I absolutely love the look of watercolor art! But it’s not always easy to freehand beautiful artwork, and I especially have found that watercolor is not quite as forgiving as other types of paint.

You guys know I like to experiment! So, I thought it would be fun to try using my Cricut as a tool to help me create some beautiful watercolor artwork – and I’m so glad I did because Bessie (that’s what I named her) turned out great! I am so pleased with the result.

And, the best part is that the materials were super cheap! The watercolors I used in this video were found in the dollar store kids section. Crazy, right?

How to make Watercolor Art using your Cricut and Stencil Vinyl

What you’ll need:

• Cricut or Silhouette Cutting Machine
• Mixed Media Paper Pad (Watercolor paper doesn’t work well with this technique because the stencil will damage the paper; mixed media paper is smoother and does a better job of withstanding the adhesive of the stencil vinyl)
• Oramask 813 Stencil Vinyl (or your preferred brand of stencil vinyl)
• Transfer Tape
• Weeding Tools of choice
• Watercolor Palette, any kind (I used the cheap dollar store kind)
• Paint Brushes
• 2 cups of water (one for wetting and one for rinsing color)
• Black Marker (optional)

Watch the Video:

Get the Cow with Floral Crown SVG:

To start, you’ll want to cut your design out on some stencil vinyl using your Cricut machine (or any cutting machine of your choice).

Next, you’ll want to weed your stencil vinyl, removing the parts of the design that you want painted. This is the reverse of what we normally do when we weed, and this creates a stencil.

Once the design has been weeded, you’ll want to use transfer tape to transfer the stencil vinyl onto your mixed media paper. I used mixed media instead of watercolor paper because the watercolor paper gets damaged when the stencil is removed. Mixed media paper works much better.

Now that the design has been transferred to your paper, begin painting the areas that are exposed. Try not to use too much water so that the paper doesn’t wrinkle and so that the color doesn’t bleed under the stencil.

Use the one cup of water to clean off the color and the other cup to get your brush wet. This allows your second cup of water to stay clean.

Once all areas have been painted, allow time to dry and then very slowly and carefully peel away the stencil vinyl.

(Optional) I went in with a black marker and added a bit more detail to my art.

Finally, frame your beautiful piece of art. Enjoy!