Simon Says Stamp | Watercolor Circles Background + CZ Design (Yay! You Are Literally The Best Card)

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Hello, friends! You might have already seen a preview of this project on my Instagram page or newsletter – this was a very spontaneous and oh so full of joy project.

You are like me, I’m sure, and sometimes want to sit down and just dabble in something with no particular goal in mind. This is how I came to start working on this project.

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CARD DETAILS

I was cleaning my “Inspiration & Color” board on Pinterest (this is a place where I save all the fun and inspiring ideas I come across on the web) I spotted this simple yet fun watercolor exercise. I felt inspired and pulled out my watercolors attempting to paint something similar.

Image source 

To create a similar look I used a large round #8 brush and painted circles using nothing but clean water onto Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Panel (Cold Press or even Rough paper would do so much better for this, but I am all out of mine at the moment). Next, I picked colors I liked and dropped them one by one using same large brush onto my water circles.

I played a bit with my colors, added more, moved my paper around (I had it taped onto a board, so it was easy to pick it up and tilt it to either side) and simply watched the colors bleed one into another and interact.

This exercise, I think, is a great one to learn more about your watercolors, to observe how colors react with each other, to see what you can expect in the future when you use them for your paintings.

After my background was completely dry I heat embossed “Yay! You are literally the best” in Simon’s Antique Gold embossing powder. I also send my background through my Platinum die cutting machine using an embossing sandwich and nothing else. The pressure from the machine helped flatten any warping I had from all the water and heat embossing.

I trimmed my panel to 4 x 5 1/2 inches and foam mounted onto an A2 top folding card. Lastly, I embellished my background using a number of Nuvo Jewel Drops (I’m listing exact colors below).

I used my Daniel Smith watercolors to create this background, but feel free to use any other watercolors you might have on hand. Hope you give this idea a try – do tag me if you do and share somewhere, I’d love to see!

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!

CZ Design Clear Stamps Yay Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp Embossing Ink Pad Shop at: SSS	Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Hero Arts Heat Embossing Gun PW200 Shop at: SSS	Spellbinders Platinum Die Cutting Machine Shop at: SSS
Silver Black Velvet Brush Size 8 Round Shop at: SSS	Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor Pad 9×12″ Shop at: SSS	Neenah 110 Lb Solar White Cardstock Shop at: SSS	ScraPerfect Crafting Pouch Shop at: SSS	Hero Arts Daniel Smith Watercolor Dot Palette Shop at: SSS
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Essential Watercolor Set Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith Primary Extra Fine Watercolor Triad Set Shop at: SSS	Daniel Smith Secondary Extra Fine Watercolor Triad Set Shop at: SSS	Tonic Strawberry Coulis Nuvo Jewel Drops Shop at: SSS	Tonic Sea Breeze Nuvo Jewel Drops Shop at: SSS
Tonic Limoncello Nuvo Jewel Drops Shop at: SSS	Tonic Pale Periwinkle Nuvo Jewel Drops Shop at: SSS	Tonic Key Lime Nuvo Jewel Drops Shop at: SSS	Scor-tape 2 1/2 Inch Crafting Tape Shop at: SSS	White Fun Foam 12 Pack 9 x 12 Shop at: SSS