watercolor envelopes

i just finished up with an envelop job where the gal wanted some watercolor accents on the envelopes. i had so much fun with them and decided to do a little tutorial for you!

supplies:

      ~watercolor

      ~water

      ~paint brush (i used a round 14)

      ~envelopes 

      ~hairspray

      ~ink

      ~nib

      ~pen holder

step one: when painting with watercolor it is really important to use a lot of water in your brush. so dip your brush in the water and wiggle it around and get it really full. then dap on the color you want to use. 

step two: after you have the color you want begin to apply the paint onto the envelope. for my client she wanted it diagonal fading from a darker to lighter pink. 

i then continued along the same diagonal line, adding more water and color (changing to a lighter shade) across the envelope.

make sure you  go quickly enough that it doesn't dry before you can blend the different strokes together.

step three: let dry
step four: spray with hairspray. the hairspray will help keep the ink when writing the calligraphy from bleeding into the watercolor. (such a good tip. i read it somewhere and i'm so glad i did! can save you from a lot of frustration!)

step five: after the hairspray has dried ( i gave it about 10 minutes just to be safe but you don't have to wait that long) put the nib in the holder and write away!

and just like that you are done and have a beautiful, unique envelope that is sure to please! hope you enjoyed and will go and try it out :)

xoxo
s