Textured Cherry Blossom Background Card with Watercoloured Characters

A project from our live show Join Simon for Monday Madness broadcast 7th March 22 · 03/07/2022 · watch it from 2:15

A stunning card featuring a layered cherry blossom stencilled background with glitter texture paste, topped with hand-painted Japanese-inspired character heads and a sentiment. The design creates depth and dimension with soft pink tones and shimmering embellishments.

You will need

Izink Dye Based Ink Pad 5 X 5CM - Rosee 050821SSEE IT

DOWNLOAD THIS GUIDE (PDF)

Step by step

1. Cut a six-inch square of mixed media card (approximately 140 gsm) and place it on a protective board. ▶ watch 2:45
2. Position the cherry blossom stencil on your card and secure it with tape to prevent slipping. ▶ watch 2:50
3. Ink the rose-coloured dye-based ink pad and push it into the stencil, working the colour through all the flower areas. ▶ watch 3:30
4. Deepen the flower heads by applying more colour with a circular motion, and darken the fine lines by pushing colour along the grain. ▶ watch 4:00
5. Remove the stencil and allow the first layer to dry, creating a soft pink background. ▶ watch 4:45
6. Reposition the stencil in a different angle and apply purple glitter texture paste using a small spatula, scraping it across the flower areas. ▶ watch 5:30
7. Ensure all flower heads are covered with the glitter paste and scrape any excess back into the container for reuse. ▶ watch 6:15
8. Heat-set the glitter paste with a heat gun to speed up drying. ▶ watch 8:15
9. Stamp the heads of the two Japanese lady characters onto white card using black dye-based ink, ensuring good spacing between them. ▶ watch 10:00
10. Activate the semi-moist watercolour palette with water and paint the first character's hair with brown, working around the hairline. ▶ watch 10:45
11. Paint the first character's outfit with vibrant blue watercolour, then add lighter blue to accent bands and pale yellow to highlight dragonflies. ▶ watch 11:30
12. Paint the second character's hair with brown and her outfit with blue, adding yellow accents to support the Ukraine theme. ▶ watch 13:00
13. Add skin tone to both characters' faces using the palette's pre-mixed skin tone colour, applying it delicately to the face area. ▶ watch 15:45
14. Heat-set the watercoloured characters with a heat gun and allow to dry completely. ▶ watch 16:45
15. Cut the card down the centre to separate the two characters, then die-cut each character head using a nesting square die. ▶ watch 17:45
16. Stamp the 'Sending Hope' sentiment onto white card and die-cut it using a smaller nesting square die. ▶ watch 18:30

Tips from the show

• You don't need much glitter texture paste as it goes quite a long way.
• The glitter paste dries very fast, so work efficiently.
• You can prepare the watercoloured character heads in advance at home and keep them in your stash ready to use.

More from this show

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Written up from the show itself. See every guide from our shows · free how-to guides · watch live on My Telly