Waffle Flower August Release Blog Hop

Happy Sunday! Today is Waffle Flower's August release day, and I am thrilled to be part of this blog hop to introduce some of their basic but very unique and practical new products.

I have been enjoying cardmaking and scrapbook embellishing by stamping solid images, words, and phrases for years, but coloring the outlined images is pretty much a new endeavor to me.

Well, maybe I should be honest and confess that I have a fear of coloring. How dark does this color get on my paper? How do these two colors look when used side by side? What happens when these colors are mixed? I become anxious when I use color media.

So I am happy to find a possible solution to my fear in Waffle Flower's August release. Stamps and dies to make color swatches and wheels? Yes, please!

Unlike those color charts on the back of the product packages and printable sheets off the manufacturers' site, the swatches made with my usual brushes, on my usual paper, and with my own usual pressure and habits would be practical. They should at least reduce my fear of uncertainty!

I used the top portion of Swatch Stamp Set for my watercolor swatches.

The black bar is for testing opacity and is particularly helpful when making swatches of color media that contain pigments. 

One of the reasons why I have hesitated to use Kuretake Gansai Tambi is that some colors are more pigmented than others.  The opaque colors blur the stamped lines and produce "cloudy" images.

With these newly made swatches, I can now predict which ones are more transparent (like this No. 32 紅 べに) and which ones are more opaque when they are dried on the paper.

From left to right, more water is added. This is the darkest and the lightest I would usually go. Your range may be wider or narrower than mine. Handmade swatches are totally customizable so you can reflect your own habits and tendencies for more realistic color guides.

I cut the watercolor paper into 2x2 inch square pieces and made individual swatches for each color. This way, you do not have to worry about making a mistake on your 24th color:)

Sometimes I like to mix white to make pastel colors for a softer look, so I made a guide for tinting using Color Wheels Combo. The outermost areas have the original hues, and they are more tinted (have more white pigments) towards the center of the wheel. 

The triadic, split-complementary, and tetradic color scheme indicator stamp is included in the set. I have attached it with a metal brad so that it rotates easily.

I also like to add black to the colors to get the grungy look. This is the shading guide for myself.

Now on to the practical application! I made a card using Adventures Stamp Set and with the help of my handmade color swatches and wheels.

From the 6 blue options, I could pick one that is the closest to the denim color without trying them all.  And with my tinting guide wheel, I could tell which red would give me the pink I want for my cherry blossoms when white is added.

I know I need more practice, but at least my fear of coloring is eased a bit.

For markers, I used Color Swatches Stamp Set. Again, instead of having all the swatches on one sheet, I cut it up into several 3x4 inch cards, but not from the fear of making mistakes.

I am still new to Copic Markers, and this is all I have for now.

With the separate cards for each color family, I can easily adjust to the addition of the markers. 

Each swatch can be divided into three areas. I used it to indicate the darkness with one coat, two coats, and three coats, from the top to the bottom, respectively.

Thank you very much for hopping by today, and here's the best part. Giveaway time!

To celebrate the blog hop, Waffle Flower is giving away $25 gift certificates to THREE lucky winners. You can leave comment on my blog and along the hop by 11:59pm ET on 8/12/18 for your chances to win. 

Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on any of the posts on this blog hop and will be announced on the Waffle Flower blog on 8/15/2018.

To celebrate the new release, all orders placed by 11:59pm ET on 8/15/18 will receive an Adhesive Eraser from our friends at Xyron! No code required; Limited 1 per customer; While Supplies last. 

Make sure to visit all of these fabulous ladies' blogs, and have a wonderful day! 

Waffle Flower (Nina) 

Kathy Racoosin

Laura Bassen

Amy Rysavy

Channin Pelletier

Wanda Guess

Nichol Spohr

Debby Hughes

Emily Midgett

Yana Smakula

Lydia Fiedler

Mariko Brown (you are here)

Kristina Werner

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抽選で3名さまに、ワッフルフラワークラフトの25ドル分の商品券が当たります。このブログ記事にぜひコメントをお願いいたします。

8月リリース、クロップパーティーでは水曜日よりご予約の受け付けを開始いたします。日本語バージョンも書きますので、ご安心を〜。

それでは今週もどうぞよろしくお願いいたします！