{"id":4872,"date":"2018-01-28T21:31:26","date_gmt":"2018-01-28T11:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/?p=4872"},"modified":"2019-04-07T20:41:27","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T10:41:27","slug":"watercolour-and-gold-leaf-christmas-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/made-by-me\/watercolour-and-gold-leaf-christmas-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Watercolour and Gold Leaf Christmas Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"position: relative; height: 0; padding-bottom: 56.25%;\"><figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; left: 0;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W-5SFIwb830\" width=\"880\" height=\"495\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along with the usual bustle of December, I once again gave myself the task of making my own Christmas cards. This year&#8217;s design would turn up the complexity from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/tag\/christmas\/\">previous years<\/a>\u00a0with a Christmas scene painted with watercolour and some gold leaf highlights since I had so much left over from last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally my plans were lot more ambitious. I wanted each card to have a different image that when put together would create one giant Christmas scene. Time constraints dampened that idea though and instead I chose one that would be easy enough to roll out. I mocked up the design digitally before printing it out to use as my main guideline for all the cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4880\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - paper guide\" class=\"wp-image-4880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00849-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>You can just see the underlying image that I used as my guide<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I wanted to give the background a slight tint while also keeping the ground area white as if it was covered in snow. This meant using watercolour masking fluid again despite the grief it gave me last time. After some googling, I found that a lot of people rub their brushes on soap to stop the fluid adhering and ruining the brushes. I found this solution worked out great and made the application so much easier than last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4884\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Masking fluid applied\" class=\"wp-image-4884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00871-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Masking fluid applied<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4885\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Soapy water for masking fluid brushes\" class=\"wp-image-4885\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00861-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Use soapy water for dipping brushes and to sit in after using masking fluid to avoid it adhering to the bristles<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4881\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - painting in the background\" class=\"wp-image-4881\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00878-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Painting in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4882 size-large\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Background completed with a faded cityscape\" class=\"wp-image-4882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00881-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Background completed with a faded cityscape<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>After painting in the background I was ready to remove the masking fluid but no, it had decided it was going be very difficult nay almost impossible to remove. I spent for-EVER erasing over it again and again that I basically went through an entire eraser getting it off. I seriously thought that I had ruined all the cards, all due to including soap in the application. Thankfully after some rough erasing and no paper tears, the cards were ready for the next stage. Never again masking fluid, never again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4886\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - What was left of my eraser\" class=\"wp-image-4886\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00888-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>What was left of my eraser<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Painting on the rest of the details, I added each layer a set at a time in a sort of production line across all the cards so once I finished the last one, the first would be dry enough to paint on again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4878\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Stages of painting\" class=\"wp-image-4878\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00897-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Stages of painting<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4883\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Watercolour swatches\" class=\"wp-image-4883\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00899-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>I don&#8217;t own actual watercolours, I use the pencil variety and just make swatches that I run a wet brush over<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image wp-image-4887 size-large\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Final details\" class=\"wp-image-4887\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00908-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Watercolour completed<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>After all of the watercolour work was complete and dried, it was time to add in the gold leaf and the final small touches. Compared to the masking fluid fiasco, gold leaf is particularly wonderful to use &#8211; just apply the special glue where you want your gold leaf, wait for it to get tacky and then start adding your gold leaves to it. Wait for it to completely dry, then just remove the excess (which can be saved and used in your next project ;)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4888\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"595\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-880x595.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Ready to be cut out\" class=\"wp-image-4888\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-880x595.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-150x101.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-768x520.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00916-175x118.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>You can just see the gold leaf glue on the paper on the tree<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-image-4877\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Removing the gold leaf after its dried\" class=\"wp-image-4877\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00926-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Removing the gold leaf after it&#8217;s dried<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>With just some quick cutting out, the cards were then finished and ready for Christmas messages to be written and sent out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4873\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC00978_edit-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As always I made a gift tag version which featured just the tree element from the cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"738\" height=\"880\" src=\"https:\/\/www.natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-738x880.jpg\" alt=\"Watercolour and gold leaf christmas cards - Gift tag version\" class=\"wp-image-4879\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-738x880.jpg 738w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-126x150.jpg 126w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-251x300.jpg 251w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-768x916.jpg 768w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-880x1050.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2018\/01\/DSC01041-102x122.jpg 102w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Till next year ;).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Along with the usual bustle of December, I once again gave myself the task of making my own Christmas cards. This year&#8217;s design would turn up the complexity from previous years\u00a0with a Christmas scene painted with watercolour and some gold leaf highlights since I had so much left over from last year. Originally my plans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[34,117],"class_list":["post-4872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-made-by-me","tag-card","tag-christmas"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4872"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6187,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4872\/revisions\/6187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}