trying zigs again with flower garden

Hi. Happy Saturday! I'm back again for more "slow-blogging" ;) Could almost make you think Spring had arrived in my front yard, eh?

If you saw yesterday's post, you saw my latest attempt at watercoloring florals with Zig clean color brush pens. I was way too heavy-handed and not happy with the result. I figured it was time to try, try again. So I googled. And came across this video gem from Kristina W. Oh to know where to put which colors to get such amazing results, which I admit may not be realistic, but oh so pleasing to my eye.

I happen to have NBUS Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamps too, so after I heat embossed some blooms onto watercolor paper I basically colored along with Kristina! So nice of her not to mind when I kept making her back up and color that middle flower just ONE MORE TIME ;)

Here's my finished card.

The center flower is exactly like Kristina's, colored with Yellow and Light Carmine. This is a great image to practice on cuz 1) the petals are large and 2) you can totally copy Kristina's method. On the left peony I used only Pink, using a second layer of it in some areas. On the right one I used Pink, Purple and a few touches of Wine Red. I actually used Light Blue and Pale Green on the stems.

To hint at a sky I inked up sentiments from STAMPlorations Vignette: Artful Flutters (top half with Tumbled Glass, bottom with Broken China) and stamped them over the flower which I masked. Added a hint of edgy Scrapbook Werkstatt So ist das Leben PP to tie in with the blue tone.

What I learned about watercoloring with Zigs? Don't start with a tiny image to practice this technique. Don't work on the entire flower at one time; only on smaller areas. Use a light hand - multiple light layers is the key. Let layers dry. Use a rag to dab up wet color if you feel you've been too heavy handed.

I did even more playing with my Zigs after this project, making a whole set of cards. You'll be seeing them soon. Just keep watching!

I'm going over to the playhouse to play with Darnell's NBUS #8. She's got lots to celebrate and is actually challenging us to give colored pencils on kraft a try, but I'm translating that to watercolors on watercolor paper ;)

Oh, and one more question for you. Don't worry, it's an easy one today ;) Anyone ever had a Pentel Aquash waterbrush that leaks where the tank screws into the barrel? I get a blob of water on the outside of the brush when I squeeze the tank. The blob eventually drips onto my project. Not good. (I had had to take mine apart to unclog it - which worked - but after putting it back together I ran into this problem.) I did my watercoloring of these flowers with a number 4 brush and water!

Enjoy your weekend.