Hello friends and happy Cyber Sunday! I’m super excited to join Simon Says Stamp for their blog hop celebrating the release of brand-new Suzy’s Classical Christmas Watercolor Prints! Scroll down to see a video tutorial showing how I colored one of the cards.
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VIDEO TUTORIAL
As always, I filmed a video tutorial showing how to create this project from start to finish. I’m hoping you’ll enjoy it. Watch it below or on my Youtube channel.
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CARD DETAILS
Susy’s watercolor prints, as the name suggests, are printed on Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor paper, but this doesn’t mean they can’t be colored using other mediums. I’ve been enjoying coloring with my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils lately and so I used them to color this image.
I went with traditional Christmas colors for this card – reds, greens and browns and added a bit of gray to the white area on the stocking to create shadows. The background of this card is blue and I colored it with the help of my Daniel Smith watercolors – I used Indigo color and once my pencil coloring was done went around the colored piece and colored the background blue. I know not everyone is a fan of dramatic backgrounds like this one, so you can keep your piece with the white background or pick a less dark color.
My background color covered the sentiment printed on this card so I create a different one – Joy To The World and white heat embossed it onto red cardstock. I cut int into a little banner and foam mounted onto my colored piece which I adhered onto an A2 side folding card base.
I also embellished my card using Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh – simply scattered them here and there on the card.
HOP ALONG WITH US!
Simon Says Stamp Blog
Suzy Plantamura
Kathy Racoosin
Kelly Latevola
Yana Smakula – you are here!
Laura Bassen
SUPPLIES
I’m listing the products I used below. Click on the link to go directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!
 Simon Says Stamp Suzy’s Classical Christmas Watercolor Prints Shop at: SSS |
 Simon Says Clear Stamps Peace on Earth Shop at: SSS |
 Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils 12 Piece Set Shop at: SSS |
 Simon Says Stamp Daniel Smith Yana’s Set Watercolor Palette Shop at: SSS |
 Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink Pad Shop at: SSS |
 Simon Says Stamp Small Teflon Bone Folder Tool Shop at: SSS |
 Neenah 110 Lb Solar White Cardstock Shop at: SSS |
 Hero Arts Heat Embossing Gun PW200 Shop at: SSS |
 Hero Arts White Embossing Powder PW110 Shop at: SSS |
 Simon Says Stamp Schoolhouse Red Cardstock Shop at: SSS |
 ScraPerfect Crafting Pouch Shop at: SSS |
 Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins Mix Shop at: SSS |
 Daniel Smith Indigo 5ml Shop at: SSS |
 Silver Black Velvet Brush Size 8 Round Shop at: SSS |
 Jack Richeson 9 X 12 Inch Hardboard Panel Shop at: SSS |
 Scor-Tape 1/8 Inch Crafting Tape Shop at: SSS |
 Tonic Deluxe Adhesive Nuvo Glue Shop at: SSS |
 Scrapbook Adhesives White Foam Squares Shop at: SSS |
 Tonic Studios 8.5 Inch Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS |
PIN THIS PROJECT
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Wow, such rich color, gorgeous!
I like the dark background! I’m wondering how you get such vibrant color using the pencils…just beautiful!
You touched on some questions I have about these pencils. Like you, I’m loving the polychrome pencils! I have better success at blending with the polys — more so than the Prisma. I was wondering — since they’re oil based (right?) — if they would create a resist to the watercolor, but it looks like from the video that they don’t really. It’s kind of hard to tell from the video, but when you went back over the greenery with the pencil (after watercoloring), was the color dulled at all? Did the greenery get lost? I like the idea of being able to use the pencils and watercolors on the same panel! Oh, what fun!!! Thank you for the video and for talking a bit more about these wonderful — and fun — pencils!
Great card, Yana. Love the darker background. Also like how using the darker colors allowed you to create your own sentiment. Thanks for sharing this alternative.
Lovely card, Yana!
Such vivid coloring, Yana! I think your card is beautiful!
Lovely card.
Very pretty
Loving the dark background!!! It makes the image pop! Great work.
Wow the image really pops with the dark water colored background. Thanks for the tips:)
SO striking against that rich navy backgriound!
Such beautifully vibrant coloring and I love how large and bold the focal image is! Just gorgeous Yana!
This is beautiful!
Lovely vivid card. Thanks for sharing your talent.
This is a gorgeous card, the colors are so deep and rich. Love it!
Absolutely stunning!!
Such a dramatic background. Beautiful
Such beautiful coloring Yana! I can see why you like these pencils so much. I am new to using pencils and I really enjoyed watching you color! I got so nervous when you started in with the water coloring because that’s where I would mess up! However, you aced it! Looks fabulous with the indigo background!
This is beautiful and totally amazing. I wouldn’t have dreamed that you could use a printed card to create something like this! 🙂
Beautiful! This one really looks like Christmas! I love the blue background with all the bright colors.
Lovely card. It’s helping me get into the Christmas spirit.
Love Suzy’s watercolor prints and your cards are gorgeous. Thanks for the video & tips demonstrating your coloring technique.
So beautiful! You get the most vibrant, lovely colors out of your pencils!
Loved watching your video. I have subscribed to your YouTube channel. I have also subscribed to your newsletter.
Great card!
I really like these cards, and your coloring is beautiful. I would love to get those pencils so they are going on my wish list.
Hi Yana, this is the first time I have seen your work as I have only been doing this for 4 weeks, glad Your saw it though I love your colouring with Faber Castell crayons, you made this picture look so 3D & colourful can’t wait to see more of your work, off to subscribe x
I love your gorgeous coloring and the “dramatic” background you use with this card. Beautiful!
Wow – great card!
Great coloring! I love the bold colors you used.
Love the bold dark colours, Yana!
Gorgeous coloring Yana and wonderful explanation about the polychromos pencils. I love how the dark background makes the stocking pop!
Beautiful coloring
and design. So
merry looking.
Carla from Utah
You do such beautiful coloring. The clear sequins were also a very nice touch.
Wonderful! Amazing coloring!
Wonderful coloring!!
this is beautiful – love the traditional colors you used
What a gorgeous Christmas card! I love the deep shading and rich tones you got with your colored pencils! Thank you for sharing your talent and inspiring all of us!
Your indigo background makes the design stand out well.
waoh! the color just pops!
Very striking card. The dark background really show vases the image
Love how the dark background of the painted image makes the stocking pop. The added sparkly is always nice!
Very striking card. The dark background really show cases the image
Just delightful!
That background is simply stunning. Wow.
Yana – Your card is stunning. I love your coloring, and your pencil shading is perfect. I love your background too, and your embossed sentiment on red cardstock. Gorgeous.
Bold and beautiful!
Great card, the dark background really adds so much to the card!
Wow, what vibrant colors! Love it! Thanks for the video, too.
Gorgeous-love how the image pops with the dark background!!!