Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop - Good Vibes Release

Hello blog hopping peeps! Today is the Simon Says Stamp Good Vibes Blog Hop and I have a new set of watercolor cards to share with you. They are called . . . Good Vibes! haha I had fun drawing this set, but I had even more fun coloring them - can you say NEON? I went bright - like you might want to put on your sunglasses before you read this post bright. Here is an image of the watercolor cards before I went crazy on them! 

The entire Good Vibes release is HERE. I also worked with the Surf's Up stamp and die set this week for a guest "one stamp, five ways" post on the Simon Says Stamp Blog coming soon. Here we go with 24 images of my very brightly colored watercolor cards! I will give you some tips at the end and cover the rest of the blog hop details.  

Below are some details and tips for the way I colored these - I actually used a different medium on most of them than I have used in the past - GOUACHE. I am now in love with it for these cards. If you haven't tried it, it is basically somewhere between watercolors and acrylics. It works like watercolors do, but it can be used opaque like acrylics. I use a brand by Holbein - I got a box of 48 small tubes on amazon a long time ago. There are a couple of the tubes in some of these photos.

Tips for these cards:

• Mix coloring mediums as much as you want - this is my biggest piece of advice that I just recently figured out! I used watercolors, gouache, Copics, colored pencils, glitter and neon gel pens, and lots and lots and lots of Tonic Nuvo Drops!
• Re-outline some things you want to pop on the cards after you have colored them (such as the salutations); sometimes they fade after all the coloring mediums are applied; also try shadows behind the letters using gray Copic markers or colored pencils
• I don't know why I spend so much time coloring these cards as I add Nuvo Drops over almost everything at the end! haha - (I seriously do) - check out the Grey Mist I used over the windows and lights on the bug, the White Gloss I used as dots on lots of these, the Gold Glitter on the girls hair, Sherbet Shimmer on the hearts on the earth, Blue Lagoon Glitter on the waves, etc ... (the colors I used are all in the supply list at the bottom - these are worth investing in if you love to color!)
• Try out the Neon Nuvo Drops as well which I used on many of these - they come in four colors: Shocking Pink, Sour Apple, Blue Crush, and Banana Split
• Add white dots to letters with a white Uniball - I think it adds a lot of interest to your text
• Use the NEON and GLITTER gel pens over different items to give them shading and interest; you can see the Neon pen on the outside edges of the green leaves in Feelin' Groovy 
• Add texture and designs to your background - I painted the flower background in yellow gouache and then added lines of white and darker yellow with colored pencils and then more lines with Mustard Nuvo Drops; I used three colors of gouache on the background with the hand and then added some gouache with a pencil eraser by dipping it in and pressing it against the card; I also added dots to the feelin' groovy card with white glossy Nuvo Drops
• Use a white colored pencil to lighten areas after you color as the pencils cover other coloring mediums and add shading by lightening some areas
• Add shadows behind elements like the love bug with gray marker or gray colored pencil
• Use sequins to decorate things like the yellow I used on the peace sign in the feelin' groovy flower; try the really bright Tutti Fruiti set by PPP on these cards (I used them on the flower power card)

 Blog Hop Details:

• Use the code PUFFY to get a pack of Pebbles Flowers Puffy Stickers free with any purchase (this code will expire Sunday, 6/24 at 11:59 pm est)
• SSS is giving away a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from the comment section - they will choose the winners over the weekend and post on the Simon Says Stamp blog on Wednesday - you can email SSS to claim your prize
• Check out the Good Vibes Gallery for all kinds of inspiration using this release and add your own projects as well!

Next on the blog hop is Kathy Racoosin - the coloring QUEEN (I'll let her be queen as long as I can be one of her princesses!). 

And last but not least, here is a sneak of my five cards using the adorable Surf's Up stamp and die set - this post will be up on the SSS Blog later this month.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VISITING MY FRIENDS! Suzy

Here are all of the supplies I used on this post linked to the SSS store:

Comments

[Charlotte E (Lady Joyful)]

These are stunning cards! Love the bright and happy colours.

[Kim Vogt]

Perfect colors for the images - great job!

[Heike]

Love all of these cards.

[Kit A]

The sunshine and good vibes rock for me. They are all great though.

[Amy Cooley]

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous coloring!

[D.Ann C]

My fav is your floral map!!

[Denise Mlady]

Your watercolor cards are always so fun. Love all the details you add to your coloring.