Swanderful Watercolor Hearts

Swans signify grace, beauty and often love. Today, I have paired our Color Layering Swan with watercolor, shimmer and a heart, to match the feeling they so often represent.

I began by stamping the outline of the Color Layering Swan in Intense Black on Snow Layering paper. The second shading layer is stamped in Soft Granite. The beak in Crimson. I then die cut the swan, 2 black cardstock and 1 white Snow Layering Hugs from the March My Monthly Hero kit (which is still available as I type!).

I mixed 2 drops Indigo Liquid Watercolor and 1 drop Pine into a teaspoon or two of White Iridescent Shimmer Mist. I liberally wet a Bristol Smooth panel with clean clear water and then tapped the paper near the top with the shimmery pool colored watercolor. I tilted the paper to allow the color to seep down, blend and fan.

Bristol Smooth paper holds up well to water in this way (as long as it isn't scrubbed) and it makes all the difference with shimmery sprays. The coating on Bristol Smooth papers allows the ink and shimmer to sit on top of the paper, rather than seeping deeply into it. 

After die cutting an Infinity Heart into Snow Layering paper, I adhered the swan and liquid glued the Hugs die cuts together. Two black on bottom, Snow on top, and adhered the stack in place. The small sentiment stamps, "You Are" and "Swanderful" were then stamped with Intense Black ink. "Hugs" is thinner than the stamps so there was no interference.

Once the watercolor panel was dry, I trimmed it down, applied foam tape to the back of the heart panel, and then adhered the watercolor panel. I applied a bit more liquid glue and applied the finished panel to a Sea Mix Prefolded Card Base. The card base is a beautiful pool color on the outside and white in the interior. I am a big fan of adding this little extra touch of color, even if it is only seen on the back of the card. The are also matching envelopes available.

Thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us today. If you have yet to subscribe to the My Monthly Hero kit you can do so here. There is a new release each month with awesome add-ons. Subscribers can purchase add-ons and have them ship for free with their kit!

If you give this technique a try, and I encourage you to, tag us. We love to see what fans of Hero Arts are creating!

We'll see you again soon.