Gorgeous watercoloring Wild Flowers with Natasha

Hi Crafty Friends - I am excited to be on the Crafty Meraki blog today! For today's card I am using the Wild and Free stamp set by Altenew. This set is so beautiful and has many different size floral stamps! I couldn't wait to get started and create a floral pattern on a slimline card base! Let's get started!

I started with a piece of Canson XL watercolor cardstock, trimmed to slightly larger than a slimline card base. I chose 4 different flowers from the Wild and Free set and I created masks for each of the flower images. When I create masks I make them on a post it note. I stamped each of the images on a post it note and then fussy cut each one. I then keep these masks right inside my stamp package, so I have them ready to go next time I use this set. I then stamped the images onto my cardstock using Versafine ink and heat embossed them using a clear embossing powder. I continued to stamp and mask onto my card base until I created the pattern I was going for.

Once my paper was all stamped, it was time to color and relax! I truly love to color and find the process so relaxing! For today's card I am using the Karin Markers. I am really enjoying these markers. Crafty Meraki has the full set available, as well as individual colors. When I work with a water based medium, I always tape down my paper to a hard surface to prevent warping. I work in layers of color and make sure everything is dry before coming back in with another layer of color. I used the following colors on my card:

• Rose Pink 168, Red 209, Magenta 359, Magenta Red 170, Apple Green 210, Lush Green 228, Cool Aqua 204, Cyan 207, Violet Blue 678, Curry 297

When my coloring was complete I wanted to add color to the background. This was pretty easy to do as my images were all embossed, so this helped to ensure the colors didn't all mix together. I used my Gansai Tambi watercolors on the background (33 Cadium Orange and 43 Cadium Yellow). While my panel was drying I chose 2 sentiments from the Statement Flowers - Altenew stamp set. I heat embossed these using white powder on black cardstock. I trimmed my panel down and adhered this to my slimline card base. I added some blue and gold splatters, a few sequins, and adhered my sentiments.

I hope this card brings you some sunshine today! Be sure to check out the shop here at Crafty Meraki!

Thank you for stopping by!

Crafty Hugs,

Natasha