This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!
Hi friends! I am back with another watercolored embossing folder project for you today, this time using another folder from Simon Says Stamp that has been sadly neglected in my craft room: Hibiscus Cluster embossing folder. This project started out as a typical no-line watercoloring project for me, but ended up looking a bit like those color-saturated ink swiping projects. I used a mixed-media trick to achieve that stark black background behind the vibrant watercolored hibiscus flowers, so let’s get started with the details!
I started my project by running the Hibiscus Cluster embossing folder through my die cutting machine using an A2 panel of Arches cold press watercolor paper. Arches is my go-to watercolor paper for nearly every medium. It hardly ever lets me down! I particularly love it when paired with embossing folders, because the rich details from the embossed images are made even more exceptional on the thick, textured watercolor paper. After I had embossed the background, I pulled out a few of my favorite rich red and vibrant green watercolors from my Daniel Smith watercolor palette. The key to no-line watercoloring with embossing folder backgrounds is to treat it like you would a no-line stamped image: keep the wet sections separate until dry in order to prevent bleeding and to keep your lines crisp.
To add the delicate stamens to the center of my hibiscus flowers, I pulled out some gouache from Altenew. I had not paid much attention to the delicate lines of the stamens while watercoloring the petals, so they needed an extra strong medium to allow them to stand out. Gouache is an opaque watercolor, which means that it will have excellent coverage over most watercolors, even vibrant red! I simply painted the stamens with yellow gouache (tip: mix white gouache with your regular watercolors to create a multitude of gouache options!), keeping the paintbrush quite damp to ensure that the color flowed smoothly onto the paper.
After I had finished watercoloring the jewel-bright tropical blooms, I pulled out my black OLO marker to create that stark black background. I selected my OLO marker because they are exceptionally juicy alcohol markers and thus work very nicely with the thick watercolor paper. I covered the entirety of the white sections with this crisp black marker to create maximum contrast and allow those vibrant florals to really stand out!
After spending so much time watercoloring and adding the black alcohol marker to my background, I wanted something simple for the greeting. I die cut the delicate scripty “hello gorgeous” sentiment from white pearl cardstock using the Hello Beautiful Gorgeous dies. I trimmed down a thick rectangle of vellum, then used my scissors to notch the ends and create a flag, then used my scoring board to score the edge so that I could tuck the leftover section behind the card front before placing the whole panel on my card. I added some clear dimensional adhesive in tiny strips behind the solid die cuts, then added a few Cherry Pawsitively Dazzling Gems for a bit of sparkle!
Well, that’s all for my project today. The fabulous embossing folder sale is still happening over at Simon Says Stamp! You can get all Simon-branded embossing folders (including the ones with coordinating dies!) for 25% off until May 27, 2024. Simply click HERE to see all of the embossing folders, then add code EFLDR at checkout to take 25% off of your embossing folder purchase!
Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!
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