One of the lessons in the recent Altenew Academy watercoloring class that I just took involved watercoloring with a template.
The instructor used a word script die and a silicone embossing pad on the die cutting machine to create an impression with the die instead of cutting the paper out. Then she watercolored in the impression created by the die.
I wanted to try this technique, but with my own twist. I used a flower with a stem and leaf die from the Altenew Golden Garden die set. 
Pretty, right?
If you don’t have a silicone mat for embossing with your dies and thinlets, it is well worth the investment of a few dollars to get one. This is one of those techniques that will stretch your tools to do more than they were designed to do.
I used a big round paint brush to cover the area inside the embossed outline with water and wet the watercolor paper. Then I dropped the watercolor paints in with a smaller brush and let the water do the mixing. I used a pink, a yellow and a purple which blended to give me that orange. I used 3 shades of green on the leaf and stem. I added the darkest color after the lighter ones dried so that I could get it exactly where I wanted it.
Before it completely dried, I added some shimmer mist with my paint brush to give it some sparkle. Perfect Peals powder mixed with the water instead of using plain water actually gives a pretty sparkle as well.
I let the entire thing dry and cut it out with my circle die. I’m using this week’s Paper Craft Crew sketch for my layout design.
I then used my MISTI to add the thank you sentiment with permanent black ink from Altenew. The sentiment is from the Many Thanks stamp set from Altenew. This is a stamp set well worth the investment as well. It has 27 thank you sentiments in many fonts. I’ve used it more times than I can count!
I popped the circle up on foam tape and attached it to a white card base. I added my favorite Doodlebug Design Beetle Black Swiss Dot washi tape and the Studio Katia iridescent bubbles in mixed sizes. **Sigh**
Two of my favorite embellishments on one card using Altenew’s pretty watercolor paints in a new way. What’s not to love about this? It was quick and easy to make. (Thank goodness! I’ve been doing school work all day. Nothing like leaving that until the last minute!)
Here is the Paper Craft Crew Sketch:
I want to show you an up close view so you can see how the die left an impression in the paper so I could use it like an outline to paint within. Remember that I’m embracing the imperfections here and giving you the up close view that won’t look perfect. You might also be able to see the sparkle from the shimmer mist that I dropped in while it was still wet. (Ignore the glue…it will dry clear!)
Not perfect under magnification, but pretty end result don’t you think?
I already have two more impressions to paint tomorrow. No sense doing school work two days in a row during summer vacation!
Here is the supply list from my affiliate links:
You can see that I varied the sketch a little to fit my needs and to make it my own. I loved this technique and I hope you feel inspired to try it! Happy day!
