Video tutorial - Blended Bloom - Monochrome Watercolour on coloured cardstock

Phew, what a marathon few days I've had!  I finally got all my ducks in a row for making the much requested video tutorial for monochrome watercolouring on coloured cardstock: equipment, editing software, hours of googling and learning and a certain amount of courage to overcome my feelings of intimidation!

So, whilst I didn't achieve much in my craft room, a video was born!  It's not perfect (I didn't learn about aspect ratios until too late!), I had to do some vicious cutting to squeeze it into 15 minutes and my fear and intimidation can be heard in my voice but, still, I'm quite proud of my achievement and the really steep learning curve that it involved!

I may not have a card to show you today, I'm sorry for that, but I hope this video will prove useful to you.

There are a few things that I didn't say in the video:

• I like to use ink from the reinker bottle but there are alternatives:
      Squeeze the stamp pad to transfer some ink into the lid and use that ink
      Tap ink from the stamp pad onto a non-porous surface (like an acrylic block) and use that ink
• It's important to use a Dye ink, like the Stampin' Up inks, for this technique because they are vibrant and transparent.
• Choose the colour of the cardstock carefully - I find mid-tones work best for me
• Use a very light touch with the brush to avoid damaging and lifting the paper fibres (or pilling as I call it)
• Be as sparing as possible with the amount of water used.  Unlike watercolour paper or Shimmery White cardstock, the coloured cardstock is not designed to handle water.
• As necessary, I remove some pigment from my brush by wiping it on a piece of paper towel.  This helps when I want to blend out colour.
• This is just the way that I work - I hope my tips may have some merit and be useful but I'm not an expert watercolourist.

There will shortly be a couple of companion videos:

• Watercolouring a monochrome flower on coloured cardstock using more than one ink
• Watercolouring a monochrome flower on coloured cardstock using white craft ink

After that, I think I'll delve into some fun folds but if you have any particular requests, email me and I'll do my best to accommodate you.

'Til next time (with a card!)
Stephanie