The newest rage are these fabulous watercolor roses. They were originally done by, well actually I don't know, but I got the technique from Sandi MacIver, Patty Bennett, Kerin Sylvester and so many more! I've been looking at blog after blog and these flowers are so beautiful. Last night I finally sat down and made some roses. They're really easier than it looks, but you do need the Shimmery White Paper (pg. 156 - $6.95). This paper has a 
coating on it that allows you to work with water and have time to add your colors before it soaks in or balls up. The original instructions say to mist the paper, but I found that adding water with my aqua painter gave me plenty of water and worked best for me (actually I didn't have a mister). You stamp the flower using white craft ink and then emboss with white embossing powder, heat and you're ready to paint. Mist or wet the paper inside the embossing and with the tip of the aqua painter pick up a small amount of reinker and touch the water on the rose. It grabs the ink and spreads it out - it's fabulous to watch. I put a couple of drops of the colors I wanted to use in the tops of some extra Stampin' Store containers - you could also use a small paint tray. I went beyond the rose and tried the other two flower stamps in the Fifth Avenue Floral set. 
I actually love the look in all of them. I played with how much water, how much ink, how much blending and had a blast! It is so much fun - you will be seeing many cards with these and maybe even find it as May's main event at club! There had been a lot of conversation about how fast or slow they dried, but mine dried fast and I was able to cut them out within about 30 minutes. Note: you can use the heat gun to speed up the process. When I made my card I wanted a paper that would better match the roses for the Birthday sentiment - I dyed my own Shimmery White paper with Piourette Pink reinker and lots of water. I liked the look better with the roses.
I included the work pictures so you could see how the water sits on top of the paper and this one with all the flowers I made last night. I think all of the flowers turned out pretty and oh this is so much fun!
Now it's your turn - I promise you can't make just one!
