Watercolor Botanicals & New Stickers!

I thoroughly enjoyed our Watercolor Leaves and Florals for Beginners class at CCBC. 

Rather than focusing on creating perfectly realistic paintings of flowers, we made our version of roses, coneflowers, phlox, violets and lilies.  We even invented flowers and leaves.  At the end of the class, I had created so many demonstration paintings, including the gratitude journal I shared in a post here.  

When an email deal from Sticker Mule for 4"x 6" sticker sheets came through, I snapped photos with my cell phone and jumped on the offer. 

I love printing my art and giving it away or using it on stationery.  Seeing my art as a greeting card or a sticker pushes back against that harsh critic. The Hobgoblin is proven wrong when I  give someone a sticker and see the joy on their face.  We can uplift others with our art!

Happy Creating!

Making a Gratitude Journal with Watercolor Florals

We're having a wonderful time in Watercolor Leaves and Florals for Beginners class at the Community College of Beaver County.  

We've been creating loose watercolor florals on a variety of papers.

I put together a sample gratitude journal to show my students the possibilities for using their artwork.

Here's a flip-through!

I used gesso to partially cover the type of an old book page to make it easier for the journaler to write on the page.

I found a variety of old papers, like this accounting ledger, at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse.  Check them out here:

https://pccr.org/

You may recognize some of the materials I used for this project from this haul:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/2026/03/upcycling-finds-from-pittsburgh-center.html

This blank music sheeting gives the perfect space for a short entry.

The cover is made from a wallpaper sample that I folded over and glued to make it extra sturdy before sewing the binding.

I used a simple pamphlet stitch on a single signature.   

I love that you can invent your own flowers and leaves using this watercolor floral technique.

I learned the technique from Wendy Solganik of Willa Wanders in her Loose Watercolor Florals class on Teachable.  You can find her course here:

https://www.willawanders.com/watercolor-leaves-and-florals?_gl=1*1uj0ask*_gcl_au*MTIzMjgzMTQ2MC4xNzc1NTg0NDc3 

Happy Creating!