Guest Artist Feature: Anni Karten

A big hello over the ocean from Berlin, Germany!

Although I’ve been stamping for over ten years, I still feel very challenged by no line coloring with watercolors, especially when it comes to critters. For me, this technique is so much easier with flowers.

But, I practiced a lot in the last few weeks and I’d like to share some tips and tricks that I learned along the way with you.

I prefer the look of one layer with no-line coloring vs. die cutting. So I try to stamp directly on the panel. To plan ahead, I like to lay out the stamps and create the sketch I want to use.

You don’t need a lot of masking with no line coloring as you want the lines to disappear anyway. 

For this card I am using the super cute stamp set Little Dreamers.

On my first layer of color I try to decide where the shadows should be and start with heavier color there. With no-line coloring you need strong contrast to define the shapes. Once the first layer is dry, I amp up the contrast. I add gray (for cool colors) or brown (for warm colors) to the places I want to be the darkest. I work with a very fine brush (size 0 to 2).

Don’t be too shy and always stop to check and look at the image as a whole. Do you see the difference it makes?

Pro Tip

Never judge your coloring before it is finished.

The image looks weird in the process. But the moment you add the eyes with a black gel pen to creatures makes such a big difference.

One of the big advantage of watercolors is that you can easily get colors that match if you mix your own. I like to use one color as a basis for the next one. So I get different shades of colors that will work together.

For the finished card I added a sentiment. This card is for a friend of mine who recently had a baby boy. Whenever I make a baby card I like to personalize it by putting the baby’s name on it. Alphabet stamp sets are perfect for this. Here I used Everyday Alpha. I stamped the letters, heat embossed them in white and cut them down to small rectangles. That makes it easy to arrange the letters on the card. And even if I make a mistake I could easily restamp just one letter.

I also added a stamped “Hello” from the set Hand Lettered Hello to finish up my card.

When the coloring for the baby card was finished I had a lot of mixed watercolor left. So I decided to make another card.

I already mentioned that I naturally have an easier time with this technique on florals. So I pulled out the Christmas Rose Bouquet stamp set. Although this is a Christmas set, you can easily use it for non-Christmas cards by choosing different colors as I’ve done.

I’ve paired it with the Happy Birthday Die to create a beautiful birthday card without a hint of Christmas.

I had a blast guest designing for Wplus9, all their products work so well together. I really hope the things I learned along my no coloring journey help you a little bit, too. And remember: The practicing is all the fun.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a crafty week.

You can find more of Anni’s work on her social media sites below:

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Featured Supplies

Here is a list of the featured Wplus9 supplies used in today’s project(s) along with links to purchase for convenience.

Christmas Rose Bouquet Shop at: WP9	Happy Birthday Die Shop at: WP9	Everyday Alpha Shop at: WP9	Hand Lettered Hello Shop at: WP9
Little Dreamers Shop at: WP9