Autumn Watercolor

It's been a long time between posts, hasn't it?  Yes, I've been creating, but seldom have any time to share what I've created.  Yikes!

I'm playing along with the current challenge at Happy Little Stampers
CAS Challenge - September 2016 - Watercolour Spritz

Watercolors, all the various forms and techniques, are so much fun to play with.  It was difficult to choose which to do!  I decided to use my distress ink pads since the colors are so vibrant. 

I just smooshed several pads onto my craft sheet, then spritzed them with water.  Then, I placed my watercolor paper onto the puddles of ink and moved it around just a bit.  It took a few tries to get the look I wanted, but I'm really pleased with the results.  Once dry, I sprinkled drops of water from my hand onto the paper, then blotted with a paper towel.
The same technique was used for the die cut leaf, using different colors and different inks (I used Stampin' Up! inks for the leaf).  I also stamped the veins onto the leaf AND just because I wanted a little something more....I added a few drops of glossy accents.  A sentiment stamped onto a die cut "hill" and my card is complete.

Thanks for stopping in to take a look!

Supply list ~
card stock: white (Recollections), watercolor paper (Strathmore)
ink: river rock, soft suede, early espresso (SU), mustard seed, spiced marmalade, worn lipstick (Ranger Distress Inks)
stamps: leaf prints (Papertrey Ink), words of inspiration (My Favorite Things)
dies: leaf prints (PTI), in the meadow (PTI)
other: mini mister, glossy accents, craft sheet (Ranger), water

In a Galaxy

In a galaxy.  Far, far away.

Sorry...that's the line of movie dialog that came to mind when I glanced at this card a minute ago!

This morning, I searched for a tutorial for making a night sky background (more like a galaxy, really).  I knew I'd seen a video by one of my favorite papercrafters, Kristina Werner.  I found THIS video tutorial on YouTube and knew I had to give it a try.

I love using water colors, but adding this much black paint to a card panel made me so uncomfortable.  This was SO far out of my comfort zone.

Here's what I eventually created...after a little experimenting.

I used almost the same colors that Kristina used, since I knew it worked for her.  Then I followed the steps she used in her video.  I had NO idea if my attempt at this technique would turn out okay...or a disaster.

Well.  I had fun playing around with these dark colors and I'm so happy with the results!

Thanks for taking a look!

Supply list -
stamps: blue skies (Lawn Fawn)
ink: versamark
card stock: white (Recollections), 140# cold press watercolor paper (Strathmore)
die: dotted die (Avery Elle)
other: Koi watercolor pocket field sketch box (Sakura), brushes, water

Watercolor Happy

Hi!  I made some time this afternoon to do a little stamping.  It was SO nice.

I'm playing along in 2 challenges with today's card.

CAS(E) this sketch! - CTS #175 (a sketch by Hannalie Bester)

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - June 1 - Sail On

The rectangles in the sketch reminded me of brush strokes, then the varied shades of blue in the Sail On photo....well, I knew I had to do some water coloring.  Actually, it's easy to convince me since I love to use any of the water color techniques!

Here's my take on these two challenges.

My distress inks were sitting there on my work table, so I used those instead of pulling out my water color set.  I have 6 different shades of blue.  So.  I used the all of them.  Just because I could!  I just smooshed each ink pad onto an acrylic block, then picked up each color with a wide, flat paint brush.  Not too much water, so that my colors would be fairly concentrated.  The water colored panel turned out exactly the way I hoped.

Once the panel was dry, I used a word die to cut the word out of this panel.  I also used the same die on 3 different blue card stocks, which I layered under the original one.  Gluing all of these die cuts was tedious work, since they're so narrow and fairly delicate.

After all that, I really didn't want to stamp a sentiment onto the card front.  It just  seemed there wasn't a good place to put anything else without detracting from the water colors.  I'll just write the remainder of my birthday wishes inside the card.

Well...I've talked for long enough.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies ~
card stock: coastal cabana, bermuda bay, tempting turquoise (Stampin' Up!), watercolor paper (Artist's Loft)
ink: weathered wood, stormy sky, broken china, faded jeans, mermaid lagoon, peacock feathers (Ranger distress inks)
die: wonderful words (Papertrey Ink)

Tweet. Chirp.

I took a much needed "me" day yesterday.  One of the things I did was stamp!  I've been doing some paper crafting lately, but haven't really had the time to play along in a challenge.  This time I'm doing just that.

I chose the challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C 334
These beautiful colors just called out to me, since I love greens and purples.  Oh, yes.

Don't you think these colors are perfect for some water coloring?  Of course you do.  And so is the stamp set I chose to use.  See?

The look of a sketched image in a stamp.  It's something I don't usually choose, but I'm really happy that I picked up this stamp set recently.
Technically, I didn't use water color paint. I used Stampin' Up ink pads, smooshed onto an acrylic block.  Using a paint brush I swirled some water into the ink and started painting my little birdie.
The leaves were stamped using another technique that resembles water colors.
I inked the stamp, then spritzed it with water.  When I stamped the image, I let the stamp sit on the water color paper for a while.  I wanted the ink to have time to really soak into the paper.

You know what?  After assembling the card, I decided that the focal panel needed some ink spatters.  So.  I cut out a stamped image of the bird to mask my finished image.  Then covered the remainder of the card with paper scraps.
Spatter, spatter, spatter.  Done.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Supplies ~
card stock: 140 lb watercolor paper (Artist's Loft), perfect plum, river rock (Stampin' Up!)
ink: perfect plum, gumball green, river rock, pale plum, concord crush (SU), onyx black (Versafine)
stamps: turning a new leaf (PTI), little birdies (Ranger by Dina Wakley)
other: crystal effects (Ranger), water and brushes, acrylic blocks

Window Panel Cards

It's been way too long since I spent an afternoon at my craft table.  So, this rainy Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to get crafty.  Several of my friends have birthday's this month, so I needed to create a few cards.  I recently watched a video tutorial on Jennifer McGuire's blog for window panel cards, so I already knew what technique I wanted to use for my cards.
HERE is a link to Jennifer's blog post.

The technique is really very easy and so much fun!  Here are the two cards I created.

I used a pink and gold patterned paper on this card, then die cut gold foil paper for the sentiment.

For this second card I stamped and die cut flowers and leaves, then stamped leaves inside the card so that they're visible through the window panel.

I don't have time now to list my supplies.  But if you have questions, please ask and I'll get the info to you.  Either leave a comment or use the "Contact Me" option in the side bar of my blog.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Congrats On Your New Roost

I found a little time this afternoon, to create a card for a couple who just bought their first home.  And...I'm playing along in a challenge.  It's been a VERY long time!

Take a look at this great sketch at Retro Sketches - rs #202.

 Here's my take on the sketch.

I remember that this young couple's engagement photos included some pics taken on a farm.  So, when I came across this sentiment while browsing my stamp sets it seemed like a great choice for this card.
To get a bit of a distressed look, I used the rock-and-roll inking technique for both the sky and field stamps.  After stamping the sky, I swiped some clear Wink of Stella over the sun rays.  In real life it looks so sparkly!
It was fun to finally join in on a card challenge, again.  :)

Thanks for looking!

Supply list ~
ink: early espresso, cucumber crush, crushed curry, tip top taupe (SU), versamark & onyx black (Tseukineko)
card stock: early espresso, sahara sand (SU), white (Recollections)
stamps: on the farm (PTI)
dsp: adventure bound (SU)
other: clear wink of stella (Kuretake), early espresso embossing powder & linen thread (SU)

Crafty treats for my crafty friends!

Oh what fun!  I'm writing this post a few days in advance, so that it can go up while I'm spending a Saturday with my stamping buddies.  A few times a year we try (and sometime succeed!) in getting the 5 of us together at my home on a Saturday to spend the day stamping, talking, snacking...well, you get the picture. :)
These gatherings bring me so much joy!  Well, today the 5 of us are blessed to have another friend joining us.  I decided to put together a little treat box for each of my friends, just because they're so important to me.

I found a template HERE on Nichole Heady's blog, for something very easy to create and so versatile.
Nichole created her own pattern on blank cardstock, but I chose to use some thick patterned paper from Tim Holtz.  After cutting out each box, I added a little machine stitching around the edges.

Here's what I created.

I chose to use kraft, white and gold as my color scheme.  I layered patterned vellum (from SU) onto the front of each box, then added burlap, gold thread, die cut leaves and a mini clothespin over that.  Oh, and I swiped my Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad over each clothespin to add a little glow of gold.  I could have kept going...buttons, gems etc...but decided to stop before I overloaded these little boxes!
Inside each box I put a few Godiva chocolates (because every stamper *needs* chocolate, you know) and a piece of toile wrapped around various embellishments and tied with a piece of that Stampin Up gold thread.

I hope my friends enjoy these treats as much as I enjoyed making them.  We'll see!