What a Wonderful World

Welcome to the next stop on the Essentials by Ellen November release blog hop!

This release was so fun to design, and even more fun to play with, and I can’t wait to share the ways I’ve added color to the cards I’ve made so far.

I pulled out my watercolors to create a colorful autumnal scene using the Up in the Air set, as well as some vibrant fluorescents to make my florals anything but weeds.

What I love about watercolor is that it doesn’t take precision to make something beautiful. Adding a soft wash of color over these little trees before die cutting makes them pop without having to fuss with all the details.

The same can be said for this colorful garden I’ve stitched to the card base. I love creating a colorful wash with varying shades and then stamping on top of the dry paint to capture some of those great waves and laters of color before cutting.

If you’re not a watercolor person, you can get a similar effect by taking two or three Copic markers in similar shades, and blending them together on the page before or after stamping, like I’ve done here with the butterflies from the Be the Change set.

Of course, I also kind of can’t help myself with those markers, and I have to color in all the stamp’s details, too! For this card, I’ve stamped out a few of the In the Weeds florals, but to save time and sanity, only colored in one, having so much fun with all those details, but not burning myself out, and then pairing that colorful cluster against the clean simplicity of the black and white outline.

I LOVE having the best of both worlds in a card.

Alcohol based markers like Copics also make great rainbows when blended, and a colorful rainbow against faint gray stamping makes my heart happy!

One of the ways I tried to challenge myself to use color this time is so basic, and yet I overlook it ALL THE TIME. Colored cardstock, especially pieces die cut in a similar shape to your stamped image are such a fun way to play with paper and color on a card. I cut a number of butterflies out of cardstock I had on hand, and then colored in my stamped butterfly to coordinate with those. It’s such a simple step, and maybe a bit of a throwback, but I have to say, I just love it.

Whichever way you add color to your cards with these new sets, I hope you remember that you can do anything you want, and have as much or as little as you like. If whitespace scares you, play with brighter pops of color against it, or if you’re a less is more kind of creator, dig out some old techniques like colorful shaped die cuts and play!

Now if only I could spot one of these guys floating in the sky nearby….

Need these sets as part of your stash? Grab them in the shop today!

And while we’re at it, who doesn’t like a giveaway? We’ve got super fun prizes!!! One random & lucky commenter will win $25 to the EH shop and one will win the whole November Essentials by Ellen release!!! To enter for a chance to win, make sure to leave comments at each stop along the hop! Comment before Thursday, November 14th at 11:59pm PST. Winners will be notified by email.

But before you get distracted, there’s more hopping to do! Visit the incredibly talented Ardyth for more inspiration!