Watercolor Poppy on a Twinchie Square

Combine the subtle color of a dark cream Twinchie Square with a muted ink color and then enhance the both with the magic that occurs with 3 different watercolor paints! 

If you look closely you can see there is a marked difference between a dark cream Twinchie Square and a white one. It's tempting to always use white squares when using watercolors to insure that you capture the brightness of the paint colors. On the other hand, it was fun to prove that watercolors can work really well on a dark cream square and actually enhance the total feel of the finished piece. 

 

Designed by Gretchen Ehrsam, this Rubbermoon stamp is a perfect fit on a Twinchie Square. First, ink the stamp with Tsukineko Encore Ultimate Metallic Honeydew ink and turn the stamp face up.   

 

The easiest way to center the image on the Twinchie Square is to bring the square to the stamp. As you bring it down you can see and feel the relationship between the stamp and the Twinchie Square, making it MUCH easier to get the image where you want it. 

 

Although many inks declare themselves as waterproof, it's worth it use clear embossing powder and heat set your image rather than risk it. Plus, as you will find, the success of watercolor paints is often determined by the amount of water you 'put down'. Our squares are of such high quality material that they mimic the characteristics of the best hot press watercolor paper, enabling them to 'hold' quite a bit of water as preparation for the paints. By heat setting the ink and creating a physical barrier with the embossing powder you eliminate the worry about anything compromising the stamped image. Splurge and buy yourself a large jar of clear embossing powder and keep it in a wide mouth plastic container with a lid. You'll quickly discover it's easier to dunk your stamped image into the tub than sprinkle powder out of a container....!!!

 

While heat set embossing has been around for a long time, many forget what a neat trick it is. As you heat it, the white powder blends with the ink, fuses together and darkens in color. It's a good idea to use a clothes pin or other device to hold your work in place...and so you don't burn your fingers!

 

A closer look shows how the powder has actually melted.

It's important to moisten your paint pots before using them. Simply squeeze a few drops of water from the brush pen into each pot. Created by Luminarte, Twinkling H20 watercolor paints have a tiny bit of ground mica in them to give them a sparkling appearence when dry - plus, they have the most fantastic colors - Sunflower, Ginger Peach and Indian Copper.

 

The most important thing about a successful watercolor is THE WATER. You won't get that wonderful bleeding and blending effect without it. Before putting down color, use a brush pen and put down lots of water. Each time you 'dab', the brush pen will release more water. Dab, dab, dab, dab, dab....you get the idea. And if you haven't tried a brush pen it's a must have item. It functions in the same manner as a fountain pen...but where there would be a reservoir of ink...there is water.

 

Dab in the Sunflower yellow

 

Then the Ginger Peach orange

 

Take a minute to clean off the brush pen. This is really amazing because all you need to do is draw the brush back and forth across a paper towel. Each time you do this the pen releases and little bit of water and almost self cleans - you don't even need to squeeze to release extra water when cleaning.

 

Add more WATER to keep things moist so things don't dry out between colors

 

Finish with the final color...Indian Copper. It will be very tempting to try and help the blending process along by fussing and dabbing to mix the colors - but you don't need to. The hardest part of all is after you have added the last color...STOP...and set the square aside to dry.   

   

 

When assembling the card components remember, it's all about the 'edges and corners'. Without a doubt our favorite adhesive for cardmaking is the Tombo Craft Collection Permanent Dots. If you look closely you can just make out the little blue diamonds of adhesive that are left from the roller. The applicator is refillable, fits well in hand, doesn't leave adhesive goobers and lifts from the page without bringing a string of adhesive with it!

And if you can't decide whether you prefer using a white Twinchie Square or a dark cream Twinchie Square...make both!

  

 

 

 

 

Comments

[new balance]

Interesting article as for me. It would be great to read a bit more about that topic.

[Kelly Ann]

Where can i get that watercolor brush pen?

[kate]

Girl you have an amazing hands and also creativity.. most of your works relates to puzzle and squares and such things. i love them.

[target stores online]

Thank you for this great blog information!I'm finding this whole blogging world a great resource for any topic, and really inspirational.

[Elaine Allen]

Hi Lisa -

Thanks for a fabulous tutorial. Great up close shots. I think I like the image on the dark cream twinchie. The whole composition flows together much better. I wanted to say "harmoniously" but didn't want to sound "out there"! But it is true, the dark cream enhances the colors you selected for the flower and also helps give the entire twinchie a soft, aged look. Of course, that just how I see it - LOL!
Thanks for sharing with us.

Elaine Allen