Would you like to get the ‘Watercolour Look’ without the ‘Watercolour Stress’? ….well, you can, grab a cuppa and check out my ideas!

Welcome to my Same But Different Christmas Card Series 2022! In this series, I give you multiple ideas in one video to use your supplies. Today, I wanted to debunk the theory that you have to be an artist to get the watercolour look. Get ready to be inspired!!

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Idea #1 – Background Wash

My first 2 cards feature a simple background wash of colour.

I used a wet on wet technique so that my colours mixed together to create more variation. Simply start by painting clean water onto some watercolour cardstock in the shape that you want the finished design to be and then drop the colours in and watch the magic.
Note: Be sure to choose colours that mix well together for this technique.

These backgrounds are perfect for silhouette stamps such as these from the Plentiful Pine Set.

And, for all of today’s designs I used Gansai Tambi paints but, you could use whatever products you have on hand.

PRO TIP: If you don’t have any watercolor paints, did you know that you can use waterbased dye inks, and in particular the Distress Inks are perfect for this?

For my second example I decided to show how an outline stamp, such as this Mondo Amaryllis, can have a dramatic look!

PRO TIP: You can add some highlights to a portion of the image, such as I did, using the Glitter Pens!

Idea #2 – Loose Watercolouring

Why not try a simple wash of colour over a stamped design? This looks fabulous with foliage images such as I have used today but you can also use this technique with ‘critter’ stamps too.

After stamping the image, I added clean water to each of the leaves and then dropped in the colours. I let the colours mix while they were wet, but found that they dried too light. This was easy to fix by adding a second layer of colour over top.

BONUS IDEA: Running out of time, these cards can serve double duty and become the tag for a present as well (I love a huge gift tag)!

And, this Mistletoe Wreath, was super easy to colour… imagine if I had coloured each leaf separately, it would have taken forever lol.

All of today’s designs were treated with a little splatter of Antique Gold, but you could leave this step out if you prefer.

Idea #3 – Easy Basic Watercolouring

My final card is coloured simlarly to the previous 2 cards, except this time, I ‘stayed inside the lines’… mostly.

I added clean water to the image first, but typically used a ‘drier’ brush. This gave me more control, but I was still able to allow the colours to mix.

I also added some simple shading, this was easy. I allowed time for the image to dry and added stronger shades of the same colours to the areas where I thought the shadows would be.

PRO TIP: Use a heat tool to speed up the drying time.

You can see how I created these cards in my video here or Watch it in HD on YouTube.

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I hope you are inspired to use some ‘small stamps’ on your Holiday designs. And I’d love you to let me know which card is your favourite!

Also, just in case you want to do a little shopping I’ve added the links below (some of them are affiliate links which means that I will receive a small portion of the sale at no extra cost to you). I truly appreciate your support of my card adventures!

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Other Supplies: Stamps (retired) – Altenew – Festive Poinsettia
ZSCM Glitter Pens – C033 / C013. Gansai Tambi – #37 Deep Pink / #51 May Green / #57 Turquoise Green / #44 Light Brown

Affiliate links are used

Neenah Solar 110 SSS | AUZ | EH	Neenah Solar 80 SSS | AUZ | EH	Watercolor Cardstock SSS | AUZ | EH	Plentiful Pine ALT | SSS
Love & Peace PB	Mondo Amaryllis EH	Frosty Hello PB	Modern Poinsettia ALT
Mistletoe Wreath ALT | SSS | EH	Mondo Holly EH	Essential Circles EH	Essentials Arches EH
Nocturne SSS | AUZ | EH	Contour Ink SSS | EH	Gansai Tambi 24 SSS | EH	Watercolor Brushes Round ALT | SSS
Antique Gold Spray ALT | SSS	ZSCM Glitter Pens OTH	Fashion Gold AUZ | OTH	Gold Twine EH
Craft Knife SSS	Scissors SSS | AUZ | EH	Bone Folder Altenew ALT | SSS | AUZ | EH	Mini Score Board SSS | AUZ | EH
Cutting Mat ALT | SSS	MISTI Alignment Panels AUZ | OTH	MISTI Sticky Mats SSS | AUZ | EH	MISTI SSS | AUZ | EH
Mini MISTI SSS | AUZ | EH	Magnets OTH	Chuckie (pressure) Tool OTH	Gemini Junior SSS | EH
Tape 1/4 SSS | EH	Tape 1/2 SSS | EH	Bearly Art Glue SSS | AUZ | EH	Foam Tape ALT | SSS | AUZ | EH
Glue Tape ALT | SSS | AUZ	Pink Tape AUZ