On the way to a house warming party we quickly stopped off at a local drugstore to pick up a card. I found myself pacing in the aisle searching for a card that I liked and ended up settling for a mediocre option which rang up at $4 plus dollars—gah! So on a lazy weekend I got to painting some of my own to have on hand that could be used for just about any occasion yet reflected the season—my own summer stationery. I’m no Picasso, which is way I chose watercolor as my medium. It’s pretty no matter what you do and is easy to get creative with as it takes on a life of its own with the water.
I swung by Papyrus and got some folded cards and envelopes. They have an entire wall filled with different sizes, shapes and colors, the options are endless. I got so overwhelmed I just kept with a basic white.
Ocean shades were my theme for a summery vibe and I used tons of water. A little tip, when you’re painting watercolor trace the area with water first and then add in the color. It will keep the paint contained. I played around first on some watercolor paper, playing around with different design ideas and settled on three favorites: freehand sloppy lines, an ombre horizon line and a faded/cloud of watered down blue strokes.
After letting each card dry I ran them through an inkjet printer with a simple saying in a simple font—Happy Summer. Personalizing your envelope is a fun touch as well. I sent one of these to a friend and mimicked the design on the outside of the envelope in a smaller format before printing the address over it. All the essentials I used below…