Watercolor Thanks

I found myself with a little extra time in my stamp room last night and I wanted to try a little watercoloring, something that I don't do very often.  I think I'll take the watercoloring Online Card Class soon so that I can at least learn how to do it properly, but it was fun to swish some color around on my own.  

The colors are from Color Throwdown (although the Tempting Turquoise is so light in the picture you'll have to trust me that it's there) and the layout comes from the Sketchbook Saturday sketch.

I tried to just slap the color on so that it was lighter in some areas than others and I kind of like it, but I need more practice.  It's harder than it looks!  To add a little more interest to the flower I went over the center with a Wink of Stella pen.  It's impossible for me to photograph but it really adds some nice shimmer.

Well, I'm off to the great outdoors.  The sunshine and hot temperature are calling my name!  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Hennah Elements (Altenew); The Big, The Bold and You (Winnie & Walter)

Paper:  watercolor paper

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Strawberry Slush (SU); Black Licorice (My Favorite Things)

Simplicity for Sketchbook Saturday and Fusion Challenges

After struggling with making a card the other day I was anxious to return to my stamp room and make sure that I still knew what I was doing in there.  I had a slow start but I'm pretty happy with my card.  Yay me (!).

The sketch from Sketchbook Saturday gave me my layout and the Fusion inspiration photo gave me the colors for my card.  I struggled a bit finding just the right shades of orange but I made do with what I had.  Maybe I need to go ink shopping!

Finally after weeks of waiting, summer-like weather has found me!  Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous and after running some errands I parked myself on the patio with a book and relaxed for a couple of hours.  Today is going to be just as wonderful so I'll finish planting flowers and then I'll be getting down and dirty with some weeds!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Distressed Background Blocks, Jumbo Abstract Art (My Favorite Things); Esther's Garden (Art Gone Wild); New Day (Precious Remembrance)

Paper:  Classic White (Flourishes); Solar White (Neenah); Tangerine Tango (SU)

Accessories:  Lemon Drop Sprinklers (October Afternoon); Notable Cute Enamel Dots (My Mind's Eye)

Happy Birthday Ga

My niece's birthday is Tuesday and instead of searching through my stash of ready-made cards for a birthday card for her I decided to make one from scratch.  Somehow all the stars aligned in this card because I included four different challenges to make this.  I'm not sure if I've ever done that before but here it is.  This combines the colors at Color Throwdown with the sketch from Sketchbook Saturday along with the texture challenge at Addicted to CAS and the flower cue card at CASology.  Whew!

I got some new October Afternoon sprinklers and I wanted to try them out so after I stamped the flower and masked it off, I gave the card base a shot of color.  The spray zone is a little bigger than what I intended but it's actually growing on me.  I intended to watercolor this flower and got it all ready to go on water color paper then my brained zoned out and I grabbed some Copics and before I knew it I was coloring with those instead.  I tried to keep the colors light and went over it with the colorless blender to remove some color and make it look a little more water color-y and I don't think it looks too bad.

The title of this post is "Happy Birthday Ga" which is niece's nickname.  Her name is actually Stephanie but for some reason her younger sister started calling her Ga and nobody knows why.  As  is the way with that sort of thing, the name stuck and now we all call her Ga!  Go figure!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Charming Gardners (a.muse studio); Wet Paint (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Soft Sky (SU); water color paper

Ink:  Jet Black Stazon; Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  All Aboard Sprinklers (October Afternoon); translucent embossing paste (Dreamweaver); Burlap stencil (Tim Holtz)

Online Card Class Homework

I signed up for the latest Online Card Class for one layer clean and simple cards.  One of the first lessons was to embed die cut shapes into your card stock so that the result is still a one layer card.  The instructor for the class advised keeping a bowl close to keep all the little bits that have to be fit onto your card like puzzle pieces and I can't stress enough what good advice this is!

For my card I combined the uber-cool color combo from The Paper Players with Chupa's not-so-new Sketchbook Saturday sketch.  She's already moved onto to #117 and I'm stuck on #116.  Go figure!

You'll see what I mean about all the little fiddly-bits if you look at where the end of the "thanks" die cut is in relation to the little yellow flower.  There were a lot of teeny-tiny pieces that I needed to keep track of in order to fit them back in to my puzzle card. 

I'll be taking a bit of a stamping vacation over the next week as I'm leaving for Scotland on Saturday.  I am anticipating going through some sort of stamping withdrawal, but hopefully I'll recover quickly when I get back home!  I've got a couple of posts scheduled for next week so I won't be completely out of touch, but if you don't see me around, you'll know why!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Paper:  Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry, Marina Mist (SU)

Accessories:  Thanks die (Simon Says Stamp); Beautiful Blooms die (Papertrey Ink)

colourQ 219

This week the color palette at colourQ is inspired by these great owl ornaments.  I love these rustic and earthy colors!

I was inspired by Chupa's newest Sketchbook Saturday sketch and all the beautiful images she layered together on her card so I tried the same look on a Christmas card.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out!

These gorgeous colors have inspired the marvelous colourQ design team to create some pretty fantastic cards this week so don't forget to check them out.  We'd love to see you in the gallery so I hope you can set aside some time to join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Modern Christmas (Clearly Besotted Stamps); Gorgeous Grunge, Off the Grid (SU)

Paper:  Kraft (Avery Elle); Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip (SU)

Accessories:  Circle STAX 1, Pierced Circle STAX (My Favorite Things); Dot Fade Stencil (Tim Holtz)

colourQ 209

Fall is definitely in the air around here!  It's typical New England weather, though, where the days are warm and sunny but as soon as the sun goes down, brrrrrr.  I refuse to turn the heat on in the house even though in the morning when I get up it's usually a few degrees below 60.  I don't know about you but turning the heat on in September is just wrong!  Now that it's October I'll feel a little more justified about relieving the chill but I'm going to hold out as long as I can!

But enough about that, you've come by today to see the new color palette brought to you by the very popular colourQ!  This week the colors are fun and a bit eclectic and are inspired by this funky chicken apron!

I was inspired by the latest Sketchbook Saturday sketch and as per my usual, wasn't paying close enough attention to the sketch and put the sentiment in the wrong place.  But as I was pondering how I could fix it I was struck with a little inspiration in the form of rhinestone baubles.  A little line of them on the banner where the sentiment was supposed to go is a pretty good compromise!

Come on over to colourQ and check out the lovely inspiration from the design team.  I hope you can join us in the gallery this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Meadow Greens (Papertrey Ink); Let it Be (Verve)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Real Red, Cool Caribbean, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White (SU)

Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie (SU); Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Flag Tags die (Papersmooches); Basic Rhinestones (SU)

Sketchbook Saturday 105

I'm so excited to share this card today.  I recently received an email from the amazing and talented Chupa and she asked me to be a guest designer for her newest Sketchbook Saturday sketch!  Woo Hoo!  I couldn't possibly say no.  Chupa makes the most beautiful cards and I admire her talent immensely.  And I share the guest honors today with Wanda Cullen, another crafter who makes my jaw drop on a routine basis when I see her cards!  So without further ado, here's my card and the sketch.

The colors from Pals Paper Arts were perfect for what I had in mind with this card.  I found some October Afternoon washi tape that matched the colors pretty closely and used that at the bottom of my card.  Then I randomly stamped a bunch of background images on some card stock then layered these pretty flowers on top.  I've been randomly stamping background images a lot lately and I've got to say that I really like how it makes the card just a bit more interesting.  At least to me anyway!  I did use a little license and reversed the image and the sentiment because I'm a left to right kind of girl, I guess!

So, before I go I'll send a big cyber hug to Chupa for thinking that my work was good enough to warrant a guest spot on her sketch challenge.  I'm in good company over there and I'm grateful to be able to participate!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Funky Florals (Papertrey Ink); Gorgeous Grunge, Extreme Elements (SU); Textures 1 (Florileges Designs)

Paper:  Neenah Natural White; Very Vanilla, Baked Brown Sugar (SU)

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Calypso Coral (SU)

Accessories:  Chevron Woodland Park washi tape (October Afternoon)

colourQ 203

This week's colourQ colors looked awfully good to me when I first saw them.  Then I saw the Sketchbook Saturday challenge and the gorgeous sponged background of Chupa's card and I knew that I wanted to try it with the colourQ colors.  I think I need more practice :)

I don't do a lot of sponging and when I do, it's usually around the edges of my cardstock so this was a whole new adventure for me.  This is actually the second card that I made.  On the first one I used glossy cardstock which made it easier to sponge, but I had the card turned around so that the green color was on top.  Once I stamped the leafy image on it, the whole thing seemed kind of weird.  I think the green should go on the bottom (like grass) and the blues on top (like the sky).  So I re-did it and this is the result.

As luck would have it, the challenge this week at The Paper Players is to make a one layer card so I'll be entering this card over there as well!  

Thanks for stopping by!  And don't forget to check out the other girl's cards over at colourQ!  Amy is joining the Royal Court so be sure to hop on by and show her some love!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Kind and Caring Thoughts (SU); Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)

colourQ 201

It's good to be back on the colourQ bandwagon!  This week Arielle has found these great colors for us inspired by this fab apron.  (It's so pretty, it looks like a dress)!  When I first saw them I thought of making a masculine themed card but then I stumbled on the Sketchbook Saturday sketch and was overcome with the urge to use butterflies!  Apparently, I'm very susceptible to suggestion!

It took me a while to find this butterfly die, but when I did I used it to cut these beautiful images.  It took me longer to find the Soft Sky designer paper which I used to cut the smaller butterfly but I'm so glad I kept searching because I think the colors layered together this way are so eye-catching.  I had second thoughts about cutting off the butterfly on the right side of the card, but obviously there wasn't a whole lot I could do about it once I had done the deed!

Eclectic colors like these mean you've got lots of eclectic cards to see from the always amazing colourQ design team!  So hop on over to check them out.  I hope you can join us this week in the gallery!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Thoughtful Florals (Verve)

Accessories:  Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die (SU); Banner Trio die (WPlus9); baker's twine (American Crafts)

Bot Time Birthday

We've had some pretty scorching weather here the last few days - although I'm not complaining.  I love the hot weather and after the cold, wet and miserable spring we had I'll take a heat wave any day of the week.  One other good thing about a heat wave is that it gives me a good excuse to stay out of the hot sun and putter around my craft room.

I tried to put all that puttering to good use and made a card for three challenges!  The first is the Shades of Grey challenge at Less is More, the second is the sketch from Sketchbook Saturday (it's the 100th!) and the last is Stacey's birthday linky party that she's throwing on her blog to celebrate her birthday and the return of the Curtain Call challenge!

I used one of the cute robots from Bot Time who is delivering his birthday wishes in "robot!"  The robot sentiment is from Iconic and the English translation is from Wish Big.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Iconic, Bot Time, Wish Big (The Alley Way Stamps)

Accessories:  washi tape

colourQ 161

With Halloween nearly here, I should have taken the colors from colourQ and made another card featuring some of my favorite spooky stamps.  But I didn't.  For the second week in a row, I challenged myself to make a card that was about something other than witches or goblins!

Ha!  Even the graphic says "Happy Halloween!"  It was a lot of fun to take these colors and turn them on their head to make something unexpected.  I'll admit that I very nearly made a Halloween card until I saw Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday challenge and my creative juices got going.

As you can see, I turned the sketch on its side but  I think that's ok!  I really like how Chupa used a piece of Vellum in the center of her "polaroid" so I did the same only I embossed it with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  The big flower is from the Flower, Daisies #2 Sizzix die which I cut from Tangerine Tango and finished up the center with a So Saffron button tied with some baker's twine.

I hope you have a chance to check out the cards made by the super-fabulous colourQ design team.  Then ink up those stamps and  join us!

Paper Players 99 and Sketchbook Saturday 63

I managed to get a lot done stamping-wise this weekend.  So today I've got a card for the super-awesome color challenge at The Paper Players that I paired with the sketch at Sketchbook Saturday.

I used one of my brand new edgelits called Finishing Touches on my Lucky Limeade layer.  The rest of the card is boring old stuff including some DSP from Urban Oasis, a Melon Mambo button, and a sentiment from Curly Cute.  I have to admit there's some comfort in using the old familiar stuff, especially since I haven't had time to properly learn the new stuff yet.  Hopefully that will improve over the next few days!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have time to pop by tomorrow to see my card for the latest colourQ challenge!

CCMC195

The color challenge this week at Create With Connie and Mary had me stumped at first.  I started making a card last night but realized after a while that it was absolute rubbish, so I put it aside in favor of sleeping on it.  I went back to my stamp room this afternoon after I discovered a Sketchbook Saturday sketch from a couple of weeks ago, which just screamed at me to use a flower die and would be perfect with these colors.

On the card base I used the Perfect Details texturz plate, something I have not used in ages.  The flowers are cut with the Flower Daisies #2 Sizzix die and the buttons are from a retired set called Fresh Favorites I.  I really like those buttons because they have a lovely matte finish.  Kind of a nice departure from all the shiny buttons SU! has now.  The So Saffron DSP is from my never-ending stash of Sweet Pea.

I had intended to stamp a sentiment on this card but forgot to do it before I embossed the base, so now I think it's too late.  I don't want to add another layer so I guess it stays the way it is!

Thanks for stopping by!