Watercolor Rose - Beautiful!!

I just love the Watercolor Rose technique! It's a whole lot easier to create this effect with my Stampin' Up! products than those college watercolor classes! Here's what I used:

• Base cardstock is Rich Razzleberry, with matching ribbon, and reinker on an old CD


• Accent color is Old Olive, top color Whisper White


• Shimmer cardstock for the rose


• Versmark pad


• White embossing powder and heat gun


• Aquapainter (and a paper towel)


• Big Shot dies - Top Note, Little Leaves, Texture Plate


• Paper Snips, Stampin Dimensionals, SNAIL


• Stamp set - Fifth Avenue Floral

First, stamp the large rose from Fifth Avenue Floral onto the shimmer cardstock using Versamark. Apply white embossing powder to the image and set with the heat gun. Next, moisten the entire image with an Aquapainter. You can get a small amount of the Rich Razzleberry ink on the brush to "pink" the whole image a little." Then, little by little, I added color to the image by picking up reinker with the Aquapainter. If the image has been moistened well, the ink will flow around it. I inked one petal at a time. The embossing will hold the color in each petal. It takes some time to create the final product, but you will love it! You can use the paper towel to wipe off the Aquapainter if you've gotten too much ink on it. Use varying amounts of ink on the Aquapainter for lighter or darker values. Let the image dry (it will take a while).

I used a Texture Plate and Top Note die for the Whisper White paper, then cut out the image with paper snips. You can trim easily around the perforated edge. I adhered my ribbon around this piece, then used SNAIL to attach to a layer of Old Olive behind, which was also cut with the Top Note die. Great layering effect! I adhered this to the card base using SNAIL.

Using the Little Leave embosslit die, cut two sets of leaves from Old Olive cardstock. When your rose is dry, you can attach the leaves to the back using SNAIL. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach the rose to the card - really pops it out!

Variations: Use any color you wish! I think an orange and a yellow or pink would look great together! If you have a favorite hybrid tea rose in your garden, choose inks that best match and create your own roses! You could also skip the step of embossing, but I think it really adds a finishing touch to the card. Enjoy!