Watercolor Fun

Recently I have been playing with my Twinkling H2Os watercolor pots. I found them in a drawer and thought “I haven’t seen these in a long time! Let’s play with them and see if I like them.”

Twinkling H2Os

I love them!

I have been using images I have stamped and embossed on black cardstock. Then I watercolor them.

Watercolored images waiting to be made into cards

Completed cards:

J

The Twinkling H2Os really shimmer and shine!

I especially like Personal Stamp Exchange large botanical stamps. These are from the 1990’s, but you can still find them for sale on Etsy and eBay.

Any largish size stamp works for this look. I try to choose stamps that have open areas rather than a lot of fussy details.

Stamp by Stampin’ Up!

I have experimented with embossing powders in Silver, Copper and White, in addition to the Gold.

Silver:

Copper:

White:

My favorite is the gold embossing, although the silver is nice every now and then. I will continue to try a few different colored powders with other stamps.

I have also tried different dark colored cardstock. Black remains my favorite, but dark brown and dark navy work well too.

This one was stamped/embossed on navy:

Stamp by Stampin’ Up!

This one is stamped/embossed on dark brown:

This one I used maroon cardstock:

These neutral tans seem to work also, although the colors don’t ‘pop’ quite as much:

I did a little reading about twinkling H2Os. They suggest you take the caps off and spritz them all with a spray of water. Let that soak in and after a few minutes they are ready for you to start painting.

I have not tried that.

I get water droplets on my paint brush and wet the watercolor pot with that. Then I swirl and start. I find they do need frequent dips of your brush into water to keep the pigments rich and vivid.

I have several large angel and fairy stamps - but - people faces really do not watercolor well on black!

The above card is a good example of what not to do! Large open areas really are best for this technique. The colors get lost with a lot of fine detail.

However, you also do not want large areas of embossing, as then there is nowhere to watercolor!

I ordered some extra colors on eBay. I did not have a good white or yellow. Even with the new colors, white and yellow are very difficult to apply a smooth look, or even to cover the black cardstock very well.

I didn’t want all my cards to look alike, so in a few I tore or cut the image out after watercoloring. This added a nice variety look, I think. What do you think?

I love stained glass look stamps with these watercolors. Stampin’ Up! had a couple of nice sets, retired now.

Excited about these shimmery watercolors yet? Can’t find Twinkling H2Os anywhere? I reached out to RubberStampMadness, a rubber stamp themed magazine, to see what they recommended. Their first suggestion was to mix watercolors with a powder like Pearl Ex. While I do have Pearl Ex, I don’t really want to spend the time to do a lot of mixing.

For pre-made watercolors their first suggestion was 

Finetec (Coliro) Artist Mica Watercolors

Type in the name to your browser, and you can find places to purchase these.

The second was

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Starry Colors

The third suggestion was

MozArt Komorebi

This one seemed to have the most color choices.

I recently purchased a fantastic set of watercolors on Amazon. It has neon, shimmery, metallic and regular watercolors. It also came in a handy tin box with a set of brushes and an eraser, all for less than $20.00.

It is by Artistro.

The shimmery colors are similar to Twinkling H2Os. I do love the 100 different color choices.

Even though I have stamped/embossed the same image, I think you can get a nice variety of looks depending on your color combinations and how you mount the images.

Here are a few more examples:

I hope you are encouraged to get out your watercolors and play. Consider checking out some of these shimmery watercolors to add a new, fresh look to your art. But most of all, just enjoy creating something today.

‘Til next time,

inkspired

A few websites I checked out for this blog:

rsmadness.com

Pinterest 

Amazon.com

Etsy.com

eBay

Let’s make paper dolls

 

Found on Pinterest

I recently discovered a wonderful magazine called

Paperdoll Review

It is a fairly small publication, I suppose, if you compare it to Better Homes & Gardens or Cooking Light, but I have found the articles to be very interesting and well researched. The best part about it? It is chock full of paper dolls and outfits! Pages and pages of costumes drawn by readers, reproductions of vintage paper dolls and sets drawn by paper doll artist celebrities fill the pages, in full color.

Pretty much right up my alley, so to speak. I thought it would be fun to check out some paper dolls and altered paper dolls and share some of the things I have been doing in that area.

Found on Pinterest

Summer is a great time to get out the old magazines, scissors, glue, colored pencils and maybe some empty cereal boxes or old file folders.

Let’s start with some basic shapes. There are many, many options ready for you to download on Pinterest. Here are a couple:

Kiwi Family Media

Once you have your basic doll shape, you need to trace and cut out this shape. I suggest you glue your cut out shape onto something sturdy, such as cereal box cardboard or file folder surfaces, and cut out. Check out my past blogs on how to make a stand for your paper doll.

(Paper doll bonanza, April 18, 2024)

ehow.com

If you haven’t yet, now is a good time to get your crayons, markers, etc and draw and color in your doll’s face and any permanent clothes.

Some ideas are a swimsuit or basic lingerie or underwear for your doll to be in.

Tushi, vintage Native American paper doll

Now you have a choice. You can make your paper doll a ‘stand alone’ doll, such as an ornament for a tree or wreath. These paper dolls are usually not played with but are for decoration. You can dress them however you wish, but typically there are not removable or extra clothes. Here are a couple of examples:

Lorena’s altered art; Pinterest

Pinterest

Here are a couple of examples of altered art type dolls that are mounted and framed that I have made:

Jointed paper dolls are perfect for these type of dolls also. You can find parts and pieces on Etsy and Pinterest in a variety of styles:

Antique scrap reproduction

TheEnchantedGallery.com

You put them together with brass or eyelets, and can then move their parts around for different poses.

Here are some altered art jointed paper dolls I made with playing cards and junk mail:

Let your imagination run wild! There is no right or wrong with these types of altered art paper dolls.

However,

if you want a playable doll with a wardrobe of clothes, go back to your basic doll shape. 

Another option I have used is to find a photo in a magazine of a complete person. Draw in anything missing (a hand, part of a leg, etc.) then cut out. Glue this onto your cereal cardboard to make it sturdy, and you have a basic doll shape to work with!

Next comes the fun part, at least for me -

making paper doll clothes!

Found on Pinterest, no credit

Place a light piece of copy paper or tracing paper on top of your doll. Carefully trace around the outside shape.

I recently purchased a light box tablet that I LOVE. It is perfect for tracing like this. Here is a photo of a light box. There are a few different sizes and features available to you.

Walmart

Once you have a few good outlines for clothes, such as a skirt, pair of pants, top or dress, trace this shape onto sturdy cardboard or cardstock. Cut out. You now have a template that you can adapt, add or delete to for endless variations of clothes. You have premeasured, so you don’t need to measure each clothing item every time you draw one.

Don’t forget to draw on tabs!

A corset or swimsuit shape that you can add sleeves to or a different neckline.

Below is a pattern for a felt doll, but it is easily adapted for paper.  Remember to draw in some sort of stand, and tabs to keep the clothes on.

These dolls used the same pattern for legs, etc but changed up the outfits somewhat-

I think these are done by Lisa Vollrath

These next 2 dress patters do not need tabs, as long as they are one piece and the neckline is open enough to fit over the head of your doll. Many antique dress-up dolls were made this way.

Sorry, credit is in Russian! Found on Pinterest.

2 antique advertisements with ‘free’ paper dolls

The above advertising paper dolls are also fun because the main dolls have a front and back. This was a common practice with paper dolls of that era. These are from the 1920’s.

Artist unknown

I have taken a paperdoll outline shape and decorated it with Zentangle-style doodles. These could be colored, cut out and played with, or I might copy and resize them to fit a greeting card (another passion of mine).

I have also done a few using colored pens-

Another fun thing is to take your black/white line drawing, and insert it into a digital program that ‘colorizes’. Here are a couple of my ‘playin’ with my apps’ paper doll clothes-

If you didn’t notice, this one needs tabs!

Another way to create paper doll clothes is to make your pattern (basic shape that fits your doll, as explained above) and then get out those magazines and catalogs that are collecting dust under the coffee table.

There are wonderful designs and colors just waiting to be turned into something beautiful. Here are some samples I made for a nature themed paper doll-

These were all cut from old Bird and Butterfly magazines

Here is one more idea for you. Do you have any old sewing patterns stuck in a box somewhere? Have you seen them at garage sales? Use the models on the front for a paper doll! Carefully cut around the image, then attach to cereal box type cardboard. Cut out. Remember the doll stand. Is the skirt too ‘frou frou’? Just trim it down, no problem.

Laura Beth Love, Pinterest

Now, are you having way too much fun yet? Did you get carried away and have a stack of paper doll clothes now? Make a few greeting cards! These will be one-of-a-kind cards for special occasions and celebrations.

I was able to purchase a lot of paper dolls on e-bay. Included in the batch were several outfits with no dolls.

So, I made greeting cards!

I hope I have given you ideas to try this really fun papercraft. It is also a wonderful project to do with children of all ages, boys and girls. Playing with something you have created yourself is so satisfying. I’m not even mentioning all the fine motor skills and brain stimulation that these will enhance. 

Handkerchief dresses, artist unknown; Pinterest

Giving a handmade card is extra special to the recipient. Send a little joy to someone, no special occasion needed!

Now go get those scissors and some glue…

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Random websites I checked out to write this blog, in no particular order:

Pinterest

PaperdollReview.com

WikiHow.com

RSMadness.com

inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com