{"id":6734,"date":"2021-02-24T21:36:37","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T11:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/?p=6734"},"modified":"2021-02-24T21:38:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T11:38:56","slug":"christmas-poinsettia-flower-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/made-by-me\/christmas-poinsettia-flower-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Christmas flower \/ poinsettia flower cards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Making Christmas flower \/ poinsettia flower cards\" width=\"880\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K1CKQS1Uyqk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Since finishing <a href=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/made-by-me\/christmas-cards-2019-handmade-papercut-cards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"Christmas Cards 2019 \u2013 Handmade papercut cards\">last year&#8217;s Christmas cards<\/a>, I&#8217;ve been wanting to build upon my skills with using proper watercolours. I knew I wanted to use them again though this time with a better understanding of how to work with the medium. As preparation, I watched tutorial videos and experimented, undertaking <a href=\"https:\/\/inktober.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Inktober<\/a> to force myself to create. After completing this challenge I felt much more ready to try my hand at another handmade watercolour card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the design, I wanted to attempt a Christmas symbol that I hadn&#8217;t tried before aka not another Christmas tree. 2020 was the year I really got into and inspired by online illustrators, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/amandaherzman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/amandaherzman\/\">Amanda Herzman<\/a> who does lots of floral based work. This gave me the idea to create a poinsettia flower design, which is also known as the &#8216;Christmas flower&#8217;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>I first needed to create the template design that would be easy to replicate. Poinsettias have this very even but also asymmetrical look to them that I wanted to make sure was captured. The image I ended up using was created at a larger size than the final card, allowing me to try out how the details would look. At this stage I also played around with gold leaf once again, though in the final cards I decided to just incorporate it into the outer leaves. When I was happy with it, I scanned the design in and shrunk it to a more card appropriate size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Rough version of poinsettia flower design \" class=\"wp-image-6741\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02451-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>The original design that I scanned and resized to make the final template. You can see the gold leaf was originally planned for all of the leaves and the centre buds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>After this was finalised, I could start tracing the basic outlines. Since the outer green leaves and red petals were so similar in shape, I had to make sure I marked them so I wouldn&#8217;t mix them up in the painting phase. You can barely make it out but there are small dots marked out near the green leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-880x551.jpg\" alt=\"Christmas flower card design traced onto paper\" class=\"wp-image-6746\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-880x551.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-150x94.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-1536x962.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-2048x1283.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02436-175x110.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"602\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-880x602.jpg\" alt=\"3 pieces of paper with the traced christmas flower card\" class=\"wp-image-6747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-880x602.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-150x103.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-1536x1051.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-2048x1401.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02441-175x120.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Traced designs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With the tracing done it was time to move into watercolour. I alternated between the green and red hues to allow the layers to dry while another was painted. It also allowed me to change the water, ensuring there wouldn&#8217;t be any cross-contamination of pigments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"542\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-880x542.jpg\" alt=\"Flat lay of all of the elements needed to do the watercolour elements of the card\" class=\"wp-image-6736\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-880x542.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-150x92.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-1536x946.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-2048x1262.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02458-175x108.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>The watercolour setup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Filling in the green sections of the\" class=\"wp-image-6745\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02468-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Adding in the green leaves first<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Half painted the red colours of the flower design\" class=\"wp-image-6739\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02478-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Adding the red petals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the main blocks of colour were dried, I started adding in the finer details. I approached this with two layers of colour per leaf\/petal. The first layer would be a similar or lighter shade of the background colours, serving as guides for the second application. Once these were dry, I would use a darker shade and go over these guides while letting the colour slowly wash out of the brush, giving a nice fade into the lighter guides. I found this added a bit more dimension, especially on the red petals. The darker shades were also applied as an outline to cover up some of the gaps in between each leaf, giving a cleaner finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-880x587.jpg\" alt=\"Painting in the finer details of the flower petals\" class=\"wp-image-6744\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-880x587.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02489-175x117.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Drawing in the &#8216;guides&#8217; for the darker red shades<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"530\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-880x530.jpg\" alt=\"Flower design completed for painting\" class=\"wp-image-6750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-880x530.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-150x90.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-1536x925.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-2048x1233.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02499-175x105.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Example of a card with some of the darker lines drawn in for the red on the left hand side.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The final step before cutting them out was applying the gold leaf. I&#8217;ve covered <a href=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/made-by-me\/handmade-gold-leaf-christmas-cards\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"Handmade gold leaf Christmas cards\">how I use gold leaf<\/a> before but I will say as always that it&#8217;s such an accessible and fun medium to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-880x532.jpg\" alt=\"Gold leaf sections drying on Christmas card design\" class=\"wp-image-6751\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-880x532.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-150x91.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-1536x929.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-2048x1239.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02511-175x106.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"503\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-880x503.jpg\" alt=\"Removing excess gold leaf from card\" class=\"wp-image-6748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-880x503.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-300x171.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-150x86.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-1536x877.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-2048x1170.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02518-175x100.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Removing the excess from the central buds was tricky since it was such a small area and the brush had difficulty catching the centre parts. I found making a small tear with the other end of the brush helped it break through.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"539\" src=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-880x539.jpg\" alt=\"Completed Christmas card design\" class=\"wp-image-6737\" srcset=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-880x539.jpg 880w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-300x184.jpg 300w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-150x92.jpg 150w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-1536x942.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-2048x1255.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/DSC02527-175x107.jpg 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><figcaption>Final card<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the <a href=\"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/tag\/christmas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"Christmas cards\">10th Christmas card<\/a> I&#8217;ve made in a row and it&#8217;s hard to believe I&#8217;ve been making these for a decade now. I&#8217;m really happy with how this card turned out and that I didn&#8217;t fall back to making another tree card. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve decided that this will be the last card I make for a little while. Christmas is always a stressful period for me and formulating the idea and executing these always adds an extra pressure. That&#8217;s not to say I won&#8217;t make anything entirely (maybe something digitally created?) but I do want to give myself a break. I&#8217;m glad I was able to finish up these 10 years of cards with something I was really happy with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since finishing last year&#8217;s Christmas cards, I&#8217;ve been wanting to build upon my skills with using proper watercolours. I knew I wanted to use them again though this time with a better understanding of how to work with the medium. As preparation, I watched tutorial videos and experimented, undertaking Inktober to force myself to create. [&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-6734","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\/6734","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=6734"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6769,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6734\/revisions\/6769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/natashabarr.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}