Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

Gouache is a watercolour, and I love exploring its possibilities. It is like a sister to traditional watercolours, having many of the same properties, but at the same time has its own personality. Gouache is opaque, which means you can easily paint over stamped lines to give a no-line painted look. It also means you can layer one colour over another, yes, even a lighter colour over a darker one which opens up a freedom when painting – if you make a mistake, just paint over it!

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

creamy opaque gouache

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

I stamped the flowers coming out of a welly boot from the Garden Boots set on Arches Hot Pressed card for its smooth surface and then painted over the lines with gouache. There are many gouache options on the market. However, I find that a tube of white gouache mixed with pigment from my primary watercolours takes me a long way, especially with lighter colours. For darker shades, a few tubes of gouache are an excellent option to fill in the gaps.

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

I die cut the arrangement with the matching die from the Garden Boots set. I foam mounted the boot onto a circle of Ivory card I had run through with the Mandala Plate die and then cut using a Nested Circle die. Next, I added the circle, again using foam tape to a piece of Neenah Desert Storm card that I had again run through with the Mandala Plate die. I love the subtle stitched details, which add that little something extra without overwhelming the focal point. Finally, I added the panel with, yes, you guessed it, more foam tape to a card base cut and scored from Ivory card. I do love a bit of dimension!

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

For the sentiment, I stamped a greeting from the Garden Boots set in Versamark ink on Ivory card and sprinkled with Antique Gold embossing powder before heat setting. I then die cut the greeting with the matching die and added overlapping the welly boot. I must admit, although this was the perfect placement for the greeting, it did cover up a feature I had painted on the welly – a little label just like the Hunter wellies have. Ah well, next time.

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.
Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

I have these little cards that I like to jot down notes, to-do lists and such on, and I thought they were the perfect way to remember the colours I had used when painting this card. This way, after I have sent the card, I still have a record of it. 

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

One final detail I forgot to mention is that the sequins are these gorgeous pale pink ones and the enamel dots are from my stash that I am trying to use up.

Playing with creamy, opaque gouache for an illustrative style handmade flower welly card by Debby Hughes.

So tell me, have you ever tried using gouache? It is fun to explore supplies that are new to us. If not gouache, how about a gel plate. That is still on my list of things to play with.

Right, that’s me for today. Thanks for popping by and speak soon.

supplies

* SSS Garden Boots Set
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* SSS GARDEN BOOTS
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* SSS DETAIL MANDALA PLATE Wafer Die
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* SSS NESTED CIRCLES Wafer Dies
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White Gouache at SSS
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Daniel Smith at SSS
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Prima Marketing GOUACHE SET
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Little Things From Lucy's Cards...
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Enamel Dots
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Neenah Desert Storm 100lb Card
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Arches HOT PRESSED WATERCOLOR PAD
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* SSS IVORY Card
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Neenah 80 LB DESERT STORM Card
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Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD
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* SSS ANTIQUE GOLD Embossing Powder
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Gel Plates
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misti at Simon Says STAMP!
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Tim Holtz Tonic GLASS MEDIA MAT
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Dahle Self-Healing Cutting 9x12 Mat
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Tim Holtz Tonic GUILLOTINE
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METAL EDGE ACRYLIC RULER
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Crafter's Companion CRAFT KNIFE
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T SQUARE RULER
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Scor-Pal Mini Scoring Board
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SSS SMALL TEFLON BONE FOLDER
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* Tim Holtz MINI SNIPS Scissors
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Fiskars SPRING-ASSIST SCISSORS Micro-tip
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TWEEZERS
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3M DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE
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Gina K Designs CONNECT GLUE
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Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun
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Ranger ANTI STATIC POUCH
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SSS Embossing Powder Storage
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Crafter's Companion GEMINI JUNIOR...
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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.

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