A Tale of Two Watercolours

Hello there

And...breathe...

Don't know how it feels to you, but things are a tad intense out there right now.

Which led me, this week, to breathe as deeply as I could, and go back to basics. If it feels right, this is your invitation to do so too, as I show and tell you, the tale of two watercolours... 

Watercolour One: Stripey Purple Crocuses

Whenever life feels like it is spinning too fast, I'm learning just to breathe, and return, to  inspiration in the strangest of places...Revelling in the simple joy of putting pen to paper (or, in the case of the crocus below, digital pen to tablet).

Purple Stripey Crocuses Digital Painting in Krita

I'd like to say that I felt inspired to create these crocus (or is it crocuses?) by a major event. I'd like to, but I can't.

 No, strangely, even in a week in which I received the most magnificent bunch of flowers from the dearest of friends (I mean, how lovely are these, and how lucky was I?)...

Photo credit: Jim Fernbank
 

the flowers which caught my eye with that indescribable whisper of, "Paint us now, please," were some brave little crocuses, pushing their way through the mud, in weak rays of "almost spring," sunshine.

Photo credit: Jim Fernbank

And they led, in double quick time, to the purple crocus picture you've already see. Which is already making its way into several places, to which I'll link when done. (Update on March 15th 2025: for starters,  they're here on wrapping paper).

Watercolour Two: Daffodils and Narcissi

As for the daffodils, they were gorgeous. And The Computer Man and I both enjoyed looking at them *so* much in our house for a full week. And yet, in three attempts, (one digital and two with pens and brushes) I'm only just now getting even close to capturing something about them that feels resonant, and has that "aha," or, "yes" moment (as you can see in this scan  from my sketchbook, below).

Daffodils and narcissi in my sketchbook

Finally...

This tale doesn't have answers. I have no idea as to why one item should be easier to draw in any given week than another. (I've drawn both flowers in the past, in various amounts of complexity. Eg here, and here.)

But the lesson I'm taking from this tale is that following small joys, however strange or illogical it seems to be, strangely. yields the easiest path forward, at least for me, at the moment. 

And if that (and/or just the chance to sit down, breathe, and stare at some flowers) has in any way made everything seem a little less full-on for you too, then this post will have done its job.

Enough from here. As ever, thank you so much for being here, and for reading down this far. 

Enjoy your week-more soon.

___________________________

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Announcing: That The New Spring Florals Mini-Collection Has Arrived...

Click or tap here to visit my Craftsuprint shop...

Hello there and I hope you're thriving.

If you're one of the card makers who reads BoundingSquirrel, thank you so much for your patience...

The watercolour spring florals have finally made it into a mini-collection in my Craftsuprint shop. 

(Every sheet in the mini-collection links to the others at the bottom of the Craftsuprint site page, so it doesn't matter which one you browse first).

Each sheet gives you a watercolour design, (shown above) a blank insert, and a choice of six occasion tags, and six verses that fit into any insert. So, for example, even though these tulips are for Mother's Day by default...

Click or tap here to see the "Wild Tulips"
 card front sheet

you can change the tag to a different occasion, and mix and match with the verses that go with the crocus birthday card, 

Tap or click here to see the
 "Wild Crocus" Card sheet

or the verses that go with the daffodil card. As with all the cards in this series, the spring flowers intentionally burst out of the frame, as if in joy...

Tap or click here to see
the full daffodil card sheet...

This is much easier to see than to describe. So to have a peek, please take a look at the daffodil, crocus and tulip sheets in my Craftsuprint shop.

And, if cardmaking sheets aren't your thing, thank you for your patience too. There'll be something new and different for you too, in the next post.

Until then, thanks so much for being here, and enjoy your week.

More soon.

___________________________

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Spring Watercolour Flowers (and Favourite Line and Wash Tools)

Spring Watercolour Flower Sketches...

Hello there

This week, it's time to share some spring flower sketches, as promised last week. 

These are from imagination, but  you never know-if everyone thinks of them enough, they might appear "for real," soon...

Update on Feb 27th 2025: To see how the mini-collection turned out, tap or click straight to this post...

Line and Wash Watercolour Paints, Tools and Supplies

If you're the kind of person who likes to know how things are made, I used my current go-to favourite supplies for physical watercolour: a waterproof Sakura Pigma Micron black pen (size 0.1, though from a set with several), Derwent Inktense paints from the 24 half-pan set, Pentel water brushes, and my latest trusty Daler-Rowney sketchbook... the third one in a row, and am planning to buy another one soon...

And yes, all of those links (and in the pic below) *are* affiliate links, because I really do turn to them whenever I want to draw a non-digital watercolour, and also do sometimes get asked about my tools and materials. So, just to be really clear,  if you buy via these links, I get a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

The Derwent Inktense paints were actually a lovely Christmas gift (thank you Computer Man!). (And yes, I really have meant to talk about materials for that long...)

Anyway...here's a pic of them when the set was newer, and much less paint-spattered than it is now...(Note, the set had already been in immediate and delighted use, so even this pic doesn't show the paints in their initially, pristine state...:-) ).

These Derwent Inktense Paints got put to such immediate
use that an initial "pristine," photo of them never got chance to exist...

Sidenote: As far as I know, all these products are animal-friendly too (being a life-long vegetarian, it just isn't in me knowingly to use something that harmed either an animal or the environment in its production). But don't quote me on this, as I'm just a concerned consumer doing her best, not a paint and materials expert.

Do hope that this peek into materials has been interesting to you. As ever though, I've written more than I meant to, so I'll leave it there for now, and let you get on with your day.

But hope all's well with you, and thank you, as always, for reading down this far. Have a lovely week.

More soon.

___________________________

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Announcing: New Spring Daffodil Craft Sheets (and the Story Behind Them).

Click or tap here to see the Spring Daffodil 
card sheets in more detail.

Hello there

Hope all is really well with you. And yes, as you've probably guessed from the picture above, it's time for the unveiling of three more sheets for card-making, papercraft, scrapbooking and all similar tasks.

These ones feature bright spring daffodils (about which, much more below).

There's a main card front sheet, (which lets you make decoupage daffodil layers if you'd like) an insert sheet (plus bonus daffodil-related verses) and a background daffodil-vase patterned sheet. The sentiments and verses will work for any occasion from St David's Day on 1st March, to birthdays, Easter, and even anniversaries.

Click or tap here to find out more.

The story...

But in any event, thought you might like to know the story behind this design.

It started in the depths of winter a few week ago, when some friends (you know who you are, and thanks *so* much again) were kind enough to send me a surprise bouquet of flowers...

The flowers were so stunning (especially at this time of year) that I got rather more excited about taking pictures than worrying about the background :-) ... But am sure you get the idea.

The whole thing was so inspiring, in fact, that I also *finally* got around to painting an empty jar that had been hanging around, with yup, daffodil motifs...

A painted jar...

(I'd never used acrylic paint pens before, and let me tell you, they were *fun* :-) ).

The next step was to fill that jar with tiny LED fairy lights.

Daffodil light jar...

The next project was the rough sketch that morphed into the "Daffodil Vase" pattern (eventually).

Rough Watercolour Daffodil Sketch

And then the motifs for the main designs of the sheets from the start of this post...

Watercolour Daffodil Motif

I guess I'm telling this story because so much joy came from that one bunch of flowers...Just as it can from any act of kindness, really.

Time to leave it there,  and to wish you a lovely weekend when it comes.

Thanks so much for reading down this far, and more soon.

___________________________

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Happy Easter Daffodils

 Hello there, and hope that life is treating you well.

Click, tap or right-click and save this
free daffodil Easter ecard

I know it's a little early for Easter (17th April if you're reading this in 2022), but wanted to post this up for you in good time if you're wanting Easter cards. (The printed version of this card that you see below is available to buy in my Redbubble store here).

Click here to buy this daffodil Easter card on Redbubble.

And yes, this card is similar to the illustration for the month, but a development of it. I wanted to add more flowers, depth and effects to these ones, and bring them alive as much as possible. Spring, with its gentle sun and gorgeous vitality, feels like it's in full swing here. It's my favourite season, so I challenged myself to pack as much of that feeling into this design  as I could into this digital painting (in Krita 5). 

In fact, this was really only ever going to be a painting at first-and then no sooner had I finished that and someone asked for an Easter card. So there I was, with daffodils mysteriously at the ready, and it all morphed from there. Am finally beginning to learn that sometimes, life really will work out, if you go with it, rather than trying to force any issue.

Enough waffling from me. Here's to feeling the joy of Spring when possible, whatever the actual season wherever you are.

That's all for this week, but thanks so much for being here, and more soon.

PS. If you're feeling in need of more daffodil designs and Easter downloads, there are also several in my Craftsuprint shop.

Happy Easter Chick Animated Gif by Clare Walker,
 BoundingSquirrel.Com. Click here to download
 and use or share it.

Yes, Easter would appear to have snuck up on us again, and so before taking a break for it, I just wanted to send you my very best wishes, whatever your way of celebrating  this time of year (or not).

For me, nature and the arrival of new life and hope is always key in spring, hence this image.

If you'd like to share this gif/send it as an online Easter card, please do (right-click, click or tap on the image to download and use it). I don't insist on credit, but it's always lovely if you're able to do so, or link back in some way.

Hope all is peaceful well and happy wherever you are. Have a lovely weekend (or more) and I'll see you in a few days.

Thanks so much for being here, and more soon.

___________________________

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Spring Daffodils & Bluebells

Looking for a last-minute Mother's Day card? Or just something to send that's got a breath of spring about it? This week's designs featuring daffodils and bluebells have you covered, and come with changeable tags that make them more versatile than you might think.

Both will be available via  my store on Craftsuprint by the time you read this. Have fun with them!

Spring Daffodils...At Last

I'm excited more because we've actually *got* daffodils here at long last than anything else. To celebrate that, here are a couple of daffodils in digital oil pastels.

And that's about it for this week because, like everyone else here in London, spring's belated appearance is all I can think about.

The background for these little guys will have to come later,  I'm more interested in poking my alabaster face out of doors whilst the miracle lasts...

Besides, I couldn't help noticing that even without a background, they make quite a nice pattern.

 Maybe it'll be just the thing for that foray into Spoonflower.Com I keep thinking about.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd better go and catch more of the spring before it thinks better of it and disappears again...

19/04/13 Update: Since it's got all chilly again, a single daffodil now has a background...

For speakers, phonecases and other giftss with a daffodil pattern, have a look at:

Bright Yellow Daffodil Pattern speakers by BoundingSquirrel
Shop for a iphone travel speaker online.