Introduction: Watercolor Greeting Cards Using Cricut Pens

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Looking for ideas for making cards using your Cricut machine? Check out these flower-filled summer note cards - drawn by Cricut but hand painted by you! Cricut gel pens create a perfect background for loose and easy watercolor painting.

Supplies

  • Watercolor paper, 140 lb.
  • Inexpensive watercolor paint set
  • Cricut pens
  • Card base or 10x7 inch cardstock for a card base, your choice of colors
  • Glue or tape runner

Step 1: Design

Create a floral design in Cricut Design Space. You can combine any assortment of flower and leaf drawing designs from Cricut Access or upload your own design. I’m using a free seamless floral pattern design I found on Pixabay.

Step 2: Make the Project

Make the project using heavy watercolor paper. I used a light gray Cricut gel pen to make my project. I like the gel pens for use with watercolor because they do not run when contacted by water or paint.

Step 3: Paint

Using watercolor paint, paint loosely using the drawn lines as a guide. Use your favorite colors, and allow the colors to mix a bit on the paper. The color mixing and imperfect paint application gives the painting interest and helps to keep it from looking like a paint by number project. Color in the entire watercolor sheet and allow it to dry.

Step 4: Detail

Using a loose sketching motion, roughly outline the painted shapes using a black marking pen.

Step 5: Tear Painting

Cut or tear the watercolor painting into pieces measuring 3x7 inches. You’ll be adding one painted piece to the front of each card.

Step 6: Create Tag

Return to Cricut Design Space to create a small tag for the front of your card. Add a 2 inch circle to your canvas and create a text message to fit. Make the project using a black Cricut pen on watercolor paper. Color in the text message using the black pen.

Step 7: Assemble the Card

Adhere the painting to the top of a 5x7 inch card using your favorite paper adhesive. Adhere the tag on top as shown in the image below.

Step 8: More Card Inspiration

As always, you can take this basic project and extend it to a more elaborate card. Here are a few “fancier” examples, still using strips from a water-color painted sheet of paper, but also layered with additional papers and accented by a wood tag featuring an iron-on message. How will you take this technique and make it your own?