Hey Friends! It’s a new year, so I have been revamping my planner. But this year I really wanted a cool art piece to be the cover. I wanted it to be something I would enjoy seeing al year long. And since I take great pride in my group of girl friends who enrich my life, I thought it might be fun to pull out the different lady stamps, drawn by Charlene, ECD has released this past year to decorate the inside of my planner.
Step One: Stamp the five female stamps released this past year onto some watercolor paper using some gray water resistant ink. The five ladies come from the Make a Wish, Halloween Party, Oh the Joy of Christmas, Moments of Life and Pure Spring stamp sets.
Step Two: Using watercolor makers, color in the skin tones. I used the Ecoline Beige Pink collection.
Step Three: Using watercolor or ink pencils color in the hair, lips and eyes of the ladies. I used Inktense pencils.
Step Four: Using a white gel pen, add reflection to the eyes. I used a Gelly Role Pen.
Step Five: Using watercolored pencils, color in the clothing. I traced around the edges of the stamp, and colored in a little bit when the heaviest shading would be. Then using a watercolor brush, I moved around the color.
I used Spectrum Noir AquaBlend watercolored pencils to color in all the clothing.
Step Six: Fill in the background with color. I used traditional watercolors.
Step Seven: While the watercolor is still wet, add powder watercolor to create more visual interest. I used Brusho in purple.
Step Eight: Add stamped sentiments. I used sentiments stamps from both Moments of Life and Pure Spring in black water resistant ink.
Step Nine: Die cut holes into the watercolor paper using the Planner Essentials 5 die set.
Step Ten: Trim the edges with scissors so it will fit nicely into your planner. I love these little Fine Pointed Scissors from ECD.
I just love how this came out. Yes, it might be a little purple, but it is great color to use to theme an entire calendar year.
I ended up coloring each of the ladies so that they would remind me of a dear friend.
Now all year long when I open my planner, I can be reminded of my friends who are more like sisters.
How are you going to spruce up your planner this year? Are you going to stamp fun pictures, layer inspiring papers or just ink everything up? Let us know in the comments below, and until then, happy crafting.
EK Gorman
