Easy Stamped Watercolor Two Ways

Hello, Stampers!  Today I have an easy stamped watercolor project to share that can be accomplished in two different ways.

Isn't this new Mondo Holly stamp by Julie Ebersole for Essentials by Ellen absolutely gorgeous?!!  I could not wait to get my hands on it, to color!  Here's the easy way I've colored it today -- simply by using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers directly on the stamp -- shown on the cover of my Mist Stamping Tool below:

I find the Misti a great tool for this type of project -- you can easily re-ink whatever parts of the stamp that may not stamp very well. The colors of markers I used were: Light Green, Green, Olive Green, Dark Pink, and Carmine Red. You can find all but the Dark Pink in this set of 24, or individually in Ellen's shop. 

Now here's where the two different ways come in: For the first style of stamped watercolor, I misted my watercolor paper with water FIRST, THEN stamped. In photo 1 below, you can see the paper still wet. The middle photo shows how the color bled a little more and I also moved some of the color around, to fill in some of the still-wet leaves. I wasn't terribly happy with this REALLY loose coloring so photo 3 shows a second stamping directly over the top (yay, Misti!), to help define the edges a bit more:

For the second style of stamped watercolor, I stamped the paper FIRST, then blended the color with an aqua brush:

Here are close-ups of the two different styles (click on the photo for a larger view): 1-Paper misted first, then stamped; 2-Paper stamped, then the color moved around to paint:

Which style do you prefer?  Here's a closer view of my finished card using style #2:

To finish my card, I splattered gold watercolor on the background (from this set). Then I stamped and gold heat embossed this beautiful sentiment (one of my favorite holiday sentiments!) from Mondo Holly on a strip of watercolor paper and watercolored the background with some of the Dark Pink and Carmine Red Clean Color markers, then splattered it with red watercolor. The strip is tied with metallic gold string and popped up on foam tape: 

Have you started on your holiday cards yet?  This stamp set will sure put you in the mood to do so! 

Thanks so much for joining me today!

SUPPLIES:

Mondo Holly by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 027, Dark Pink ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 041, Light Green ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 022, Carmine Red ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 043, Olive Green ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker 040, Green ZIG Clean Color Real Brush Marker, Set of 24 VersaMark Ink Pad Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk My Sweet Petunia MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (8-1/8 X 10-1/2) My Sweet Petunia Bar Magnet Kuretake Gansai Tambi, 36 Color Set Kuretake Gansai Tambi Single Color, Gold Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brush, Large Fine Point (23637) Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Gold Ranger Heat It Craft Tool String by the Spool, Metallic Gold Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12") Scor-Buddy Mini Scoring Board 9x7.5 Teflon Bone Folder X-Press It High Tack Double-Sided Tape, 1/8 in X-Press It High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2 in