I made some holiday gift tags recently and thought it would be fun to show you how it worked out. They are so easy to make and lots of fun.
My Supplies Mixed media paper Tombow watercolor markers Micron pen Scissors
I selected some bright colors from my stash of dual tip Tombow markers for some pretty lights.
In my mixed media sketchbook I used a pen to make squiggly lines for a string of lights. Then I started adding small lights randomly placed on the strings.
Here is a view after adding more lights in different colors. The shapes aren’t perfect but that’s ok.
I added a little base to each light. That little detail really makes a difference. Here’s a view after I cut the page in half.
I trimmed each section into smaller rectangles and then snipped the corners of each tag. They turned out pretty cute. 😊
I was inspired by theshabbycreekcottage on Instagram. She painted the lights with watercolor using a small brush. I thought it would be fun to try using my markers for this instead. I love how they turned out.
I hope you are doing well and having fun. Thank you for all of your kindness and support. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!
I have a fun watercolor project to share with you today, watercolor gift tags! Handmade gift tags make the perfect addition to any gift.
Hope you are having a wonderful day! 💚
It all starts with a simple design and very small painting. Below I have a few examples.
I divide up the watercolor paper using a pencil and ruler. Then paint some simple designs making sure to leave room at the top and bottom for some lettering.
After the mini paintings dried, I added a little ink detail to each of them using a gold and white pen. I thought the tags with leaves would look better if the leaves were outlined so I used a pen with a very small tip and gave that a try.
Adding lettering is always difficult for me. I decided to use some tape as a guide to help me keep the lettering straight. With a pencil I lightly added the message and then used my gold pen to trace over it. Later I gently erased any pencil marks left behind.
I used a hole punch and added some rustic string to finish them off. A pretty ribbon would look nice too. On a couple of them I got a little fancy and changed the shape of the tag at the top with a little snip of the scissors. I really like how they turned out.
There’s so much you can do with these little tags. I hope you have fun and get creative. I can’t want to use my tags on gifts for loved ones.
I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. If you make some gift tags, please share with me on Instagram, @pattyanneart. I would love to see your designs.
I’ve been having fun making ornaments and thought you might like to see my process.
Hope you have a wonderful day! 💚
I painted some holiday greenery for this project but you could use any painting for this. I may paint a few little birds next time…and I’m getting excited just thinking about it.
Last year I purchased a bunch of wood slice ornaments for some craft projects. I decided for this project to glue a small part of my painting to the wood. The watercolor paper was rather thick so I ended up using both double sided tape and Elmer’s glue to attach it.
Using my circle template I found a nice area of the painting to cut out for each ornament.
After attaching the painting to the wood ornament, I weighed it down with a couple heavy books for a few hours.
I just love these rustic ornaments, yay! 😊
The pretty green bow adds a sweet touch. I think they will make a nice gift.
I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on.
Today I’m going to show you how my little bird painting came together.
It started with some cute templates that I made. When I’m painting birds I like to block out the bird shapes first.
I like being able to physically move the templates around and place the birds in different positions to find the best placement before I make any pencil marks on the page.
For this painting I decided to overlap two birds on the left facing the bird on the right. These little guys are sharing a special moment… 😉
The watercolor technique used here was wet on wet. Which is simply wetting the paper first with clean water and then dropping in wet paint. The magic happens when the paint mixes and mingles on the paper.
I worked my way across the paper starting with the bird on the left working on one bird shape at a time using the wet on wet technique. Each bird will be similar but not exactly the same and hopefully this would keep me from dragging my wrist through wet paint.
The next step was adding a little ink detail with a small waterproof pen. At this point I noticed that I needed a few more darks on the wings and so I added a little more paint there to finish the birds.
The last step was adding a background and a few details to the branches. Since the birds are the focal point, I tried to keep the branches rather soft without too much detail.
I hope you are inspired to create art and do more of what you love. Keep playing and having fun. Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere.
Patty Anne - Art 