Fabulous Floral Flamingo

Oh my friend, I’m so glad you stopped by the blog today; I have exciting news!!! My niece, Summer, is an incredibly talented artist, and she has started illustrating for The Rabbit Hole Designs! Her first two stamp sets are debuting in the new release, the Flamingo Botanical (featured today), and the Turtle Botanical (featured tomorrow). These are gorgeous sets that just beg to be watercolored, and that’s exactly what I did. 

To create this card, I stamped the flamingo with my favorite black ink and watercolored her with Karin markers. I found a nifty, inexpensive ceramic palette, with tiny wells, that works great for Karins. (It also has a nice big, flat lid that you can ink smoosh on. And since it’s ceramic, the colors don’t bead up as much.) To keep the highlights and shadows in each pedal, I painted them separately, skipping around and allowing them to dry before painting the adjacent pedals.

For the background, I taped off a horizon and painted in the sky, water, and sand. I used a very soft wash of blue for the sky, and when it was almost dry, I painted on a little clear water, then lifted off the color with a rag. This gave me a soft, barely there, cloudy look. Where the water met the sand, I lifted off color too. To give the water movement, I added a few white gel pen lines, then brushed over the entire ocean with a shimmer pen. That gave me a bunch of sparkle, and partly dissolved the gel pen lines, softening them. To add texture to the surf, I lightly swirled Liquid Applique along the edge of the water, and patted it with my finger. Before it dried, I hit it with my heat gun to make it puff up. A few more dots with the gel pen filled in the gaps. In the sand, I made sure to add a shadow under the flamingo, and a few dots for interest. 

To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment in the sky, then trimmed and mounted the panel onto a card base with fun foam. The best part was when I gave it to my mother-in-law for her birthday. She went on and on about how pretty it was, even before I told her her granddaughter had drawn the image! That made the card all the more special. I’d love to know what you think of the new stamps too! Let me know in the comments, or on social media. 

Would you like to see more inspiration using the Botanical Flamingo? Hop along with us! 

The Rabbit Hole Designs
Jenn
Lauren
Amanda – you are here
Amy Beth – next stop
Michelle
Jessica
Tanna