Candy Hearts Valentine’s Day Tutorial

Today Chasity is going to show you how to design some sweet watercolor candy hearts for your cards, scrapbook layouts, journals, and more!

Kelly Creates Supplies: Watercolor Practice Pad, Watercolor Project Pad, Deluxe lettering Kit, Watercolor Inks Set 1 and Set 2 and Set 3, Lettering Brushes, Daisy Palette, Black Fineliner 

Other supplies: scrapbooking papers, card stock, Paper trimmer, adhesive, scissors

February is the month of love. It’s the perfect chance for us to remind all the people in our lives that they are important. What better way to show them than with a handmade card? Today I want to take you on a journey to re-create an iconic Valentine’s Day design, the conversation heart. Valentine’s Day means chalky candy hearts with a lot to say. Did you know these very loud, little candies first appeared in 1847, invented by a Boston pharmacist named Oliver Chase. Today’s tutorial shows you how to make these calorie-free candy hearts with Kelly Creates watercolors and pens!

I wanted to practice drawing candy hearts a few times before I committed to watercolor paper. I used the Kelly Creates Watercolor Grid Practice pad and drew out the hearts with pencil. I sure did use that eraser too (both from the Deluxe Lettering Kit)! Keep in mind these hearts have rounded edges.

Then I drew a “shadow” side on the heart to give it a more dimensional 3D look. You can always grab a bag of candy hearts to use as inspiration while drawing these but be careful… before you know it the bag disappears! I also alternated what side was showing on the sides to they looked more realistic.

Repeat these steps and draw as many hearts as you think you will need to practice. These make a great background for projects as well… so keep drawing!  If you are using them as a background, you can have them overlap too for a whimsical look.

Now on to the fun and experimenting. Then I added a drop of Kelly Creates Watercolor Inks into the wells of the daisy paint palette. I wanted the hearts to be light pastel tones, so I added a little bit of white Kelly Creates Watercolor Ink to each color to create the ‘chalky’ opaque pastel colors I wanted. I painted the entire heart with this blend of inks.

I repeated these step with the Yellow, Orange, Teal, Violet and Rose watercolor inks, painting the hearts and sides the same color.

The next step I wanted to make the shadow or ‘sides’ a little darker, so I used the watercolor inks without white. I painted another layer to the shadow edges to darken their appearance. I waited until the hearts were completely dry before painting this darker layer. Repeat for each color.

I let that layer dry. To create even more dimension, I then added a very tiny amount of Black Watercolor Ink to each ink to create an even darker shade. I painted every small areas along the edges of the hearts – you can see where in the photo above. You should now have 3 hues of color painted on each heart.

Now drop the White Watercolor Ink into your palette and dilute with water to make it more transparent. Using the #2 Kelly Creates lettering brush, I painted highlights on each heart with the white ink. I put the highlight on the opposite side of the shadow or side.

Remember to let each layer dry before moving on. Next, I added a small gray shadow to each heart. This is totally optional, it just grounds the hearts so they don’t look like they are floating. I used a tiny bit of Black Watercolor Ink and a lot of water to make light gray.

Then, when everything is completely dry, outline the hearts with a pen. I used a Kelly Creates Metallic Ruby Jewel Pen for these ‘practice’ hearts but chose a Kelly Creates Black Fineliner for the final project. Any color will work, it just gives a different look. Play around with them until you get the color you love.

Then write any short sentiment on the heart. There are some clever sayings on them so be creative! You can refer to the bag of candy hearts you bought for ideas. I printed with simple sans serif monoline block letters.

Once you have these practice hearts the way you want them and are happy with them, it’s time to move on to the Kelly Creates Watercolor Paper! Follow the same steps you practiced.

Next step is to fussy cut the hearts out with scissors, unless you are just using them for a background. I left a white edge around mine without shadows.

Now what to do with these little masterpieces?!? I created a scrapbook layout and a card with them! The possibilities are endless with these sweet design elements – envelopes, candy bags, chocolate boxes, and so much more.

Here is the layout I created –  aren’t those hearts adorable? I stacked them vertically as a border and popped some up with foam adhesive for dimension.

And here’s the card I made for a very special Valentine in my life.

I hope that you give these cute watercolor candy hearts a try. They are fun and easy to make, and a great way to add a special touch to any project!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, please share with us what you create on social media by using the hashtag #kellycreates ! We would love to see what you create.

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For more sweet, crafty lettering projects, follow Chasity on Instagram @chiciscre8ive

Shop the supplies Chasity used at http://www.kellycreatesstore.com or click HERE to find a list of retailers around the world that carry Kelly Creates art supplies. You can also shop Kelly’s online store by clicking the images below.

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