I have a video for you today – two in one week! I’m taking a look at the new STAMPtember set from Studio Katia and have pulled out my watercolours for some simple painting over heat embossing. The Floral Frame set also comes as a set with matching die. I’ve linked all supplies at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

VIDEO

Watch below or in HD on YouTube.

STUDIO KATIA STAMPTEMBER EXCLUSIVE

The Floral Frame set from Studio Katia for STAMPtember has a lovely partial floral wreath image and a bunch of useful script sentiments to pair with it.

EASY WATERCOLOUR TECHNIQUE

I wanted to watercolour those gorgeous flowers and because I wanted to include the ring of the wreath I decided to gold heat emboss the image. This way I get a lovely elegant line for the wreath circle and a bonus is that the heat embossed lines make for an easy way to watercolour as the raised lines of the heat embossing define the edges of the petals and leaves creating little wells to contain the watercolour. Watercolouring heat embossed images is how I first started out with my paints and if you haven’t given it a go before I highly encourage you to try it out. Gold heat embossing gives a lovely warmth which is particularly appropriate for autumn colours but I also like to use white heat embossing which gives a lovely ethereal look too.

When I’m painting, I like the texture of cold-pressed watercolour card, however, the texture isn’t always conducive to creating a clean embossed image. So when I’m heat embossing I use hot-pressed watercolour card. It is still a great quality card designed for watercolouring but it has a smooth surface which makes getting a clean stamped impression easier. I placed a piece of hot-pressed watercolour card in the misti, lined up the Floral Frame image and then treated the card with a powder bag. This will help prevent embossing powder randomly sticking everywhere.

I then stamped the image in clear embossing ink. This is a sticky ink that the embossing powder will adhere to. I stamped it a few times to make sure I was getting a good impression and then sprinkled with Antique Gold embossing powder from Simon Says Stamp. I tapped off any excess and cleaned up any stray particles with a soft brush before heat embossing the powder with a pre-heated heat tool.

I taped the piece to a board to help prevent warping when adding lots of water to the card. As I mentioned, the raised lines of the heat embossing not only outline each petal and leaf so you don’t need to worry about defining the areas as you would if you were no-line watercolouring but also they create little wells to contain the paint. This means that you can be watercolouring one area next to another and not worry about the areas bleeding into one another as long as you don’t overfill the wells. I started by watercolouring the leaves. I must admit that I love greens and blues and so foliage is often more of a draw for me than the flowers are! I then moved onto the flowers and started with a pale peachy pink wash over each flower before bringing in deeper mixes for the centres. For the rest of my time watercolouring this image I tried to build the layers and colours using greens and blues mixtures of Daniel Smith watercolours such as Cascade Green, Indigo and Lunar Black for the leaves with touches of Quinacridone Gold for highlights and variation. For the flowers I mixed Pyrrol Scarlet and Hansa Yellow Light with lots of water for the base layer and then bought in dipper mixes based on Alizarin Crimson for the centre. The actual flower centres are based on Quinacridone Gold. I kept going in with deeper mixes adding touches here and there and slowly building up the layers. My aim is always to have some areas of lighter highlight colours and some areas of deeper shade to bring the image to life.

I then mixed a muddy blue based on Indigo and painted a swash of colour from bottom left to top right. I wanted a bit of colour in the background but didn’t want to paint the whole piece and I think this swash adds that touch of colour and as a bonus creates a sense of movement too and draws the eye. I finished the piece by splattering with a solution of Perfect Pearls, then white gouache and then left-over blue paint.

I removed the painter’s tape and when dry cut the panel to be just smaller than an A2 card base. I added foam adhesive to the back of the panel and added it to a Neenah Desert Storm card base cut and scored from the 100lb weight for sturdiness. I do like to add a sprinkling of sparkle and shine to a card especially a floral card and so I pulled out some Hero Arts enamel dots in shades of pink and also some sequins from Little Things By Lucy’s Cards and added those in three places on the card to form a triangle which according to design rules is supposed to be pleasing to the eye.

STAMPTEMBER SUMMARY

01 September Simon Says Stamp new release
02 September STAMPtember Blog Party
03 September Colorado Crafts Exclusive
04 September Newton’s Nook Exclusive
05 September Gina K Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
06 September Lawn Fawn Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
07 September Picket Fence Exclusive
07 September Art Impressions Exclusive
08 September – gift card offer
09 September Reverse Confetti Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
10 September PinkFresh Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
11 September The Greeting Farm Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
12 September Memory Box Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
13 September Brutus Munroe Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
14 September Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit
15 September Honey Bee Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
16 September Mama Elephant Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies – sold out
17 September Limited Edition Halloween Card Kit
18 September Paper Rose Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
19 September Concord & 9th Exclusive
20 September The Stamp Market Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
21 September Clearly Besotted Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
21 September Heffy Doodle Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies
21 September Neat & Tangled Exclusive
22 September Studio Katia Exclusive stamp and set with matching dies

SUPPLIES

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) were provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.

* Studio Katia STAMPtember [ SSS ]	* Studio Katia STAMPtember Set [ SSS ]	Daniel Smith at Simon Says STAMP! [ SSS ]
Daniel Smith CASCADE GREEN [ SSS ]	Daniel Smith INDIGO [ SSS ]	Daniel Smith LUNAR BLACK [ SSS ]
Daniel Smith QUINACRIDONE GOLD 5ML… [ SSS ]	Daniel Smith PYRROL SCARLET [ SSS ]	Daniel Smith HANSA YELLOW LIGHT [ SSS ]
Daniel Smith ALIZARIN CRIMSON [ SSS ]	Ranger PERFECT PEARL Pigment Powder [ SSS ]	Winsor Newton PERMANENT WHITE GOUACHE [ SSS ]
Arches HOT PRESSED WATERCOLOR PAD [ SSS ]	Neenah DESERT STORM 100 lb Card [ SSS ]	SSS Embossing Ink Pad [ SSS ]
SSS ANTIQUE GOLD Embossing Powder [ SSS ]	* Hero Arts Hues PINKS Enamel Dots [ SSS ]	Little Things from Lucy’s Cards at SSS [ SSS ]
MINI MISTI [ SSS ]	MISTI MINI MOUSE PAD INSERT [ SSS ]	MAGNETIC BLOCK FOR MISTI [ SSS ]
3M DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE [ SSS ]	SSS SMALL TEFLON BONE FOLDER [ SSS ]	Gina K Designs CONNECT GLUE [ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Tonic GLASS MEDIA MAT [ SSS ]	Tim Holtz Tonic GUILLOTINE [ SSS ]	Scor-Pal Mini Scoring Board [ SSS ]
EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors [ SSS ]	TWEEZERS [ SSS ]	T SQUARE RULER [ SSS ]
Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun [ SSS ]	Ranger ANTI STATIC POUCH [ SSS ]	SSS Embossing Powder Storage [ SSS ]

PIN ME

Summary of the project which gives all the views of the card in one photo :D I’d love if you pinned and called by on Pinterest :D

7 Comments

Becky Green on September 22, 2019 at 4:33 pm
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS, Debby! I LOVE the layers of color that you’ve done! I think the layers of color are the most wonderful part of Water Coloring! A STUNNING CARD!!! ;)<3
Julie L on September 22, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Debby, your videos are so enjoyable and I learn something each time! This is an absolutely gorgeous card! Thanks again for the inspiration!
Henriëtte on September 22, 2019 at 8:42 pm
Fantastic colouring Debby. I loved seeing how you made this beauty, it’s often the tip on the way what makes watching the video so learningful. Thank you so much for showing your inspiration.
Maureen Reiss on September 22, 2019 at 9:13 pm
This is Gorgeous!!!
Artha on September 23, 2019 at 5:25 pm
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL, Debby! I love to watch you create such art and it gives me courage to try it myself!
Bajalizzy on September 30, 2019 at 6:25 am
Absolutely beautiful watercoloured embossed card – love the colours
Annette Gordon on October 13, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Stunning! I love the watercolour that goes across the paper. Very pretty flowers!

Video – Studio Katia STAMPtember