Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen's design teams are continuing to celebrate the Sizzix release of three classic Eileen Hull Design dies - the Notebook Die, the Stacking Drawer Box Die and the Treasure Box Die - alongside the launch of the new Watercolor Florals & Lattice Stencil Set and Painterly Blooms & Background Thinlits Die Set.
If you were watching the Live launch party last month you'll have caught a glimpse of my Watercolour Flower Notebook and I'm back this month to share it in more detail. There's a tutorial too for the front cover and pages which use the Watercolour Florals & Lattice Stencil Set (a four stencil set) alongside the Notebook Die.
You can see the flowers and leaves on the front cover, and inside the pages featuring the lattice design.
Start by cutting your Notebook cover from Matboard or another sturdy surface of your choice. Use the lattice design stencil to apply texture paste and let it dry. You can then paint/ink over the whole surface before using your stencil to add contrasting colour to the raised lattice areas.
Cut your pages from coordinating plain paper/card (mine was gesso'd and stained to match) by folding the paper in half, lining up the folded edge with the first spine score line on the Notebook die and running it through to cut a simple signature. Use the lattice design stencil to blend ink/paint onto each side of all the pages, in effect creating your own patterned paper!
Now to move on to the floral panel which is created on a small piece of watercolour paper. Tear a piece about the same size as the front cover - that way you give yourself room to tear away any excess at the end. Use a watercolour pencil and the large floral stencil to draw the outline of three of the flower shapes.
With a small brush apply water to the inside of each drawn petal. Then use the wet brush to take some colour from the pencil and drop onto each petal - you'll see it move and spread across the water.
As the water on the petals starts to dry use your wet brush to pick up a little colour from a contrasting watercolour pencil, dropping it onto the outer part of each petal. Let the colour start to blend and the water continue to dry.
At this point I decided to make the edges of the petals look softer, larger and more painterly. To achieve this use your brush to apply a little more water around the petal edges and add more colour, taking the colour from the pencil with your wet brush and dropping it onto the petals in exactly the same way as before. Note you will effectively be 'reactivating' the paint already applied so it will blend in the same way as before.
Now to add the leaves and flower centres with a slightly different method. This time I used my watercolour pencils through the stencil, adding a couple of colours to the leaves.
Blend out the colour by using a wet brush, extending the edges beyond those drawn as before. Again, you can always go back in with more water and colour until you are happy with the finished results. In the centre of the flowers I also used the wet brush to pull some of the colour onto the dried petals.
When the paper was dry I used a fineliner pen to draw stamens and lines onto the flowers and leaves before adding Glossy Accents over the top. You can then tear the panel around the edges to fit, blend with a little ink and layer onto scraps of coordinating paper. I also chose to stitch a small piece of stained seam binding onto one side.
To finish I added a couple of buttons, dots of dark enamel and a stamped phrase before gluing the panel onto the front of the Notebook. The fabric you can see around the edges is stuck to the inside of the cover which helps to strengthen it.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing more of this Watercolour Flower Notebook and how it came together. Make sure to check out all the fantastic projects and ideas from the rest of the teams - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog.
For now thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx
