Living My Dream: Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Hop!

Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Blog Hop!

Today is day two of the STAMPtember blog hop for Simon Says Stamp. This is not going to be just a two day event - it is a full month party! There are so many amazing products being released by Simon RIGHT HERE, but there will also be many collaboration products released throughout the month. I have a new watercolor card set that is part of this release called Forest Friends - here is an image:

I've colored all 12 of the cards so you can see how they would look and at the bottom of the post, I will give you some coloring tips I use. They are printed on Ranger Watercolor Paper which is very thick and pure white. They print them on the back side so it is smooth (hot press versus cold press texture). They are sized to fit on the front of a standard card. They are the perfect thing to take on a plane or a trip to color on the go - I love to paint them on the beach! I use Daniel Smith watercolors on mine, but you can use ANY coloring tool - Copics, colored pencils, watercolor markers, etc... There is a link on the side of my blog to all of my watercolor card sets - I think I have done about 14 now for Simon. Here are the cards all colored and decorated and attached to card fronts:

you are so deer to me

thinking of you

owl always be here for you

i'm nuts about you

I moose you

i love you beary much

home sweet home

hey foxy

happy birthday from both of us

family is everything

a special gift for yoy

Here are some tips I use when coloring these images:

I use Daniel Smith watercolors as I mentioned above - try the new Watercolor Palettes to get just a small amount of many of their colors. I use these sample pages to decide what colors I want to invest in.
I use Kaiser Craft glitter pens and a white Uniball marker to shade and add details over the paint on each image.
I add my new obsession to every card - Tonic Nuvo Drops - they add dimensional dots or you can cover an entire area with them like letters, the mouse, flowers, etc... I love the glitter ones for adding shading and details to images.
For most of these critters, I made their eyes by using a dot of Tonic Nuvo Drops in Gloss White, then let it fully dry. Then I added a smaller drop with Ebony Black on the bottom edge of the white to look like an eyeball.
For backgrounds on my cards, I usually use the wet on wet technique. I wet an area around the scene and then paint next to the image and let it move outward to frame the image.
I add shadows behind my letters with a Copic Marker - I used Warm Grey 3 on all of these.
I add lines on some items using my Kaiser Craft gel pens to add texture - like on the tree with the bear. I also use the Tonic Nuvo Drops for lines on some things like on the fur on the moose (I used a Gold Glitter one).
Apply multiple coats of watercolor. Let the first coat dry and then go back in and add some more color to shade using less water. Also add details like the dots on the grass in the Moose card with watercolor.
I die-cut all of the panels with either a full size stitched rectangle die or a one size smaller stitched rectangle die so the card base color shows. I also use a beveled die that is one size smaller than a card base and shows less of the card base color.

Next, I want to share a card I made using the new Under the Sea Stamp Set (my favorite from this release as I love all things to do with the sea!).

you are amazing

These are my all time favorite colors - pinks and blues! I started by die-cutting a piece of watercolor paper with a beveled edged rectangle. I then stamped the jelly fish on the paper twice with black ink. I painted them in with watercolors and then added lots of details with my glitter pens and white Uniball. Next I used Tonic Nuvo Drops in crystal clear to cover the entire jelly fish body and all the tentacles hanging out of the bottom. I added some glitter drops around the tentacles in Sherbet Shimmer and Blue Lagoon. I wet the background and dropped some color on it for the background.

you are amazing close up

I stamped the sentiment using the Thoughtful Greetings stamp set with Lawn Fawn Plastic Flamingo and Fish Tank inks. I added some Sparkling Clear sequins to finish the card.

Next on the blog hop is Sarah Moerman.

Leave a comment on each blog on the hop as there will be a $50 (wow) coupon given out for every stop on the blog hop for both days! The winners will be announced on the Simon Says Stamp Blog on Tuesday.

Thanks for visiting today friends!!! Suzy