Freebie Friday – Gnomes

Freebie Friday – hand-painted set of gnomes. #printable #free #gnomes

gnomes

This freebie is close to my heart. While I create all my Friday printables, this one is made from my own watercolor painting. I hope you find them as cute as I do and I would love to see how they travel – meaning how you end up using them in your work.

Gnome PDF printable: [Gnomes]

Watercolor Card

How to paint with watercolor pencils.

with Yasutomo

final card

My favorite gold watercolor is Reddish Gold Japanese Watercolor from Yasutomo. So I was excited to see Yasutomo at the Namta/Creativation trade show. I was given a set of watercolor pencils, they aren’t even released yet. So I tried them out and made a thank you note to send to them.

Some items used in this tutorial were provided by the manufacturer in order to promote their products.

watercolor pencils

When I got home a tried the pencils and painted a flower. The pencils are really nice and creamy.

flower painting

I really like how the pencils; when water is added, have a result that looks like watercolor paints. But the pencils are so versatile with the ability to add details. You can see the watercolor blending in the flower petals and the detail in the center of the flower.

I chose to use the flower image on a card and of course, I had to use my favorite gold watercolor. The base of the card has a napkin applied with Nori paste, when dry, I used the gold watercolor to bring out the texture. The textured cardstock also has the gold watercolor applied. The belly band made of vellum has a sentiment in gold embossing powder to connect it all together.

Video Tutorial:

Suggested Materials:

Links are Affiliates AZ – Amazon, O – Other
Nori Paste
Nori Paste
Shop at:
AZ
Bamboo Brush
Bamboo Brush
Shop at:
AZ
Reddish Gold Watercolor
Reddish Gold Watercolor
Shop at:
O

How to Foil Your Stamping

Learn how to foil your stamped images with this special technique.

You can make your own foiled embellishments with this fun and relaxing technique. Using DecoFoil and a rubber stamp you create your image, and then use watercolors to finish coloring the images. The foil acts as a resist for the watercolor leaving its glimmer behind.

Many of the items I use in posts are provided by the manufacturers to promote their products.
A special thanks to those brands who sponsor this site
.

foiling materials

Materials:

Affiliate links to many of the items used in this process are linked at the bottom of this post for your ease in acquiring them. Thank you for considering using them.

  • rubber stamp
  • stamp block
  • cardstock
  • DecoFoil
  • DecoFoil transfer adhesive pen
  • Derwent Inktense pencils
  • Yatsutomo Metallic watercolor paints
  • paintbrush
  • mini Maker – optional

Since we are using an adhesive product on your stamp, you might want to use an older or less expensive stamp. It is very important to thoroughly clean off your stamp with soap and water after using this technique.

Video Tutorial:

finished pieces being used
finished pieces being used

It is really difficult to capture the beauty of these pieces on camera due to the reflective nature of the foil. The watercolor and foil together make for a very unique combination. I think this is one of my favorite techniques to create. Probably more for the enjoyment of the process but the outcome is pretty nice too!

Suggested Materials:

Links are Affiliates
AZ – Amazon, SSS – Simon Says Stamps, SB – Scrapbook, O – Other
Deco Foil
Deco Foil
Shop at:
AZ | SSS
Deco Foil Adhesive Pen
Deco Foil Adhesive Pen
Shop at:
AZ | SSS | SB
Derwent Inktense
Derwent Inktense
Shop at:
AZ
Mini Maker
Mini Maker
Shop at:
O
Yasutomo Metallic Watercolors
Yasutomo Metallic Watercolors
Shop at:
AZ

Swatching a New Watercolor Set

Learn how to swatch a watercolor set.

I love getting new craft materials. I purchased a new watercolor set on Amazon because my daughter has been powering through my supply of watercolor paints. Before diving into painting, I swatch the colors. It doesn’t matter if the material is watercolor, markers, or such, I always swatch the colors and you should too.

I swatch them in the order they appear in the packaging. It might also be nice to swatch them in blending relationships or color family relationships if they aren’t packaged well together.

Amazon link (affiliate): https://amzn.to/2IV8DvT

Why should you swatch? Often colors won’t appear the same in a solid form. Even if you are provided a printed color chart, it might not relate to how you use the colors. This is often seen in the cap colors of markers. Many artists talk about how the cap colors don’t appear similar to the swatched colors.

I keep the swatch sample with the color materials and often refer to it before choosing a color.

Did you find this helpful. Let me know what materials you swatch before usage.