Farewell to summer: Fuchsias
Posted: September 16, 2015 Filed under: Fuchsia | Tags: Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Penny Black creative dies 16 Comments
This one is a stamp-less card! I created a stencil for myself by cutting the fuchsia die from a piece of plastic then painting through it. I wasn’t able to achieve sharp edges or details but I wasn’t really after that look. Before using the stencil I wet the whole panel with water and painted blue and green paints around the edges. The middle wasn’t totally white but it was paler so my pinks would not end up changing too much. I used kuretake gansai tambi paints which are highly pigmented so it is easy to get some really strong colour. I did add a bit of definition to the petals after removing the stencil. I also painted some very very pale fuchsias through the stencil and added a little splatter. Before fuchsias fully open the lower petals form a little balloon which just screams out to be popped. Did anyone else pop them when they were a child?
Supplies:
Creative Dies: Fuchsia (PB)
Paint: Kuretake Gansai Tambi
Cardstock: Fabriano 100% cotton hot pressed watercolour paper, Neenah solar white cardstock, PB clear skies paper
Also: Winsor & Newton masking fluid
Heather Telford 
This is beautiful Heather and those Kuretake paints have the most wonderful colours and the loose finish you have created with a stencil cut from a die is fantastic. I love that blue in the background too. A gorgeous mix of colours. x
Sweeeet!!! I must try this. Gorgeous, and that background–wow!
I don’t remember fuchsias from when I was little.
Thanks, Heather!
this card is so so pretty, Heather. I love the colors that you used. somehow you really pull off the “no outline look” is that what its called? I would love to really learn that. I end up with a muddy mess. do you use adhesive on the back of your stencils? i’m tempted to use my can of temporary spray adhesive. your cards are always so lovely. I love my gansai watercolors also. this coming Monday my latest online card class on watercoloring starts. I can hardly wait.
Hi Katrine,
Thank you for your kind comments here and on instagram. I hadn’t made the connection between your different user names. I did try to put adhesive on the back of two of my stencils but I guess it wasn’t the right adhesive because it just dried textured but did not stay tacky.
Enjoy your WC class,
Heather
I’m not really familiar with real life fuschias but these are certainly beautiful! I love the richness of the dark background that makes such a dramatic card!
Looks like my grandmother’s fuschias which she grew in pots hung outside the shaded porch. Their colors were like dripping jewels which you have captured perfectly!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful card which evoked a beautiful memory of my granny…..and no, we wouldn’t have dared popping the flower’s “balloon” but it sure was tempting!
We got in trouble if we did pop them!
Your mother says you had itchy fingers in tnhe garden. But she also popped them as a child.
This is simply beautiful and the colors are so vibrant. I just love it! Thank you for sharing your talent.
Lovely card. Thanks for the how to. I didn’t pop fuchsias. I don’t remember having them around when I was a kid, but I did pop hosta flower buds. A guilty pleasure. In retrospect, I hope I didn’t ruin the flowers. They were the neighbor’s. I should try popping my own hostas buds just for the fun of it. Do you ever work from life, or is it all from the memory of how particular flowers look?
Thank you Cath. I am a seasonal stamper as much as I can be because I am inspired by what I see outside. As a design team member I do need to create winter cards before the snow comes and florals while the snow is all around! When I can’t see the real thing I search for an image online, work from memory or dream up a colour scheme of my own.
What a gorgeous card, I love the flowers and the colors! 🙂
There definitely would have been trouble if I’d done that to any flower bud! We did have weeds at the side of the road (I’ve never known the name) that had little balloon flowers that my dad and I would happily pop.
Your fuchsias are beautiful! Gorgeous watercoloured background, too.
Wow, this is gorgeous! I love the hint of a fuschia in the background. The colors are wonderful!!! I can’t believe that summer is almost over…
That’s a beautiful card. I like your idea of using a “stencil” to guide your coloring.
Beautiful card! Love the colors!