ThePowerOfACard

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Make Vibrant Backgrounds with Watercolor Paper & Stamping

Watercoloring is one of my many hobbies, so when I can use a watercolor technique in my card making, that's just a bonus! When you combine stamped images, especially background stamps, with watercolor paper and a water spritzer, you get really vibrant backgrounds!

The key to this technique is using watercolor paper. I've used Fluid 100 watercolor paper, which comes in a pack of ten 5" x 7" sheets. This paper has texture, so just stamping on it may not give you perfect images like you are used to getting. But - when you spritz it with water, the colors come alive as they bleed and blend together. It's important to select colors that look good when blended and that's why I suggest using analogous colors, which are colors next to each other on the color wheel. Another thing to note is that the inks in our ink pads are not the same as watercolor inks and they may consist of several pigments. Sometimes, these pigments separate into other colors you might not expect. For that reason, it's always best to test out your colors on a piece of scrap watercolor paper before you make your larger piece.

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; Basic White 3-3/8" x 4-5/8", 4" x 5-1/4"; Lost Lagoon 3-3/4" x 5"; Fluid 100 Watercolor 3-1/4" x 4-1/2" and a scrap for the sentiment
Stamps: Gears & Textures, You're the Best
Inks: Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Pretty Peacock
Adhesive and Tools

You will want to work on a protected surface like the silicone mat I use for watercoloring. Start by stamping the swirly design with Pool Party on the watercolor paper. The goal is to have even disbursement of images, some going off the edge. Then switch to Lost Lagoon and stamp some more, overlapping on what you've previously stamped. Finally, stamp with Pretty Peacock to fill in gaps and add the final color.

Clear your workspace of anything you don't want getting wet and spritz the paper. It is better to spritz further away so you get a light coating of water. You don't want the paper to become totally soaked - just enough water to activate the ink and get the colors to come alive. Now comes the hard part - waiting for this to dry! I like to let it air dry, but sometimes I get impatient and use my heat tool to speed up the process. Once it is dry, you may notice that you need some additional color like I did in the video. If that's the case, just add more stamping, spritz again and let dry. I also stamped my sentiment and spritzed this just a little bit to give it the same watercolor feel.

Before assembling the layers, I try to flatten out the watercolor paper as much as possible. It gets warped because it was wet. If flattening it with your fingers isn't enough, you can run it through the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine. I like to use Seal to adhere the watercolor paper to the Basic White mat. By running the adhesive close to the edge and all along all four sides, this will help it lay nicely on your card front. Add the layer of Lost Lagoon with glue, then glue this to the card front (which I folded and half and creased the edge of the fold with my bone folder). Flag the end of the sentiment and add this with Dimensionals.

To finish the card, I stamped the same image in all three colors so they overlapped on the bottom of the white inside panel and along the left side of the envelope. I stamped my sentiment in Pretty Peacock, then added the layer to the inside. This card is for Penny, who just reached a big milestone in her Stampin' Up! business - I think she's going to love it!

The first card I showed with this technique was done in Strawberry Slush, Timid Tiger and Melon Mambo. I love working with these colors together!! For this one, I also used sentiments from Reason to Celebrate and Sending Salutations. I hate to pick a favorite between these two, but I'd have to pick this one because the color combo is just so bright and happy. Which one is your fav?

Staying with the same Gears & Textures stamp set, here is another one with a fall colors vibe. I used Early Espresso, Pecan Pie and Cajun Craze. The warmth and vitality these colors get when spritzed is so wonderful. I think the Early Espresso is so much richer when spritzed with water! And the Pecan Pie almost takes a Golden Glow appearance. I used regular paper for my sentiment, which comes from Balloon Festoon, and is cut with a die from Stylish Shapes. A tip for the linen thread is to run the thread over the Pecan Pie stamp pad, rolling it as you pull it across. You won't get the even coloring like you would get with Blends, but a mixture of light and dark tones that I find quite appealing. For my inside panel and envelope, I used scraps of watercolor paper and did the same thing as I did on the front.

Since it still summer, I used the Simply Leaves Bundle for this next card, but chose shades of green instead of fall colors. I stamped my background with each of the three patterns of leaves using Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green and Garden Green. I also stamped and punched out one of each using Basic White. After matting my watercolor paper, I used the Garden Green Chevron Ribbon (it's on sale in the Last Chance section of my store!), then added my sentiment strip and those three cut-out leaves and put it all on a base of Crumb Cake. I stamped more leaves on the inside panel and envelope, just like I did in the video.

My last card uses the Note Cards & Envelopes, something I often forget to use. These are a great size to work with, especially when you want to make a quick and simple card. I used just a scrap of my watercolor paper and stamped images from the Bordered in Beauty Bundle. The designs from this set are smaller in scale and work better on this smaller piece of paper. My sample used Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Freesia and Azure Afternoon. But my first attempt at this card had Berry Burst instead of the Fresh Freesia. I just didn't like how that one looked. Maybe with other stamped images, it would have been OK, but I was much happier after I switched my color combo. My sentiments are from the Framed Violets stamp set.

Over the years, we have had a lot of stamps that would work wonderfully for this technique. Look for stamps used for backgrounds rather than line art. These will get more ink on the paper, which will allow for more blending of colors. Have fun experimenting! If you want to know more about the watercolor supplies I used, just let me know and I can share that too.

Karen

ThePowerOfACard@gmail.com

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Product List

Gears & Textures Photopolymer Stamp Set

[166851]

$20.00

You're The Best Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[167798]

$21.00

Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[150880]

$14.00

Lost Lagoon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133679]

$14.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper

[149612]

$9.00

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

[147107]

$9.00

Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad

[161678]

$11.00

Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad

[150083]

$11.00

Stampin' Spritzer

[126185]

$6.00

Stampin' Seal

[152813]

$9.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$6.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$28.00

Basic White Medium Envelopes

[159236]

$15.00

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Layouts with Squares make Great, Simple Cards!

I love making cards with squares of patterned paper for several reasons. Firstly, these layouts are great for beginners as the cutting is simple and the layout is easy to follow. Secondly, squares use Designer Series Paper (DSP) efficiently because 3" or 4" squares can be cut evenly with no waste from a 12" piece of paper. Lastly, these layouts with squares are wonderful for mass production, like when you're making Christmas or Thank You cards and you need to make a lot! I mentioned that I'm working on an order of 1200 cards for a friend of mine and three of the layouts I'm showing in the video, I'm also using on his cards!

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Lemon Lime Twist 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; Basic White 3-1/4" x 4-1/2", 4" x 5-1/4"; Artisan Sketched Garden DSP 3" square, 3/4" x 4"
Stamp: Nature's Symphony
Inks: Lemon Lime Twist, Memento Black
Embellishment: Shimmering Dots

This simple layout is one of my favorites! We have so many gorgeous printed papers and for this one, I'm using the Artisan Sketched Garden paper pack. It has floral patterns on one side and mainly geometric patters on the reverse, all in black and white. In the video, I paired it with Lemon Lime Twist, but my original sample used Poppy Parade. Pick your favorite bright color and your partnering options are plentiful!

Since I am working with a 3" square of black and white paper, I glued it to a piece of Basic White that's 1/4" wider than the square and proportional to the card base, which is a half sheet of paper folded in half. This leaves a good sized space at the bottom to add a sentiment (and a few embellishments!). Of course, you could also use colored cardstock instead of white and if it's too dark to stamp on, then just heat emboss your sentiment!

I added Dimensionals to this layer and attached it to the card front. You could add ribbon, or even a focal point (like a circle with flowers) if you want, but the card looks quite lovely without any further additions. For the inside white panel, I stamped leaves from the stamp set in Lemon Lime Twist and a little Thank in black ink. While the leaves aren't identical to the ones in the paper, they are quite similar and pair well. I added a 3/4" strip of the same paper. The envelope was decorated with a few more leaves. My original card (shown in Poppy Parade) was stamped with Forever Florals.

A fun fact about 3" squares is that when you turn them diagonally, they fit perfectly across the width of a standard 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card. For this beauty, I used the Pretty Poinsettia bundle to make a non-traditional colored Christmas card. The dies in this bundle use the new Impressions Plate to create the deeply detailed petals and leaves of the poinsettia. I used a square of 2026-2028 Gingham Gallery DSP as a backdrop for the flower. The leaves were cut apart and tucked beneath the petals, while the sentiment was stamped on a 1-1/2" circle. In Color Dots and a Hydrangea Hue Bordered ribbon add the final touches. The flower was a little time consuming to make, but you could easily substitute an element from one of the ephemera packs and turn this into a quick card.

Staying with the 3" square turned on point, these next two cards start out with bases that are 4-1/4" x 11", scored at 5-1/2". Since the square of DSP fits perfectly, I trimmed the base so that you could see the inside of the card at the corners. To do this, score the top at 2-1/8" from the right side. Then make a mark on the right edge half way down (2-1/8"). Cut from this mark to the score line at the top and bottom edge. This will take off two triangles of the card base. After adding the coordinating DSP (from the Moonlit Flora pack), add the 3" square. It will fit perfectly over the base and line up with the edge you just cut. I used Blends to color the flower cluster from the Fern & Flora Bundle (Berry Burst, Bubble Bath, Smoky Slate and Old Olive) and added that with a label. The gems used to decorate the card are Dewdrops Embellishments. The envelope flap was embossed with the Fern& Flora 3D embossing folder.

For the next sample, I decided to show you some the new products coming to you in September! Unlike the first variation of this card, I simply cut off 2-1/8" from the right side of the card (instead of scoring and trimming off the triangles). Then I cut a 3" square of Cajun Craze and a 2-3/4" square of the Sunflower Fields DSP and glued them together. I cut a piece of Golden Glow and embossed it with the new Softly Woven 3D embossing folder and added that to the left side. Then I added dimensionals only on the left side of the sunflower square and attached it to the card front. I added a little sentiment from the Radiant Sunflowers stamp set and tied a knot with the Mossy Meadow & Very Vanilla Gingham ribbon. Adding just one more layer to the square is an easy way to step up your card to the next level.

I started this next card with a 3" square cut from the Wood Grain Wonders DSP pack (which is a great one for making masculine cards and one you may have missed in the catalogs). I then cut it in half both ways to yield 4 squares. I placed two of them with the dark side up, then added the flip side in the middle to make the backdrop for the pine boughs (and leaving one square unused). The Festive Cheer bundle has a variety of stamps and dies to make holiday cards, as I've shown here. I liked using the ornament in place of the O in Noel!

Now I'm switching to bigger squares! I love this layout for colorful prints that are bold in design and color. After cutting your 4" square, cut it on the diagonal and glue each triangle to the card front, leaving a diagonal gap. I've used a die from the Nested Essentials set, but you could easily have used a punch, or just a rectangle piece of cardstock for your sentiment. My card base is Secret Sea and I used a blending brush to add a little Timid Tiger ink to my label to coordinate with the flowers. My sentiments are from Scalloped Blooms and are stamped in Secret Sea.

This card started out with a base of Pool Party that is 4-1/4" x 11. Always remember to score the mid point when you are making cards with this orientation in order to get a nice crisp fold. The alignment of fibers in the paper prevent a nice fold unless you score (unlike when you start with a 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" base that folds easily without scoring). From the square of Beautiful Ordinary Life DSP, cut off the bottom inch. Adhere these to the card base, leaving a space for your sentiment. I stamped mine in Basic Gray ink and it's from You're the Best stamp set. For my ribbon, I didn't have one in Calypso Coral, so instead, I used the Barely Blush Bordered ribbon and colored it with a Stampin' Blend to turn it into a Calypso Coral ribbon! This is a great tip for getting more out of your supplies.

Next, I took a square from the Valley in Bloom DSP pack and cut it into four strips, each one inch wide. I angled them on my card base and glued them down. The sentiment, stamped in Granny Apple Green, is from Lily of the Valley. After flagging the ends, I added a thinner strip of Pool Party behind the sentiment for a pop of extra color. The Shimmering Dots make a nice addition to the label. Not all papers have designs that works great together when you use both sides at once, but when you have it, it makes this layout so simple to make! As a little bit extra, I used Wink of Stella on my flowers that I stamped on the inside. While you can't really see that in the video, the sparkle does show up in person!

My last sample shows off two new paper packs that are being released in September. The first one is called the Autumn Opulence Specialty DSP. It has five double sided designs, plus two different sheets of pre-stamped images you can punch out and add to your cards for fast and fabulous card making! I cut my square into four one inch strips and flipped two of the pieces over. Before adding them to the card, I used a little transparent tape to hold them all together - this makes for perfect placement when you need to glue them to the card base. To add a little extra to this layout, I used a small strip of the new Radiant Foils Specialty DSP to the bottom of the square. My sentiment is from the Radiant Sunflowers I used earlier.

I hope you've learned a few fun ways to use squares (especially 3" and 4" sizes) for your cards. They really are quite versatile (and I didn't really get into variations with using the triangles you can get when you cut them up!). Use up your paper and make lots of cards, then send them out so people get happy mail!

Karen

ThePowerOfACard@gmail.com

Shop my Store! (or use the QR code below)

If you don’t have an on-line account with me as your demonstrator, please go to my store and get one.

https://ThePowerOfACard.blogspot.com

Images Copyright Stampin’ Up!®

Find me on Facebook - The Power of a Card or

Join my Facebook Group (The Power of a Cardmaker): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1042676296088278/?ref=share

Product List

Nature's Symphony Photopolymer Stamp Set (English)

[166919]

$19.00

Artisan Sketched Garden 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper

[167752]

$13.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

[147145]

$9.00

Shimmering Dots

[167949]

$8.50

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Take Your Pick

[144107]

$12.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$6.00

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$28.00

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Joseph's Coat Technique

Joseph's Coat is a fun heat embossing technique. I suppose it got it's name from the Bible story of Joseph and his coat of many colors. When you emboss a stamped pattern with clear embossing powder over a colorful background, those colors get trapped beneath the embossing. Then when you add a dark color over the rest of the paper, the patterns really pop off the paper! Most of the time, you see black ink used for this technique, but most of my samples show other colors just to illustrate how versatile and varied this technique is.

I am not assembling any cards today, and instead, am focusing on the teaching the technique. My first sample uses a background that is ink blended with three shades of green. As an alternative to creating your own background, you can use Designer Series Paper (DSP). This is certainly faster, but is a little more challenging to see where you've stamped with Verasamark ink (as you can see in the video!). My samples have a variety of styles, colors and patterns and one of them features our new Stampin' Hot Foil System! It's my favorite card. Which is your favorite?

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Basic White 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" (quarter sheet)
Stamp: Fern & Flora
Inks: Lemon Lime Twist, Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, Pretty Peacock, Versamark
Embossing Powder: Basics Wow! Embossing Powder
Tools: Blending Brush, Embossing Additions Tool Kit, Heat Tool

I like to start out with a larger piece of paper for my ink blending so that afterwards, I can cut it down to size and still have a little strip to use on the inside of the card. When adding the greens, start with the lightest color and work to the darker shades. Your blending doesn't need to be great since most of the paper gets colored with a darker color of ink - so quick and easy blending for this!

Get out your embossing buddy and really give the paper a good coating. I added a lot of ink to this paper and the extra coating will prevent powder from sticking where we don't want, particularly with the clear powder which is super fine. Next, start stamping the fern with Versamark ink. This ink stays wet a long time and is sticky to hold the powder. It's a bit difficult to see where you've stamped - move the paper around to catch the light so you can know where to stamp more ferns. You may want to pause partially through the stamping to add and melt your powder (which is what I did). Continue stamping, adding powder and melting until you have the coverage you want.

The next step is where the magic happens. Take your dark ink pad (I used Pretty Peacock) and do "direct to paper" to add color all over the background paper. You might get some edge lines, but just keep adding color to even it out until you get the depth of coverage you want. Then take a paper towel or microfiber cloth to run over the surface of the panel. This will remove the excess ink that is sitting on top of the clear embossed parts and make the design really stand out.

For my finished card, I cut the panel down to 3-3/4" x 5", which left me a strip to use on the inside. Before matting it with Lemon Lime Twist, I stamped the frame, sentiment and moths, then die cut them out (a great way to be conservative with your paper!).

The next way to do this technique is by using DSP instead of ink blending your own paper. There are so many papers with either a small pattern or swatches of color to use! The process is the same - stamp with Versamark ink and emboss with clear. It is a little more difficult to see where you've stamped since the color is printed rather than inked. Just heat more frequently so you can see the shiny images. The paper I chose in the video is from Beautiful Ordinary Life, so after stamping my stars and inking with Pretty Peacock, I ended up with a festive background with lots of colored stars. My original sample was made using the Garden Party DSP, which has less variation in coloring and inked with Blackberry Bliss. For both, I used the Balloon Festoon bundle to finish them. Which is your favorite between them?

https://ThePowerOfACard.blogspot.com Karen Sliwinski Stampin’ Up!®

This card started with a background inked in a triad of primary colors - Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Azure Afternoon. The benefit of using those three colors is the beautiful blending between them to make orange, green and purple! I chose the words from You're the Best for my clear embossing, and while I liked that, it did leave some large open spaces. Since there are no do dads in this stamp set, I grabbed a small flower from Springtime Scenes set as a filler. Once these were added, I did the traditional inking of the rest in black ink. I think this turned out so happy and know it will be a perfect graduation card!

I cannot lie. This next one is my absolute favorite. Stampin' Up!® recently introduced their Stampin' Hot Foil System - I got it and some of the new stamps/dies. The large leaf design is one of the stamps and it has a coordinating leaf that can be foiled over it. I wasn't sure the leaf design was ideal for this technique but decided to give it a try. After inking on my background (the same colors as my first sample), I embossed and colored the rest with Secret Sea. I love the choice of the dark blue - it's close to black, but just a bit warmer and richer. After adding the gold foiled leaves, I was blown away! I added just a little sentiment (also foiled) from the Sweetly Sentimental set and a Get Well from Classic Greetings on the inside. I have a dear friend who's having bypass surgery at the end of the month and this special card is headed his way.

Lastly, I created a fall card using the Simply Leaves stamp set. My inked background was done in Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Cherry Cobbler and then stamped with the two smallest leaves. After embossing, I inked the background in Pecan pie. Then to change up the look, I used two of the dies from the Flourish & Frames bundle to cut the label. My initial intent was to use the middle part (the space between the two frames) on the inside, but decided it was too big. So I just attached them to a piece of Two Tone Pecan Pie (the light side) cardstock before matting in Basic White and putting on a Pecan Pie card base. The fall colors look so inviting on that cozy brown base!

What are you going to try? Generally, stamps with bolder patterns work best, but sometimes, line stamps (like the fern) work great if there is a lot of line work. The possibilities are endless because you can create the underlying colors as you desire! Experiment and have fun.

Karen

ThePowerOfACard@gmail.com

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