DIY Vintage French Clock Faces and watercolor swatches – learn how to use watercolors to create truly unique clock faces and a few color swatches, perfect to embellish your gifts or to use as decorative elements on all your creative projects!
I always thought that clock faces are some of those elements that go really well with everything when it comes to decorating, crafting or DIY projects. I believe they are really versatile and can add so much interest and so much character to your work. And when you add a little bit of vintage charm, chic French ephemera and some watercolors, you might just have THE winning combo on your hands! :) The watercolors part got me really excited for this project, because I had the idea of taking my painting experiments a little bit further. Playing with colors has never been more fun!
To understand why I got so excited about the coloring part of this project, let me tell you that until a few months ago I considered myself to be an all things neutral enthusiast! Whether if it was for my DIY projects on my blog or for our home decor, neutral was my first choice! And by neutral I mean mostly white! :) 50 shades of white was my middle name and I even created a Pinterest board for that :)
I used Titanium white for years for our handmade decorations and I still love using white, especially in our home, the calmness and freshness of different shades of white really speak to me. White always gives me so much peace! But lately I’ve been feeling the need of adding a little bit of color to my whites, here and there, so I started experimenting with colors. I was more open about the idea of colors!
My natural dyes for fabric project (see the article here) was somehow my very first step on the road of experimenting and I got really excited to see all those stunning colors created with natural ingredients! The DIY Vintage Poppy Tags that I shared a few weeks ago? They were definitely a challenge and a big stepping out of my comfort zone with all that red! :) But I really loved them! 
P.S. And speaking about the DIY Vintage Poppy Tags project, I want to tell you that I didn’t specifically planned on making the poppy tags in that specific period of time. But after my mom brought me a small bouquet with poppies one afternoon, I was really inspired and wanted to try to integrate their delicacy into a DIY project! What really amazed me after sharing the project with you was seeing how the timing was simply perfect! Keep in mind that we don’t celebrate Memorial Day in our country and I had no idea when Memorial day was celebrated in the US. I didn’t even know that poppies are commonly used on Memorial Day or that they were connected to this day! So I was really touched to see how many people loved and reacted to this project. I want to thank you all for your messages and your lovely comments, many of them were quite emotional, so I might have shed a tear … or two! It was so overwhelming seeing how everything was set in motion, even without me consciously knowing it. What I’m trying to say is that we sometimes have to be more open minded, more connected to all the things around us – if we open our minds (and our hearts) to trying something new, surprising and beautiful things might happen!
OK, back to our colorful project from today!
A few days ago I ‘accidentally’ discovered (are there really any accidents?) something really amazing! All the colors in my set of watercolors have names! I haven’t been using them that much until now, but wow! I am the only one who didn’t know that? :) Well, they do! And not any names, but some really fancy ones like Sap Green, Alizarin Crimson, Viridian, Intense Blue (Phthalo Blue), Cadmium Red and Ultramarine. How amazing is that?
That thing on its own made me love my watercolors even more and I thought they would make such a great combo with these DIY Vintage French Clock Faces!
The printable that I created for this project and the tutorial, with all the step by step images and the instructions are available on The Graphics Fairy, will share the link at the end of this post!
You will see that at some point I had the idea of creating even some color swatches using my watercolors, that could also be included into your final projects as a pop of color or as small, lovely decorative elements!
cardstock paper | Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolors| gold scissors | brushes | washi tape
You can get really creative with these watercolor experiments and even include the DIY Large Gifts Tags that I shared last time in this whole scenario! :)
And you know how I always say that the sky is the limit? Well, it really is! :) They all can be personalized according to your own liking and preferences and turned into unique projects, all wearing your signature! Think art journals, planners, scrap-booking projects, junk journals, DIY projects, etc.
Hello, gorgeous vintage colors! :)
Of course you can also experiment with many other different techniques, I bet the DIY Vintage French Clock Faces would also look great with my faux rust made with cinnamon and sugar! Have you tried it yet? You can find the project here -> DIY Faux Rusted French Labels.
Here are all my DIY Vintage French Clock Faces color combos and all the watercolor swatches, that I had so much fun playing with! I really loved their final look and now that I see them all here, I realize they would work great with any neutral colors, don’t you think?: )) I guess once a neutral color lover, always a neutral color lover! :)
Click HERE to learn how to make the DIY Vintage French Clock faces and the watercolor swatches and download the free printable!
Don’t forget to smile,
Diana
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I love these clocks. Thanks.
Lori, happy you like them, thanks for stopping by!