It is good to break out of old habits occasionally, and what a better way to do that than to paint some cute critters for a change! I mean, how cute are these wee guys from the new Love Day set! I really went to town with the animals with hearts and presents sparkling and the two hearts extra glossy with two layers of Glossy Accents. All the details to help bring this cute card together.

I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

and back again release

Before I get started, I wanted to let you know that today’s Love Day set is part of a new release from Simon Says Stamp. The ‘And Back Again‘ release complements the ‘To The Moon‘ release last month with all the love/Valentine’s products your heart desires! You can check out the full release here.

happy love day

To kick off the no-line watercoloured look, I stamped the three critters from the Love Day set in a water-reactive ink with the lightest touch so that the impression was barely there. My recommendations for no-line watercolouring inks are either Antique Linen Distress Ink or Gina K Whisper Amalgam ink. Then using a 0.3 black marker, I drew in the eyes of each animal and the details of the nose for the rabbit and dog.

cute no-line watercolour

I then slowly painted the scene paying particular attention to the hearts where I made sure to get some definition and shading. I chose a pinky red for the cat’s heart (Quinacridone Coral/Quinacridone Rose) and a more traditional pillar box red (Pyrrol Scarlet) for the dog’s balloon. The dog is painted in Burnt Sienna, and the cat and rabbit are mainly Shadow Violet. The rabbit’s present is Quinacridone Violet. The grassy area is mainly Perylene Green, and the sky was a light mix of Phthalo Green (Blue Shade) with a touch of Quinacridone Violet. All paints were by Daniel Smith.

For the sentiment, I took a piece of Arches Hot-Pressed watercolour card for it’s smooth texture and painted it with Pyrrol Scarlet. When dry I treated the card with antistatic powder and then stamped a small greeting from the Love Day stamp set in Versamark ink and white heat embossed before timing to a banner with a craft knife, clear, gridded metal-edged ruler and self-healing cutting mat and foam mounting over the grassy hill.

I trimmed the panel down and then foam mounted it on an A2 card base cut and scored from Neenah Desert Storm card in the sturdy 100lb weight. This last picture shows some of the sparkle on the rabbit’s present and cat’s heart and also the thick, double layer of glossy accents on the two hearts. I finished off with a few sequins and pearls.

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.