I’m finding myself heading back into my clean and simple design roots currently, and this card couldn’t be more straightforward. A wash of watercolour, a white die-cut over the top with a pre-printed sentiment – this card took only minutes to put together, which is perfect when you are short of time. I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

EASY, SOOTHING, WATERCOLOUR BACKGROUND

KEY INGREDIENTS

• Simon Says Stamp Poppy Stem
• Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Strips Thinking Of You

STEP BY STEP HOW TO

• Select a colour palette and mix the colours up beforehand, so they are ready to go when you start painting. I used Daniel Smith paints.
• Cut a panel of watercolour card to be just smaller than an A2 card base.
• Paint the stripes of colour across the panel, making sure the stripes touch so that the colours bleed and blend.
• Add droplets of water to create interesting blooms,
• Add the piece to a card base cut and scored from Neenah Desert Storm card.
• Die-cut a Poppy Stem from the same watercolour card, so the colours match.
• Add the flower over the watercolour with foam adhesive.
• Trim a Thinking Of You sentiment and again add with foam adhesive.
• Embellish with a trio of pearls kept in place with Gina K Connect Glue.

TAKEAWAYS

I am writing this post in advance as I will be down in England looking after my Mum who will have had an operation to relieve pressure on her spinal cord, preventing her from walking. My priority will be to care for Mum; however, I know there will be free time too while she’s napping and so I plan to take with me a travel watercolour set and a bunch of watercolour card. I could create a million different watercolour backgrounds with this simple set up. The possibilities seem endless, and I love including watercolour in my cards even if the focal point isn’t watercoloured. I know watercolours and decent card aren’t cheap, but they are so versatile, and I think you do get a good return on that initial investment.

Watercolouring an image can be time-consuming, but this simple background took no time at all. The most time-intensive part was choosing the colour scheme. The actual painting took 30 seconds at most. As such, creating a bunch of backgrounds like this would be ideal for a card set, wedding suite, Christmas cards etc. Pick your colour scheme, if you need help, look on Pinterest for colours which appeal to you, and mix a few up in a palette beforehand. A selection of 5 or so works well. I had a light beige, smoky blue, peachy/copper, indigo and chocolate. Pick up one colour, swipe across the page, wash your brush and pick up another colour and repeat making sure the stripes touch so the wet colours can blend. I waited a moment until the paint had settled a little and then added in a couple of droplets of water. The water pushes the colour out to the edges creating interesting blooms.

As I mentioned, I think the colour scheme is vital here. These colours, to me, are so calming. They remind me of the seaside in many ways: cool blues and sandy beiges. I remember liking these colours when I was a child. Perhaps again, that is where the calm comes from for me with this particular colour scheme. They say smells can take you back in time; well, colours do for me too!

FURTHER EXAMPLES

Here’s another watercolour stripy background which provided a backdrop to the sweet critters from the Pawsome Love set. You can find the original post here.

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 (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.

* SSS POPPY STEM Wafer Die [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp SENTIMENT STRIPS… [ SSS ] Daniel Smith at Simon Says STAMP! [ SSS ] Fabriano Cold-Pressed at SSS [ SSS ] Neenah Desert Storm 100lb Card [ SSS ] Little Things From Lucy’s Cards… [ SSS ] * Hero Arts Misti at Simon Says STAMP [ SSS ] * Hero Arts MISTI MINI BLACK [ SSS ] Hero Arts MISTI MINI MOUSE PAD [ SSS ] * Hero Arts MISTI BAR MAGNATE Black [ 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 ] Crafter’s Companion GEMINI JUNIOR… [ SSS ] * SSS DETAIL PETAL PLATE Wafer Die [ 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