Graduation Card

Hi!
I needed to make a graduation card for my great nephew, geez that makes me feel old.  I actually have a great nephew graduating high school.  :)

I clear embossed Congratulations (Paper Smooches) on the front of a piece of black cardstock.  I black embossed the sentiment from Winnie & Walter's The Big, The Bold and the You, and added some paper trim on either side of the sentiment at a slight slant.    I punched out the 'graduate' and added some gold dots, tied a small twine bow around it all and mounted it on foam squares.  His school colors are black and red and I knew I had to work that in somehow.

Thanks for stopping by and I think  I will add this to the Winnie & Walter blog, they offer a prize for cards using their product. Details here: http://www.blog.winniewalter.com/p/join-in-and-win.html

Simon Says Stamp-Wednesday Challenge-Anything Goes

Hello,
SSS is having an Anything Goes Challenge this week for their Wednesday Challenge.  Details are here: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/.

I made this for my daughter as a birthday card last week.  The Prima Flowers doll stamp is perfect for her, she is a girly girl all the way! 

I stamped and fussy cut her skirt and top and  glued some lace on the back of the skirt so it would show on the bottom. I used copics to color the image and mounted it all on foam squares and finished by adding some sequins. The sentiment is Paper Smooches.



Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting.

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge-May Designer Draft

Hello,
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know I did!! I decided to enter the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge-May Designer Draft.  Details here: http://www.papersmoochesstamps.com/

  
Here is my card:

I attached Doodlebug Sprinkles vellum to the card base, (I love this stuff)!I embossed the greeting  from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler on paper I watercolored then die cut with a circle die.   The flowers are stamped from Paper Smooches Crystal Clear stamp set with Tim Holtz distress inks,  fussy cut  and attached across the card.   I cut the strips on the top of the card from the watercolored paper scraps and added a few sequins.

Thanks for stopping by.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge-Vacation/Travel

Hello,
I am going to enter this card into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge featuring Vacations or Travel.  Details for the challenge are here:http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/

I just got this Penny Black Stamp set, A Day in Paris. It has so many great images on it and I wanted to use it, so this challenge seemed perfect.   I embossed the Eiffel Tower and the sentiment in white on black cardstock.  I added sequins and jewels to simulate the night sky.   I also embossed additional stars to the background.

Thanks for coming by. :)

Winnie & Walter May Release

Hi,
Just a quick note, Winnie & Walter's May Release is May 25th!  I seriously can't wait, I love their stamps.

Also they are having a big giveaway to announce the release!

http://www.blog.winniewalter.com/2014/05/third-release-big-giveaway.html?showComment=1400629999979#c4356269867486558539

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes-BONUS Day Part II

Hello again,
Second post for the day, mainly because it is Saturday and I had time :) Today's class featured watercolor backgrounds.  In my first post I did a version of Laura Stercyx card, and now I am going to try out a background from Yana Smakula.

Yana washed watercolor in a striped pattern across the paper, this background can also be used many different ways, just by changing colors and the width of the stripes.  I die cut the watercolored piece with the SSS Postage Stamp Edge dies. I stamped the bird (Hero Arts)  in the lightest color Distress Ink (Antique Linen) and then colored the bird with distress inks and watercolor pencils.  The greeting is Winnie and Walter-The Big, the Bold and the Happy.

Loved these classes and can't wait for the next one!

Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

Online Card Classes-BONUS Day!!

Hi,
The classes extended one more day, which was a great bonus!! Today backgrounds were featured.  I loved all of them. Jean Manis created a beautiful card with a homemade stencil,watercolor pencil, and watercolor markers.  I love her coloring I will have to practice a little (a lot!) more to achieve what she did. :)  I decided to create backgrounds demonstrated by Laura Sterckx   and  Yana Smakula The first one is similar to Laura's and I will do a second post for a card similar to Yana's.

The watercolor paper is scored, Laura used a stylus but I used a bone folder, the stylus didn't work for me. I applied distress inks to my craft mat, misted with water and laid the watercolor paper directly in the inks.  I really like this technique, it can be used is sooo many ways just by changing up the colors or rearranging the scorelines.  The diecut is from Memory Box and I did a ombre effect, added a greeting from SSS, and some sequins and pearls.  Oh yeah, the stringy stuff behind the die cut, I found in my stash and have no idea where/when I got it.  I think it adds color. I thought white string would get lost on this card.

Thanks for stopping by.  :)

Online Card Classes Watercolor Day 11 Playday

Hi,
Today is the last day of classes (they mentioned a surprise though, not sure what it is).  It is a day to create what you wanted.  A lot of great demonstrators today, great techniques, so it was hard to choose which one I wanted to recreate.   I chose to do a technique by Kathy Racoosin, she embossed vellum and colored it with watercolor crayons and markers.  It was such a pretty look I had to try it and besides I won a set of watercolor crayons years ago and have never known what to do with them! 

I had some trouble with my blender pen (it is a little old), so it was little hard to get a smooth look.  I know you are supposed to reverse it to the other side but I like the embossed side better. :) I added some sequins and enamel dots  to perk it up a bit.  The vellum didn't warp because very little water is used. 

I loved these classes and learned so much I am sorry to see them end, but the techniques that were taught are invaluable and I am a little more confident to watercolor.

Online Card Classes Day 10 More Watercolor Freehand

Hello,
The lesson today concentrated on different methods to freehand watercolor.  One method was to find an image you like and trace it, and then watercolor.  Jennifer Rzasa created a beautiful hummingbird, seriously awesome.    I found an image of poppies that I liked and set out to re-create it.  So my card is supposed to be poppies. :)  Here it is:

I watercolored the image in layers of color and left white spaces to create depth.  For the most part I think they resemble poppies. :)   Once the poppies were dry, I applied water to the background and then applied the watercolor and let it do its thing.  The greeting is from Hero Arts and I embossed it on the card base. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes Day 9-Watercolor Freehand

Hi,
Well it is the real deal today-freehand!  Yep, you have to bite the bullet sometime.  All of the techniques were great today, but since I was short on time and  have had some experience in hand lettering I chose to create a card using the technique demonstrated by Jennifer Rzasa. This is what I made:

I hand lettered the 'baby love' and die cut the onesie and hearts, put patterned paper behind it and mounted it on foam tape.  It was a little different to letter with watercolor paint and brush and it took a couple of tries to get what I wanted but it worked out.  I would like to do this again and try different fonts.

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes-Day 8-Faux Handpainting

Hi!
Today was the 8th day of watercolor classes, and I have to say they have been fabulous so far, and I have learned so much.  Watercolor was very intimidating for me and I thought it had to be so complicated.  Although I think that there is a lot of practice involved with water coloring, the techniques taught here make it seem a little easier. :)  The card I made combined a couple of techniques taught in class today.

Tasnim stamped her image with a light colored distress ink and then water colored it.  I added a white border and a background similar to what Dawn created.  I by no means think this is anywhere close to what they accomplished but I do feel I will get there....someday. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Class Day 7 -Faux Handpainting

Hello,
Today I did a card that was similar to one created by Dawn Woleslagle, and it was beautiful!  And seriously mine is just similar in that I tried her technique, because I will have to practice a lot more to even come close to what she created.  :/   Here is my card:

The technique was to stamp with a water based ink (I used Distress Inks) and with a wet brush pull the colors to fill in and shade the stamped image.  The stamp is Doodlie-Do from Papertrey Ink. Honestly it was the only stamp set that came close to what I could use for this card.   I realized as I was looking for a stamp set for this card I don't have a lot of 'building' stamp sets.  I will have to look into that.  :)

Thanks for stopping by. 

Online Card Classes Days 5 & 6 Watercolor Stamped Images-Part II

Hello again!

Second post today so I could make another card from this lesson.  I am so behind, although I have watched all the lessons I haven't been able to find time to create cards, so I am trying to make up for it! :)  This card is a version of a card created by Jennifer McGuire.  An image is embossed on watercolor paper and then colored in.  Jennifer used Distress Markers and some shimmer paint to give her image some shine.  I didn't have the product Jennifer used so I had to skip that step.  I stamped this Lawn Fawn stamp and embossed it and proceeded to color with distress markers.  I really like the look of the white embossing showing through the color and how easy it is to manipulate the colors by blending using a watercolor brush.

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes Watercolor-Days 5 & 6 Watercoloring Stamped Images

Hello,
Days 5 and 6 of the Online Card Classes in watercolor feature watercoloring stamped images.  Jennifer Rzasa  created a card by watercoloring an image using  Derwent Intense watercolor pencils.  Soooo I decided to try this card.  Here is my version.

I applied watercolor pencil to the background for the sky and the grass.  I used two shades for both sky and grass one light, one darker and blended them with a watercolor brush.  I used a Hero Arts background  stamp in a similar ink shade as the sky and stamped it to the background.    I colored the trees in the same manner and die cut and mounted them on foam squares.  The tree stamp is Memory Box Trendy Trees.

I am learning so many great techniques from these classes and enjoying them so much.

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes-Watercolor Backgrounds Day 3 & 4

Hi again,
This is my second post for the day.  I wanted to create a watercolor scene from a stamp and made this card.

This is an Art Impressions stamp that I water colored with Distress Markers.  I applied the marker color to an acrylic block and used a wet paintbrush to apply the color to the stamped image.  I embossed the greeting.

This is similar to a card done by Kristina Werner in class. 

Since this is my second post today, I will make it a short one.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Online Card Classes-Watercolor Stamping

Hello,
Online Card Classes Days 3 & 4 featured watercolor stamping.  Great techniques again, so much to learn-so little time.  I think that I will need a lot more practice to get some of these techniques down :)  I tried to create a card that was similar to one created by Jennifer McGuire.  The stamped image is outlined with a medium that resists watercolor like rubber cement.  Then you watercolor a background, the technique is really beautiful.  This technique was actually in Day 2 but I am a little behind. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Online Card Classes-Watercolor Backgrounds

Hi,
I am participating in the Online Card Classes-Watercolor.  Days 1 & 2 feature watercolor backgrounds.  There were so many great techniques in the first two days, it was hard to chose which one to make.  I did a version of Kristina Werner's.  The background is embossed on watercolor paper and then you apply watercolors over the embossing. The watercolors resist the embossed background and you get a great, colorful background.    I am definitely going to try to other techniques but I was in a time crunch and could only do this one right now. 

The 'you' is embossed in black on vellum.  You really don't want to cover up any of the background, so I tried to embellish as little as possible.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge-Anything Goes

Hi,
I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was pretty full, but great!  I made this card for my brother-in-law, his retirement party was over the weekend.  I plan to enter it in the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge-Anything Goes www.papersmoochesstamps.com.  

 Here is my card:

The image is from Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies, normally he has a birthday hat on but I had to do a little surgery. :)  He is colored with copics.  I die cut the balloons from the Paper Smooches Balloon dies  I added a googly eye to the dog and some paper confetti and wooden stars. The balloons and doggy are on foam squares.  I really like how this card turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting! 

Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday Challenge

Hello,
This month's SSS Wednesday Challenge was to use patterned paper on your project. To find out more about this months challenge use this link: http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/blog/work-it-wednesday-april-2014/

So I had no real idea just started playing with different papers and discarded some ideas on the way. Here is what I made.

I love the color combo of oranges and blues so I gravitated towards that palette.   The frames are Spellbinders dies, I added some wooden stars and enamel dots (my go to accessory).  The speech bubble die is Simon Says Stamp. The stamp is Winnie & Walter  The Big, the Bold and the Happy.

Happy crafting!!  See you soon.