I love hummingbirds! I love to watch them at my feeders and flowers. One feeder is right at my kitchen window so, as long as I stay still, I get to watch them feed. Sometimes they sit still and sometimes their wings are fluttering so fast. When I’m sitting outside, I hear them wiz by my head and can hear their high pitched chirps. When the Thoughtful Moments stamp set was released last spring, I knew I just had to have it. This set is perfect for multiple ways of coloring and I love to color! In this post, I’ll give you tips on Watercolor Penciled Hummingbird & Flowers.
We only have Ruby Throated Hummingbirds in my area (Northeast US), so I always color mine the same colors. But I know there are many different colored hummers in all different parts of the world, so you can color yours to match the birds you have.
For this card, I used my Watercolor Pencils to give the hummer & flowers their color. You can also color the line images with Blends Markers, pastels and ink to paper with the Blender Pens. If you use the Blends Markers, you’ll want to use Black Memento Ink. For all of the other coloring methods I mentioned, including the Watercolor Pencils, you’ll want to use Black StazOn Ink. To learn more of the differences of the two black inks, you can discover that on a past post I’ve written: https://mailsomethingpretty.com/the-difference-between-black-stazon-and-memento-inks/
Watercolor Pencils
Stampin’ Up! offers two packs of Watercolor pencils: Assortment 1 and Assortment 2. They both include different colors, so be sure to check the listings of each for which colors you want to use (or just buy both assortments at their low cost).
Like I said above, you’ll want to use StazOn ink because it is a type of ink that does not run when you introduce water. Product description: The Jet Black StazOn Ink Pad is permanent ink that is great for stamping images you want to watercolor or for stamping on Window Sheets (acetate), cellophane bags, and other nonporous surfaces.
You can decide which type of paper to color on. You can use any type of paper with Watercolor Pencils: Basic White, colored card stock, Watercolor paper and even Designer Series Paper (to give those designs even more color). A great look is to color your colored card stock with the white Watercolor pencil.
And lastly, you get to decide if you want to color your images and leave them alone (like regular colored pencils) or if you want to “watercolor” them. If you want your image to have more of a watercolored or blended look, you can use either the Blender Pens or Water Painters to blend the colors together.
Blender Pens #102845, $14 (for 3 pens). Product description: Dual-tipped pens filled with specialized solution for easier blending. Use with Basic White card stock and Classic Stampin’ Ink or Staz On Ink. Each pack contains 3 acid-free, xylene-free dual tipped pens. This pack will last you a long time!
Water Painters #151298, $13 (for 3 different tipped pens). Product description: Water Painters hold liquid for easy watercoloring. Included: 3 painters: 1 fine tip, 1 medium tip, 1 large flat brush tip. Use with Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper and Classic Stampin’ Ink, Staz On Ink or Watercolor Pencils. These pens are more like paint brushes (vs. the fine tipped Blender Pens). You can dip them in water like a paint brush, or add plain water, water & a few drops of re-inker ink or bleach inside the pens.
Making the Hummingbird Card
In the video, I mention that there used to be coordinating dies that cut out the hummingbird and flower shapes from the Thoughtful Expressions set. Those dies are no longer available, but you can easily cut them out with scissors (I do this in the video).
You can create any texture for your card base, but I used my new favorite embossing folder that is included in the Changing Leaves bundle #164139.
I recently wrote another post using this new Changing Leaves bundle: https://mailsomethingpretty.com/changing-leaves-textured-bold-easy-card/
My Hummingbirds
I’m writing this post right on the other side of this window. This hummer is a female. The males are the ones with the red on their throats. They usually arrive for their summer vacation on May 7. Really, every year they arrived on May 7. Except this year, they arrived on May 1. I’ll have to keep track for next year and have the feeders ready early just in case. I recently found out that a hummingbird weighs 4 ounces, that’s less than the weight of two pennies!
Hummingbird Coloring Charts
As a reminder, my hummingbirds are the ruby throated variety so that’s how I based my coloring.
Watercolor Pencil Coloring Chart
The top humming bird is colored with the pencils and then left alone. Just as if you were to use any type of colored pencils. The bottom hummingbird is colored the same, but I then used a Water Painter to blend the colors together. Note: Be sure not to mix the red & green colors together because you’ll create brown.
Blends Markers Coloring Chart (use Black Memento Ink!)
More Card Examples
Each week I do a live class that is streamed to both my YouTube & Facebook channels. I made these hummingbird and zinnias cards during one of those classes. This particular class had some more advanced stamping techniques in it. I give a whole bunch of tips on coloring and reverse stamping (do you see the opposite facing hummer on the right cards?). Watch the Zinnia & Hummingbird Class with a simple click. While you are there, be sure to like my page and turn on notifications for each time I go live (every Tuesday at 2pm Eastern time).
Have I convinced you to love these special little birds and their Thoughtful Expressions stamp set? How about watercoloring with Watercolored pencils? I certainly hope so. Order yours today before they fly away for the winter: www.mailsomethingpretty.com/shop. All text highlighted in blue will bring you straight to the ordering page too.
