fancy script words

VIDEO: Bright Watercolored Highlights with New Pinkfresh Studio!

February 18, 2023

Hi there! I have a new video over on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel with some tips on how to keep your highlights nice and white on your light colored watercoloring by using “reverse psychology” for your watercoloring! Here’s the video:

Or you can watch the video on YouTube HERE.

In case you can’t watch the video, here’s a quick rundown of how I created this project:

I started with a panel of cold press watercolor paper which I had hot foiled using my newest illustration for Pinkfresh Studio: Wonderful in Every Way. (I am so excited to see this design offered in a stamp set with coordinating stencils and die as well as a hot foil plate!) I used some satin metallic charcoal foil to create this soft silver design on this watercolor paper; the thickness of the watercolor paper creates the look of letterpress!

When I was brainstorming my project, I wanted to create a watercolored card with very pale blooms. Now, I tend to have a bit of a heavy hand when it comes to watercoloring; I love vibrant color, but I so admire the beautifully soft watercoloring that others are so capable of creating. The easiest way that I can achieve soft watercolored flowers is to do “reverse psychology” on myself by watercoloring around the pale image first with a bright contrasting color, then adding very pale watercolor to the image I want to keep pale and pastel. The contrast of the bright color around the image allows me to better visualize the lightness I’m seeking. I add diluted color to the areas that I want to be the most shadowed, pulling out the color with lots of clean water and allowing the whiteness of the watercolor paper to shine through. That extra water is key; it helps to allow the pigment to taper off into nothing, leaving those white highlights.

Once I had finished watercoloring, I trimmed my watercolor panel down to 3.5″x5.5″ in order to create an A7 card (just wanted to switch things up a bit!). I matted it with a coordinating deep green cardstock for extra contrast, then trimmed an A7 card front from some coordinating pale lavender cardstock. I added some interest to the lavender background by die cutting an Outline Floral Frame from some glittery white cardstock and selectively trimming to create a lacy border around the corners. I popped up the watercolored matted panel with some foam adhesive.

For the greeting, I used the Fancy Script Words Hot Foil Plate with the Fancy Script Words Die and some shiny Pewter foil to create this intricate, fairly large sentiment die cut. I also die cut a vellum diamond using the Nested Diamonds dies. I adhered the greeting to the vellum diamond with some foam tape, then flipped it over and added some tiny dots of adhesive to the back of the solid die cut to help hide it. I adhered the vellum diamond to the watercolored panel, slightly offsetting it and trimming off the excess. Finally, I added some Leaf Glitter Drops for a bit of added sparkle and texture.

Well, that’s all for my project today! If creating a light, airy watercolored flower intimidates you, I encourage you to try my “reverse psychology” method to keep that contrast of colors in perspective. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Video: Loose Watercoloring on Hot Foiled Images with Pinkfresh Studio!

January 26, 2022

Hi there! I am excited to share that I have re-joined the Pinkfresh Studio team as part of their Video Team! I am so thrilled to be working with the beautiful and innovative products from Pinkfresh each month, and I can’t wait to share some of what we’ve been working on, including lots of new sets that I have illustrated. (Eeep!) Tons of fun stuff coming this year!

For today’s post, I have a new video on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube Channel sharing some simple ways to add watercolor to your standalone die cuts and hot foiled pieces. Click here to watch the video on YouTube or watch here on my blog!

I share the details of how I created this project in the video, but in case you can’t watch, here’s a quick synopsis of the process:

I began by die cutting the new Artistic Blossoms dies from some Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I reserved the negative and after checking to be sure that the intricate dies had cut all the way through, I placed the die cuts back in their negative die cut spaces and used Schmincke watercolors to add some lovely shades of green, blue, and purple to the images. I was very loose with the watercoloring, not taking too much time to do any of my regular meticulous shading.

Next, I did some watercoloring on a panel of Arches Hot Press paper, on which I had used the gorgeous new Geo Blocks foil plate with some shiny charcoal foil. While I tend to use cold press paper for the vast majority of my watercoloring, I like to use hot press paper with foiling, because it is super smooth and reacts with the foil beautifully. I taped my foiled background down to my watercolor board using some low-tack washi tape, then covered it with clean water. On this wet background, I added an ombré background using the same three shades of Schmincke watercolors, maneuvering the color until I had a smooth gradient.

While my background was drying, I die cut a vellum envelope using the Floral Envelope die and some heavyweight vellum cardstock. I arranged my watercolored die cuts inside the envelope, adhering them to the vellum using liquid adhesive. Once my watercolored foil background had dried, I adhered it to an A2 cardstock base in a coordinating shade of purple to create a mat around the edge. I popped up an Ornate Oval Frame die cut from glittering white cardstock to the watercolored card front using foam adhesive, then added my vellum envelope of watercolored flowers. To help hide the adhesive and keep it from ruining the vellum envelope die cut, I adhered my foiled Fancy Script Words sentiment die cut directly to the vellum with liquid adhesive. I then added the foam adhesive, hiding it behind the solid die cuts that I’d adhered to the vellum envelope. The final touch was to add some Ocean Breeze Essentials Jewels to the card front to fill in any gaps left in the design.

Well, that’s all for my project today! If you enjoyed this video, please give a thumbs up, and you can also subscribe to the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel to get tons of gorgeous content from the entire team. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Pinkfresh Studio January 2022 Release Blog Hop+Giveaway!

January 17, 2022

Hi there! Today, Pinkfresh Studio is releasing their January 2022 product lineup, and we’re hopping along with lots of inspiration for you! You can find the full blog hop list in the inLinkz at the bottom of the post. I have two new projects to share with you today, including a video for how I created this foiled pastel watercolored project!

If you’d like to watch this video in HD over on YouTube, click here.

I began by hot foiling the new Brighter Days Hot Foil Plate onto some Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. This paper is very smooth, which makes it great for hot foiling. I love that this product suite foils, stamps, and die cuts everything using one piece, so you can foil everything at once, stamp everything with one stamp, and die cut everything with one pass through your machine. Ingenious! Once I’d hot foiled my floral images onto the hot press paper, I used Holbein Artist Watercolors to add some loose watercoloring to the images. I die cut the finished watercolored images using the coordinating Brighter Days die.

Next, I turned my attention to the card base. I began by die cutting the new Sparkling Diamonds Cover Plate die from some creamy cardstock, then did some ink blending on the card base using Candy Violet, Ballet Slipper, and Peach Fuzz inks. The addition of the ink blending on the card base really helps to enhance the beautiful stitching details in the die cut cover plate background!

Once my ink blending had been completed, I began to assemble the card. I combined the new Fancy Script Words Foil Plate and coordinating dies with the Solid Hot Foil Plate from Pinkfresh Studio to create the inverse foiled die cut. I thought that the metallic charcoal foil looked beautiful against the delicate pastels on the rest of the project! I also used the leftovers from the solid foil plate panel to die cut a charcoal metallic Lacey Edgers 1 die. This creates the third charcoal metallic element to complete the “rule of three.” I added a vellum Blanket Stitched Oval die cut, then arranged my watercolored flowers and adhered all of the elements with foam adhesive. Finally, I added a few Lavender Essentials Jewels for one more added touch of sparkle!

For my second project, I used the new Beautiful Blooms stamps and coordinating dies to create this super graphic project. I began by stamping the images from Beautiful Blooms a few times using no-line coloring ink on some Copic-friendly white cardstock. I used Copic markers to add some deep raspberry pink to the blooms and crisp blue for the foliage. I die cut the finished colored images using the coordinating dies.

Next, I used the fabulous new Geo Blocks Hot Foil plate with some coordinating hot pink foil to create this geometric background. This relatively delicate background image is so versatile, especially when paired with the coordinating layering stencils! I trimmed the background down slightly and matted it on a light blue A2 card base.

I die cut a greeting from the Scripted Greeting dies, the base layer from white cardstock and the top detailed layer from deep, intense sapphire blue, and layered them together using liquid adhesive. I adhered those to a glittery Fancy Label Frames die cut, which I used to ground my Copic-colored blooms. I adhered all of the die cut pieces using lots of foam adhesive for extra dimension, then decided to fill in a few of the blank spots in the arrangement with some Curvy Foliage die cuts, cut from the same sapphire blue cardstock that was used for the greeting. The final touch was to add some Stargazer Essentials Jewels for one last touch of blue and sparkle!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. Now we have some fun giveaways to celebrate the newest release!

Giveaway information:

Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away the full release on the Pinkfresh blog & YouTube channel. In addition, Pinkfresh Studio will be giving away a total of TEN $25 gift cards along the hop. The winners will be selected from the comments. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

***Winners will be posted on January 25, 2022 on our GIVEAWAY PAGE. You must check that page, then claim your prize within 2 weeks.

The full hop list is linked below. Thanks so much for reading today, and happy hopping!