A Special Saturday Spotlight Tutorial - with Kassi Hulet

Hello friends!

Have you ever looked at other people’s watercolor backgrounds and wished you could do that, but it looks too hard? Today I thought I’d share an easy watercolor background technique that can take your card to the next level!  Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it might sound! 

There are many different ways to add in a background, but here is one that looks complicated, but is actually very easy.

Start by taping watercolor paper down to the Platform using a low tack tape. Make sure you tape the full length of all 4 sides. This will prevent warping. Then brush clean water over the whole paper. You want a nice even sheen.

Start adding in watercolor. I usually stick to 1-3 colors for this. I also like to choose one area that I want darker and one area where I don’t add any color at all- this will give nice contrast to your background however, try not to get too dark in any area. Don’t get stressed out by this step. Just have fun. Imagine you are a little kid- there’s no right or wrong. There’s no “perfect” to achieve… It’s just paint and paper.

(I used River Rock from Dusty Bee and Dark Planet from Masha’s but you can use any colors you want.)

This is the tricky part. When you are happy with your colors, you need to watch your paper. When it has an even sheen of wet, but no puddles, sprinkle a little salt over the paper. Less is more here, so don’t get carried away. I like to use course salt, but you can use regular table salt as well. 

If your paper is too wet when you add the salt, the salt will dissolve and not do much. If your paper is too dry, the salt won’t do anything either. You have to find the sweet spot.

Set your Platform aside and let your paper dry completely. DO NOT try to speed this up with a heat tool. Let the salt do it’s thing naturally. 

When the paper is complete dry, you should be able to rub your fingers gently across the surface to remove all the salt. 

This is how mine turned out. Yours will look different. This is one of those techniques you just have to go with the flow of what you get. You can’t control it. Each time you do it, it will be different. 

Some things worth noting- The paint (both brand and color), the paper, and the salt can all make a difference in the end result. Some paints have strong reactions to salt (see that purple in mine?), others don’t. Some give you a snowflake look… there’s lots of variable, so experiment! Each background will be unique! 

Next we are going to stamp our flower over top of our background. I’m using the LDRS Creative Delicate Stems stamp which is a larger stamp, so I needed to move my paper off the platform and into the MISTI. I like using Inkon3 Fadeout ink to stamp my flowers for the no line look, but you can stamp yours in black ink if you prefer. 

Once you have your image stamped, move your paper back to the Platform and tape it down again so you can paint your flowers. Yep, right over the background! You will see some of the background show through on the flower- especially where the petals are lighter and the background is darker. As long as you kept your background relatively light, and your flower color darker, you should be fine. I used the same purple from my background to paint the flowers (though I used less water so it is darker), a darker teal (Moody Blue from Dusty Bee), and a dark brown (Cassel Brown from Deep Deep Light)

Adding a sentiment is easy with the MISTI Lite. This is one of the reasons I love painting on the Platform! I chose a sentiment from the Beautiful Things set from Gina K. Designs.

You’ll notice once I start adding in more of the darker colors in the flowers, the background starts looking much lighter. This a fun little optical illusion that happens because your eyes see color by comparing to things around it. When the background paint is the only thing on the paper, it looks dark compared to the paper. When there’s darker images on the paper, the background starts looking lighter. 

Happy painting!

Kassi

My Sweet Petunia Products:

Petunia Platform

MISTI

MISTI Lite

Power Mag

Paper: Arches Cold Press

Ink: Fadeout & Blackout (Inkon3)

Stamps: Delicate Stems (LDRS Creative), Beautiful Things (Gina K. Designs)

Color: River Rock, Moody Blue (Dusty Bee), Dark Planet (Masha’s), Cassel Brown (Deep Deep Light)

Other: salt, black pen

Team Tuesday - with Anna Wight

It may still feel like summer outside, but we’re already getting into the Halloween spirit for today’s Team Tuesday! 👻 Design Team member Anna Wight is sharing an absolutely adorable trio of trick-or-treating ghosts, and her Mini MISTI plays an important role in bringing this little scene together. When you’re combining several stamped images on one panel, placement can make all the difference—and the Mini MISTI gives you the control to arrange each image exactly where you want it before committing to ink. Add Anna’s wonderful coloring, some clever shadows to make those ghosts appear to float, and a little Halloween pattern and color, and you have one seriously FAB-BOO-LOUS card!

Hello everyone! Anna here, with greetings from a hot, dry pacific northwest! 

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, with all of the fun seasonal decor and crafting that can be done for the season. The project I’m sharing today was made using the “FAB-BOO-LOUS” clear stamp set and “Monster Brights” 6x6 paper collection from SweetMissDaisy Designs. 

I used my Mini Misti to create a small scene featuring three of the ghosts from the stamp set. The Mini Misti allows me to get the perfect placement of multiple images on a single piece of paper. Creating little scenes like this using the Mini Misti is a snap! Once I had the ghosts stamped, I colored the images with alcohol markers and added additional details to the images with colored pencils. Notice the shadow below the ghosts, giving them the look of floating! I finished up my project using a sentiment stamped directly onto the pattern paper. 

Thanks for joining me on the blog today! Stay healthy and well!

Thanks,

-Anna Wight.

We love how Anna’s card demonstrates that the Mini MISTI is so much more than a tool for stamping sentiments! Its compact size makes it a wonderful everyday companion for building scenes like this one, positioning multiple images, layering stamps, creating backgrounds, stamping multiples, and adding those finishing touches exactly where you want them. And, of course, if an image doesn’t stamp perfectly the first time, your paper and stamp stay in position so you can ink it up and stamp again. Whether you’re creating a whole cast of Halloween characters or working on cards throughout the year, the Mini MISTI is one of those versatile tools you’ll reach for again and again. Thanks to Anna for giving us a little early Halloween inspiration—we think these three friendly ghosts are simply boo-tiful! 👻

My Sweet Petunia product used: Mini MISTI

Thursday Tool Time - with Deniz Do!

We're bringing Team Tuesday to Thursday this week!

Clean and simple cards may look effortless, but we all know that when there are only a few elements on the card front, placement matters! Today, Design Team member Deniz Do is sharing a sweet new-home congratulations card that beautifully demonstrates how the Original MISTI and Creative Corners can take the guesswork out of getting everything exactly where you want it. With a darling layered house, soft blush tones, a bright pop of pink, and plenty of crisp white space, Deniz lets the details shine—and uses her My Sweet Petunia tools to make sure that perfectly placed sentiment does, too!

Hi crafty friends! Today I’m sharing a clean and simple congratulations card featuring the Cozy Homes Layering Die Set and Beautiful Lady Stamp Set from Altenew.

I kept the design nice and minimal, building the little home in soft blush tones with a pop of bright pink along the roofline. I carried those same colours over to the side of the card with a couple of simple cardstock strips. It’s such an easy way to add a little extra interest while keeping that clean-and-simple feel.

For the sentiment, I used my MISTI along with the Creative Corners (which are ON SALE right now in the online store) from My Sweet Petunia to help me get everything positioned exactly where I wanted it. I love being able to line up a sentiment, check the placement, and then stamp it confidently, and of course the MISTI makes it easy to stamp again if I want that extra-crisp impression!

A sweet and simple card for celebrating a new home!

Products used:

• My Sweet Petunia – MISTI

• My Sweet Petunia – Creative Corners

• Altenew – Cozy Homes Layering Die Set

• Altenew – Beautiful Lady Stamp Set

We love how Deniz's photos show the Creative Corners in action! By using one as a straight positioning guide, she could visually line up her sentiment beneath the house before committing to ink. Once everything was exactly where she wanted it, the Original MISTI made it easy to stamp with confidence—and stamp again in precisely the same spot if a darker, crisper impression was needed. Creative Corners aren't just for corners, either! Use them to help position sentiments, create straight guides, align multiple images, work with smaller cardstock pieces, or give your project an extra edge to register against inside your MISTI. It's a simple pairing that can make a big difference, especially on clean-and-simple designs where every little detail counts.

Focus Friday - with Jordan Hansen

School is back in session, and today’s Team Tuesday project gets an A+ for creativity! 🍎✏️ Design Team member Jordan Hansen is joining us with a fun science-inspired card created especially for her son as he begins a brand-new middle school adventure. With a little chemistry, a clever sentiment, and some help from the MISTI, Precision Glue Press, MISTI Lite, and Petunia Platform, Jordan shows how the right tools make it easy to create a handmade card that says, “You’ve got this!” Take a look at how this clean and colorful encouragement card came together.

Hey, it's Jordan from Jordan's Easy Entertaining here.  I can't believe how fast the summer went by. My kids just went back to school this past week which is the inspiration for today's card. My oldest and my youngest are at schools they are already familiar with, but my middle son is on a new adventure with starting middle school. I thought this science themed card would be a great way cheer him on.

To make this card, I used the Altenew Chemistry Vases Layering Stamp Set. After I cut a white piece of cardstock using a die from the Spellbinders A-2 Matting Basics A Card Creator Etched Dies, I placed the cardstock in my MISTI to stamp the first layer of my chemistry vases, and a sentiment from the set that says, "you're in your element!" using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink.

The stamp set has 3 layers to get all the details onto the vases.

There is also a coordinating stencil to go with the Chemistry Vases stamp set. I used a blending brush to add some green ink that I thought would go nicely with the plaid patterned paper I had picked for the background on the card.

I used my Precision Glue Press to add both the plaid background and my stamped panel to the front of an A2 sized card.

And to finish off as usual, I used my MISTI LITE and Petunia Platform to stamp my custom 'made by Jordan Hansen" stamp on the back - totally unnecessary for a card for my kiddo, but I like adding it anyway!

I hope he likes it! So far, middle school seems to be treating him well.

Thank you for joining me for this tutorial and I hope you have a wonderful day!

What a fun way to send a little encouragement for a big new adventure! We especially love how Jordan used several My Sweet Petunia favorites throughout her project—from building those crisp, layered images with the MISTI to assembling her card with the Precision Glue Press and adding her personal signature with the MISTI Lite and Petunia Platform. And that last step is one worth borrowing! A custom “created by” stamp is an easy way to give every handmade card your own finishing touch. Whether you’re creating for the first day of school, a new job, an upcoming test, or simply reminding someone that they’re in their element, your MSP tools can help you make it personal from the very first impression to the very last.

My Sweet Petunia Products Used:
MISTI
MISTI Lite
Petunia Platform
Precision Glue Press

Team Tuesday - with Ceal Pritchett

It’s Team Tuesday, and Ceal Pritchett is back with a project that combines two things we love—beautiful details and smart crafting tools!  Today’s card starts with a fabulous book die and becomes something extra special with the help of the Original MISTI, Sticky Mat, and Precision Glue Press. From holding her intricate die cut securely in place while stenciling and ink blending to getting that finishing sentiment just right, Ceal shows how having the right My Sweet Petunia tools at your fingertips makes it easier to concentrate on the fun part—creating!

Hello everyone, 

It's Ceal here and today I am sharing a card using products from My Sweet Petunia and Hero Arts. 

To make this card, I started with a white top folding A2 card base and a panel of Aqua cardstock in which I ran through the die cutting machine using a pierced cover plate. I used the BigBook die set from the August card kit by Hero Arts. 

I cut the book out of white cardstock and then placed it down on a Sticky Mat inside of the Original Misti, I masked off the edges of the book and then placed the stencils over the "cover" and created the pattern for the book. Next, I removed the masks and moved them to cover the front of the book and ink blended the binding of the book.  To finish the card, I stamped and cut out the sentiment and adhered them using the Precision Glue Press. 

We love how Ceal turned a simple white die cut into a beautifully patterned book cover—and it’s a great reminder that your MISTI can do so much more than stamp! Pair it with a Sticky Mat to hold die cuts, masks, stencils, and smaller pieces securely while you ink, blend, arrange, and create. Then reach for the Precision Glue Press when it’s time to put all those carefully created pieces together. Try setting aside an afternoon to look at the tools already on your craft desk and challenge yourself to use them in a new way—you may discover a favorite technique you never expected!

It’s Team Tuesday, and today we’re heading into the garden with Anna Wight, owner and creative designer behind Sweet Miss Daisy Designs! Anna has a way of bringing the warmth and charm of country life to paper, and today’s projects are filled with flowers, friendship, vintage details, and plenty of summertime garden inspiration. Using her own beautifully illustrated stamps and papers, Anna pairs water coloring with the Mini MISTI to get crisp, reliable impressions on textured watercolor paper—the perfect starting point for adding all those lovely hand-painted details. From cards to tags, these projects are a wonderful reminder that a little ink, color, and creativity can turn the simple joys of summer into something worth sharing.

Hello everyone! Anna here, with greetings from a hot, dry pacific northwest! 

My garden is in full bloom, and I’ve picked several GIANT zucchinis, so it seems like the perfect time to provide some summertime garden girl inspiration!

The projects I’m sharing today were made using the “Garden Girl” and “She Began to Fly” clear stamp sets, and the “Lavender Field” and “Letters and Ledgers” paper collections from SweetMissDaisy Designs. 

All of the images and sentiments for my projects are stamped on watercolor paper. It is my favorite surface for stamped images. In order to ensure an excellent stamp impression, I use my Mini Misti every single time I stamp an image on textured watercolor paper. The Mini Misti allows me to get ink in all the dips and dimples of the textured paper and keeps me from wasting good quality paper.

Once I had my impressions stamped, I watercolored the images and finished up my projects using various dies, paper combinations, cotton laces, and other favorite embellishments. 

I love how the Mini Misti allows me to stamp perfectly, every time! 

Thanks for joining me on the blog today! Stay healthy and well! - Anna

Anna’s projects are a beautiful example of why the Mini MISTI deserves a permanent spot on every craft desk! Its compact size makes it perfect for everyday card making, but don’t stop there. Use it for stamping sentiments exactly where you want them, building layered images, creating multiples for card sets, getting crisp impressions on textured cardstock and watercolor paper, or restamping an image when that first impression needs a little extra ink. It’s also easy to tuck into your supplies for crops, classes, and crafty get-togethers with friends. Small but mighty, the Mini MISTI gives you the freedom to stamp with confidence—and spend more time enjoying the creative part!

We’re delighted to welcome Design Team member Kassi Hulet back to the My Sweet Petunia blog with a project that is as beautiful as the memories behind it. Inspired by summertime visits to her grandmother’s rose garden, Kassi transforms a softly painted background into an elegant no-line watercolor card using the Petunia Platform, Original MISTI, MISTI Lite, and Power Mag. From building a delicate stamped image gradually to adding a perfectly placed sentiment, this project is a lovely example of how My Sweet Petunia tools can support every stage of the creative process while leaving plenty of room for artistry and personal expression.

Hello friends!

Summertime reminds me of walking through my grandmother’s rose garden. I loved stopping to smell the beautiful roses! I still remember the year she took me to a garden shop and let me pick her next rose bush. I have no idea what kind of rose I picked, but I remember it was a peach color. 

When I’m not sure what exactly I want to create, I like to just tape down some watercolor paper to the Platform and create some backgrounds.  When I need to make a card, I can flip through my pile of backgrounds to find something that inspires me and then go from there. 

After creating a background and securing it in my MISTI, I chose a large rose stamp from the Happily Ever After Wishes stamp set by Gina K. Designs. I love the large floral designs, and if worked perfectly with the background I had chosen. 

I stamped the rose using Fadeout Ink from Inkon3. I like to keep my pad a little on the dry side so the light ink is even lighter. This allows me to slowly build the ink up so the lines end up being just dark enough that I can see them without being any darker than necessary. The MISTI is absolutely perfect for this!

I used 4 beautiful granulating watercolors to paint this- Rustic Turquoise, Smoky Pink, and Moody Blue from Dusty Bee Watercolors, and Peony Bud from Masha’s Watercolors. I love the muted tones and unique color separation that these granulating paints give!

I wanted to keep this card fairly simple, so I chose an elegant sentiment from Beautiful Things (Gina K. Designs) and stamped it on using the MISTI Lite. 

To finish the card, I doodled a border and matted the painted panel on a shimmery green cardstock. 

I wish I could grow beautiful roses like my grandmother did.. unfortunately, the deer like to munch on roses. I guess I’ll just have to keep painting them instead!

Happy painting!
Kassi 

My Sweet Petunia products: 
Petunia Platform
MISTI
MISTI Lite
Power Mag

Paper: Arches Cold Press, green paper from Your Paper Insider box 13
Stamp: Happily Ever After Wishes, Beautiful Things (Gin K. Designs)
Ink: Fadeout, Blackout (Inkon3)
Color: Rustic Turquoise, Smoky Pink, Moody Blue (Dusty Bee), Peony Bud (Masha’s)
Other: black pen

Kassi’s rose card is a wonderful reminder that inspiration often begins long before we know exactly what we want to create. Try taping several pieces of watercolor paper to your Petunia Platform and spending an afternoon simply experimenting with color—then keep the finished backgrounds nearby for future cards. You could even turn it into a relaxing craft night with friends, with everyone creating a few backgrounds to trade before finishing them with the Original MISTI or MISTI Lite. 

With a little time to play and the right tools to keep everything secure and precisely placed, you may discover that your next favorite project is already waiting in your background pile.