine, which you can see better here.

Layering different shades of white and cream papers, adds interest without stealing attention from the focal point.

I hope this tutorial inspired you to try out some loose watercoloring in combination with masking.

Thank you so much for looking! Happy crafting! -Anna-Karin

SUPPLIES:

Simon Says Cling Rubber Stamp PRETTY… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp BIG HAPPY Wafer Dies… [ SSS ] Canson MONTVAL WATERCOLOR 9×12 Pad… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp VELLUM SSSVEL12 [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock GLIMMERY… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Cardstock GLIMMERY… [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 110 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ] Molotow ART MASKING LIQUID 2mm FINE… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TATTERED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad WORN… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ABANDONED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad VICTORIAN… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CANDIED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PICKED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PEELED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SHABBY… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MOWED LAWN… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink Pad… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp EMBOSSING POWDER… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Marker FESTIVE… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Marker PEELED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Marker WORN… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology CLIPPINGS… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium… [ SSS ] Ranger Non Stick CRAFT SHEET 15 x 18… [ SSS ] Ranger US HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL United… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER Ranger 4… [ SSS ] Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Tonic PAPER DISTRESSER… [ SSS ]

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks to Anna-Karin for being our guest!

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