Thursday, June 14, 2018

An Ode to Hollyhocks - Inkon3 Blog Hop & Giveaway

Are you a gardener?

One of the many things I love about Santa Fe is the flowers in the spring.

To have really beautiful flowers like they do there, the soil temperature has to drop at night, which ours never does. (Dropping down to 90 degrees doesn't really count).

This spring when we went, the hollyhocks were blooming in profusion - that is one of my favorite flowers, but I have to visit them in other states, so I did.

They come in all different colors, and they actually grow fairly tall and are a pretty sturdy plant - they were springing up out of teeny cracks in the sidewalks there and it was just a joy to see.

So of course I had to have this new hollyhock stamp! It's a nice size for watercolor, so I used my Daniel Smith and some Fadeout ink to bring it to life. (Colors used: Quinacridone Rose, Quinacridone Magenta, Burnt Umber, Carbazole Violet, Permanent Yellow Deep, Raw Sienna,  Green Gold)

Now, I did cheat a bit on the flower centers and stray from the artwork a bit - I just kept mine very flat and simple.

I added the most detail to the large flower in the center, and left the others a little lighter and less detailed just to draw your eye there. I kept the colors pretty limited, which I like to do, and I used the small sentiment from the hollyhock stamp set in black in the corner.
Hollyhock no-line watercolor by Understand Blue
Hollyhocks 4x6 Clear Stamps
[ INK ]
Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink
[ INK ]
Blackout Waterproof Detail Ink
[ INK ]
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors
[ BLIC ]
Escoda Versatil Brushes
[ BLIC ]
Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. Cold Press...
[ AMZUS ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | SBC ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | ELH | CST | ART | SBC ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up!
[ SUP ]
Nesting Porcelain Bowls - BLICK art...
[ BLIC ]
Fabriano Extra White Cold Press...
[ BLIC ]
Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding...
[ AMZUS ]
Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675
[ SSS | ART | AMZUS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two...
[ SSS | ART | BLIC ]
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, 0.88...
[ ELH ]
Ink Off Cloth
[ INK ]
Ink Off Stamp Cleaner
[ INK ]

Now the cool thing about Fadeout ink is that it was designed to grab that watercolor pigment when you start painting and emphasize the stamped line. Then over time, it fades out completely.

Here's a terrible cell phone photo of how it grabs the paint. See how easy it is to see the lines?


Fadeout ink plus watercolor by Understand Blue

Then it just fades over time.

Fadeout Ink in progress by Understand Blue


Pretty cool stuff. She also has a great black hybrid ink for both alcohol and watercolor, AND she has a new cleaner that will remove staining from your stamps, as well as a cute purple cleaning towel

Her team is having a blog hop today and invited me to join them to celebrate her new release - how could I say no? Here are the designers in the hop today, and if you comment on each blog in the hop, you'll be entered to win one of two $25 shopping sprees at Inkon3

You are Here >> Lydia Fiedler << You are Here

Have fun hollyhoppin'! :)

Loveyameanitbye.

37 comments:

  1. Lydia, this is amazing! I have always loved your watercoloring, and with Fadeout, it looks even more amazing. If that's possible! And I love that you did step by step, progressive pics. And it's nice to have you hopping with us!

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  2. I adore hollyhocks! My grandpa had them near his garage, all along the wall. In EVERY color! What joy for a small girl that loved flowers! Love your card!

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  3. Lydia your coloring is amazing absolutely stunning.

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  4. Gorgeous no line coloring!!Love it!!

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  5. Beautifully colored Hollyhocks Lydia. So happy you joined in on our hop :) This Hollyhock stamp is so pretty and you did a beautiful job bringing it to life!

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  6. Love the vibrancy! And it's like the fadeout ink was just made for this! Oh, I guess it was! �� Gorgeous job!

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  7. Lydia, your card is beautiful! Which DANIEL Smith colors did you use? I am on a strict budget but the way you made the stamp pop I just have to have it! I think it would be very versatile. Thank you!

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  8. lovely card and awesome water coloring:)

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  9. Your flower card is STUNNING! I love it!!

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  10. Beautiful job Lydia and I love you painting of these gorgeous flowers. So pretty and the ink makes it look gorgeous.

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  11. Love these hollyhocks! How long does it take the ink to fade?

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  12. Love the use of Fade out ink on this card Good job

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  13. Dear Lydia, your card is stunning and thank you so much for share your coloring instructions with us!!! Gorgeous!!!

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  14. This is gorgeous! I just love hollyhocks :)

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  15. THANK YOU for the visual on how the 'no line' ink interacts with the coloring ink. Now I know what makes it different (and better) than just stamping with a light colored ink. It has now been added to my 'must have' list. And moved to the top :)
    Lu C

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  16. What a stunning card! So beautifully watercolored in such happy colors.

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  17. I have never tried fade out ink but wonder if I could use it I only use watercolor pencils I am not good with paint or markers. Your card is stunning I may have to see about the ink. Love this card

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  18. Beautiful coloring and I like the fade out ink.

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  19. Karen R. In Upstate SCJune 15, 2018 at 4:03 PM

    Beautiful card. I love how you used the Fade Out ink for no line coloring. Such a pretty effect!

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  20. Lovely beautiful card! I just love the colors

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  21. Beautifully colored Hollyhocks! Love this ♥

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  22. Oh my gosh woman this card is amazing.

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  23. GORGEOUS card! The water coloring is fantastic! I also like how you show some step by step pictures to help too! I am completely new to water coloring and the images really help show some of your techniques! Thank you!

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  24. Beautiful Card!! Love how Vibrant it is!! Love this Set from Inkon3!! 😉😊

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  25. What a fantastic card ! I’d love to try this ink...
    [margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

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  26. The watercoloring is so pretty. Beautiful job. Must add the fadeout ink to my wish list.

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  27. I learn so much every time I see you watercolor. I love the look of the leaves with the hints of magenta from the flowers in them. I'm trying to work with more limited palettes, and this is exactly why: because you just get really interesting looks out of them! Thanks for sharing with us, and for getting the pun "hollyhops" stuck in my head.

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  28. These hollyhocks are so beautiful!

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  29. Very beautiful card. Thanks for introducing me to the fade-out ink. I am off to check out the ink and the blog hop.

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  30. Lovely watercolored hollyhocks card!

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  31. Wow! What a gorgeous card! Amazing watercoloring!!!

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  32. Beautiful colour palette on this card. Thanks for sharing those details about the ink used.

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  33. You’ve made a truly magnificent floral !!
    [margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

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