Watercolor Garden Card

Happy Friday, friends! This week is "no marker coloring" on the Crafty Meraki blog. Today, I'm sharing a watercolor card. I used the gorgeous Penelope's Garden stamp set for this card. Let's get started.

I began by stamping the image with clear embossing ink onto Arches Cold Press Cotton Watercolor Paper. I used gold embossing powder to set my image. Next, I began to color the florals using the wet-to-dry method. This technique makes it easier for me to control where the color goes.

I began by coloring the flower in the lower corner. I used Cherry Blossom from the Altenew 24 Pan Set Artists Watercolor set. I first dipped my brush into water, then the color. I began coloring with the brush where the shadows were and added a little more water to blend it toward the edge of the petal. I repeat this process until I've colored the entire flower. If any edges are too dark, I quickly use a towel to pick up excess water and color.

Using the same technique, I colored the center flower using Summer Afternoon with a light mix of Fiery sunsets in a few areas. In the same technique, I also used Fiery Sunset on the top flower, heavier on the inside of the petals. Next, I colored the foliage with Rain Forest as my base and added Green Hills in areas I wanted to be darker.

Once dry, I trimmed my paper to 4.8 inches by 6.8 inches. I added the panel to a 5x7 card base with liquid glue. I die-cut the word love in gold foil with the Meraki Love Shadow Word para-dies and seven times in white cardstock. The word die will give you two cuts: the word and the outline. I placed one outline die cut in the center of the card. I stacked the white "love" die-cuts, added the gold on top, and then set the stacked die in the center.

Finally, I added a border with thin washi tape for some contrast.

Thanks for reading along! Have a great weekend!