Watercolor a heat embossed image

 Have you tried to watercolor a heat embossed image?

I love the look of watercolor. It is beautiful and soft. The light and dark colors have an organic calming feel. On this card, I attempted to recreate that feeling and look. I used the large floral image from Layers of Beauty stamp set by Stampin' Up!®.  First, I heat embossed the image with copper embossing powder on Fluid 100 watercolor paper. Then, I used my classic ink pads, paint brushes and water to add color to the image and background. I love the look and how it's different every time. After I colored all the images and background, I dried my layer with my heat tool. Then I stamped a greeting onto the layer with Secret Sea classic ink. Greeting is from Beautiful Motifs by Stampin' Up!®.

Steps:

1.  Cut Fluid 100 watercolor paper to the layer size you want. I used 5" x 3 3/4".
2.  Use the embossing buddy on your paper. (I often forget to do this! It helps the powder to only stick where you put the versamark ink.)
3.  Ink up your image with Versamark ink. This is a clear sticky ink that stays wet longer.
4.  Pour on embossing powder. I used copper. Shake and tap off excess. Use a small paint brush to get any stray powder off. 
5.  Use the heat tool to activate the powder. This is when the magic happens. It's my favorite part. Let the image cool a bit (maybe a minute or less)
6.  Grab classic ink pads in the colors you want to use. I used Berry Burst, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Pretty Peacock and Timid Tiger. *all inks by Stampin' Up!®.
7.  Use a clear block to pick up ink from the pad or press it to transfer ink to the pad lid.
8.  Use paint brushes in various sizes to add water to your ink. The more water you use the lighter the color. 
9.  Start adding color to your embossed images. You can dab up any extra water with a paper towel. You can also add more color or mix colors on top to create darker areas. Enjoy the process!
10.  Use a heat tool to dry the layer before stamping a greeting.

I love how my flowers turned out. I was inspired by the June 2025 Paper Pumpkin sneak peek and wanted to try the color scheme from the upcoming box. Isn't this color scheme gorgeous and fun?!

Check out my how-to video:

Supplies used:

• Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper
• Embossing Buddy (embossing additions tools kit)
• Copper embossing powder (metallics Wow embossing powders)
• Layers of Beauty stamp set
• Beautiful Motifs stamp set
• Classic inks: Secret Sea, Berry Burst, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Pretty Peacock and Timid Tiger
• Versamark ink
• Cardstocks: Pretty Peacock and Willow White (inside layer)
• paint brushes
• water

Thanks for stopping by! You can find the Stampin' Up!® products I used in my Stampin' Up!® online store.

~ Beth