Using Gouache with Digital Stamps | Alex Syberia Release

The weather is changing, there’s a chill in the air, and that means I’m making winter cards! Alex Syberia Design has a brand new release of digital winter images in Alex’s gorgeous style. They’re available today 11am EST in her Etsy Store.

For my card today I used the Joy Wreath digital stamp. I printed out just the wreath onto navy cardstock using a black and white laser printer. Colored pencils are great on dark cardstock so I nearly got those out, but in the end I wanted to do something I’ve not done before – play with gouache! It’s opaque if you layer it, requires very little water, and therefore works great on non-watercolor cardstock.

This is my very first time attempt at using gouache and I love how it turned out, but there was a little trial and error in getting there!

The gouache I used is the 18 color Miya set with which you can mix up all sorts of colors as you can see in my wreath. I ended up adding three layers on most of the elements – layer one a medium shade, layer two a darker shadow, and layer three a lighter highlight (I added white to the base color). Gouache dries super fast so by the time I’d gone around the wreath once, the layer was dry and I could paint over it.

The gouache completely covers the printed lines so I used a guide of the stamp printed on printer paper to work out where to add some detail with a black micron pen to the leaves and berries.

I die cut out the panel with a rectangle die and then blended on some Distress Ink in Black soot to add some dimension round the edges. Before mounting to a notecard, I added some white splatters with a fine paintbrush.

I printed out the Joy sentiment at 40% on Neenah Solar White and then foiled it with WOW! Fab Foil in Bright Gold, then trimmed it out. I popped it up to the centre of the wreath. For a little bit of sparkle I added some Pretty Pink Posh sequins in sparkling clear.

I really loved using gouache over this gorgeous image – it feels like I painted it myself, but really it’s Alex’s awesome image! Be sure to head on over to her store to check out the entire release at 11AM EST today.

Jenny x

Supplies

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