Watercolor Cards

We have been enjoying a nightly shower here for several days. So I thought I would share some cards that I created with watercoloring.

The base is Dapper Denim and the mats are Crumb Cake. The image is Whisper White and DSP finishes the card. The "Just Because" is a die that I have had in my stash for a long time. You could stamp your sentiment on the DSP.

The images are from In the Meadow. Stamp the trees, coloring the image with Crumb Cake and Old Olive markers, then use the aqua brush to fill it in. If the ink dries too quickly, just pick some up on the brush and fill in. Next stamp the dear with the Crumb Cake and color in again with the brush, just pulling the color in from the outline. The deer are not completely colored in. Cut a mask for the trees and the deer and position them over the images. Stamp the mountains with Dapper Denim and repeat the coloring process.

Remove the masks. Picking up a little Crumb Cake on the brush, streak color across the card from the bottom of the mountains to the bottom of the card. Do the same above the mountains with Daffodil Delight just above them and Soft Sky above that to the top. The yellow is a bit more saturated in color than the blue.

Stamp the grass randomly at the bottom of the trees and deer, in Old Olive and brush lightly after each stamping. You could stamp a few of the floral stamp in the set to add a splash of color.

Let this dry completely before adding to your card.

Just remember to not over saturate the images with water, or you will make the colors muddy. Less is more! You can always add a bit more color if needed.

Here are two more samples, using watercolor as the back ground.

Pull out a piece of window sheet, or a piece of plastic. Add a single drop of reinker from two or three colors, then spray a mist of water over the inks. Our spritzers work great for this. Again, not too much. You want the colors to blend not  mix. Then lie your cardstock on top, lightly pressing so that it can absorb. Pull away slowly and allow to dry. Stamp your images and build your card. I used Basic Black.

You can also spritz the water on your plastic pallet, then add reinker drops. Give both ways a try and decide which works best for you.

These all take a little extra time, but I think you will find them to be worth it.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Best Birds

Here is a very simple card:

The base is Crumb Cake with sponging of the same color of ink around the edges. The mat is Sky Blue, using the Hardwood background stamp and Soft Suede ink. Using the same ink, sponge around the edges with more on the corners.

Stamp the bird, stem an flowers on Whisper White. Sponge on your colors. The flowers actually have a small circle of watercolor, using so saffron, then the image stamped on top with the same ink. Cut everything out with the framelits. SAVE 10% when you purchase the stamp set and framelits together as a bundle! Position everything on the mat. The branch is glued directly to the mat. The bird and flowers are shaped (turn upside down on a piece of foam and using the larger end of the scoring tool, work circles around the edges. This will cause them to curl a bit.) Add them with glue dots.

Tie a bow with the linen thread and attach with a glue dot. Curl the glue dot to fit the back of the bow.

Here is the inside:

The panel is Sky Blue with Crumb Cake sponging around the edges. The bird is cut out with one of the framelits and glued into place.

And the envelope:

I also sponged around the envelope before stamping the bird, all in Soft Suede.

Quick and simple, but I think the recipient will like it. What do you think?

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.

Old is New Again!

A few days ago, a couple of friends that I haven't seen in a long while, came for a visit. It was so nice to catch up again, in person. We also swapped "retired" stamp sets, "making the old, new again", and this is one that I received. Not sure how I missed out on it, cuz I love it! It is the On The Porch set from the 1999-2000 catalog. I have only been able to find a few samples using the chair, so was on my own with this one.

IF you enjoy fussy cutting, or don't mind doing it, you won't have any issues creating this card. On the other hand.......... Just make it all one layer. :)

The base is Whisper White. The card is all built on the mat of Smokey Gray cut at 4 x 5 1/4. Stamp the porch in the center with Smokey Gray. Color the curtains in the window with a watercolor pencil. Cover the windows, including the curtains, with the Fine Line Glue pen, set aside to dry. This will give them the look of glass. Stamp the post and top on another piece of the gray. I actually stamped these as separate pieces, lightly colored them in with the gray watercolor pencil and cut them out with the end of the post still attached to the top. Position the top with dimensionals and add the post with the same, gluing the top part of the post to the piece attached to the top. ( I did not cut all the spaces out of the top, but you can if you want!)

Next ink up the window and flower box with Garden Green. Lie a piece of Garden Green scrap on top of the stamp and rub over the image with your finger, being careful not to move the cardstock. Or you can just stamp it as usual. I find that I get a better image doing it like the background stamps when I am only inking parts. Cut the whole thing out. Poke a hole in the center of each window, then snip to each corner to cut the windows out. (Poke the holes before the other cutting to make it easier).
Glue this to the window.

With Garden Green Ink and Whisper White cardstock, stamp the window box and flowers. Stamp another image of just the flowers. With a watercolor pencil, color in the box and the flowers. Cut each image out, gluing the box and flower image onto the window box on the mat. Add the seperate flower image on top with dimensionals. I also added Summer Flowersoft to the flower image, but that is optional.

Stamp the hanging pot on Garden Green and using an orange watercolor pencil, color in the pot. Cut it out, add a dimensional, and hang it on the porch, tucking the top just under the rails.

Stamp the chair image on Whisper White in Soft Suede. I also do this one with the cardstock on top, to insure a good impression. Color as desired with watercolor pencils and cut out. NOTE: when cutting, don't stress the little parts! If the scissors work easily around, great!, if not just leave it. I also leave a bit of an edge around the image. Trying to cut directly on the line leaves an uneven look. Now, do a little shaping. Turn the image over and place on a piece of foam. With the larger ball of the scoring tool, or the end of a pencil, gently working in circles, work around the edges of the image. This will curl them in just a bit. Add dimensionals and place it onto the mat. (Wish I had done this with the hanging pot, too!)

I added the Wink of Stella to the quilt and flowers. Careful, because it does moisten the watercolor, which brightens it all up, but if you use too much, it can also muddy things. Clean the tip after each color and area.

Place a strip of the burlap ribbon onto the left side of the mat. Add dimensionals to the back and position onto the card base. That's It!! LOL

I really hope you enjoy this post and that it inspires you to pull some of those old favorites out and play. Give this one a try if you are lucky enough to have this set. Or swap with a friend and make the Old, New again!

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Wonderful Summer Time

I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful summer day. It is gorgeous here this morning with a nice breeze coming in the windows. I was inspired by another pinterest post for this lovely card.

The base is Whisper White and also using Flirty Flamingo from the In Colors.

Crease and fold your card, then cut out a shape in the middle of the cover. I, of course used one of the ovals from my retired selection. This also leaves just a hint of an embossed frame around the opening, which isn't visible in the picture.

Using Soft Suede and the branch from Colorful Seasons, stamp across the top of the cover and on the inside, positioning it so that it shows through the window. With Flirty Flamingo, stamp two of the smaller single flowers and two sets of the small flower clusters onto Flirty Flamingo cardstock. You will have to fussy cut (using scissors) to cut out the cluster flowers and use the framlits from the bundle to cut out  the larger flowers and the chair.

I also stamped the glass with straw onto what I thought was a piece of Whisper White cardstock, which will be explained later. LOL Ink the stamp with Flirty Flamingo and stamp off onto a piece of scrap first. I actually kind of tipped mine when stamping off, but it gave me a shaded effect on the next stamping. So there is a tip that I hope I remember in the future. Now cut it out with the matching framelit and a chair from Flirty Flamingo. Add some of the Fine Tip Glue (or retired Crystal Effects) onto the glass and place the arm of the chair on top of it to adhere the two pieces together. Set aside to dry.

The sentiment is stamped with an image from the same set, again with Flirty Flamingo.

For the inside of the card, I used sentiments from the Garden in Bloom set and Flirty Flamingo ink. Again, making sure that the top sentiment showed through the window and that the bottom one did not.

The sample I saw actually made this into a shadow box, so I built a frame for the inside of my card. Cut a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 from Flirty Flamingo card stock. Then cut in 1/2" on all four sides to create the frame. This is really easy to do on the Trimmer. Then cut just a sliver off the side that will go against the cards fold. This will make it fit nicely on the inside of your card. Glue it into place. I like to use glue rather than tape because it gives me a chance to maneuver it around if I need to, but use whatever you are comfortable with. (The inside piece is great to use for the flowers and chair!)

Give your flowers a little dimension by using the larger tip on the score tool and a piece of foam under them. I use one of the pieces from my clear block storage case. Place the bloom with the printed side up and carefully work circles in the center with the tool. With the larger flowers, I also pulled from the outside to the center with each petal. Then glue each bloom into place.

Now, place the chair upside down on a non stick surface and place glue or tape on the left side and bottom of the chair. Place onto the front of the card. If you used tape, you can use the adhesive eraser to get rid of any that is showing.

WOW! a lot of wording but really a quick and simple card to create. I hope you will give it a try.

OH...... as for the glass....it was actually a piece of single sided DSP! I didn't notice it until I flipped it over to add adhesive! Luckily, it was a light green with small white polka dots. So on the inside of the card instead of pink lemonade, it is limeade!!!! Just what I meant to do!! Ever have those kind of moments?

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Colorful Season's Sunshine

So, have you chosen your favorite stamp set in the new catalog, yet? I know it is hard to choose just one, but Colorful Season's is right at the top of my list. I cased this card straight from the catalog, page 146, with my own little twists, of course!

All cardstock is Whisper White! Build your base, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2, scored at 4 1/4.

Cut a mat piece: 5 1/4 x 4. Bring out that brayer and the Daffodil Delight ink pad. Ink up the brayer and starting off the mat, brayer from one end to the other. Repeat this technique until you have the color saturation that you desire. Set this piece aside.

Focal piece: 3x4. Using the background piece from the Butterfly Basics stamp set, ink it up with Daffodil delight. Stamp it off on scrap paper then add to the top and bottom of the card piece. Stamp the frame of the chair with Smokey Slate, again stamping off once as before, so that it isn't so dark. (I think I should have used Crumb Cake instead). The seat is stamped with Daffodil Delight.

For the glass of tea, I stamped the background stamp with Pear Pizzaz after stamping off once, as before. Then cut it out with the framelit piece. (Was going for an ice cube effect, what do you think, did I pull it off? I think so.) Using a marker, color the straw and around the edges of the stamp. Stamp on the cut out piece. (This could also be done before cutting it out.) Using the marker, run it along the edges of the glass to give it even more dimension. Attach to the card with a dimensional, cut in half.

My ribbon is retired Summer Starfruit with a Daffodil Delight piece cut out with the retired Blossom Punch. Tie a tiny bow with the Linen thread and add it on top with a rolled glue dot.

The sentiment was stamped with Daffodil Delight, then offset stamping with Crumb Cake, again, stamped off once. (Not sure I will stamp off the next time AND I will definitely use the positioner!) This gives it a shadow effect.

Put it all together to create the card.

I am not a big fan of Washi Tape, but I think it would have worked great on this design!

This card makes me smile and I hope it does the same for you!

Want something else to smile about???? Purchase the Colorful Seasons and Framelits as a Bundle and SAVE 10% !!!!!

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.

Fun Spinner!!

I have a special birthday coming up and when I saw a similar card, I knew I had to CASE it right away! So here it is:

There are a few videos on You Tube that have a lot more construction, so you might want to check them out. Mine is VERY simple, which is always good.

 I traced around an actual toy for the spinner, but you can create your own or print off one from the internet. There are soooooo many in the image section. I actually had a piece of cardboard with foil backing from a cereal box toy, which worked great for the 1/2" circles, but silver cardstock would have worked just as well. Punch out four 3/4" circles from Pacific Point. Glue three of these on the outside arms of the spinner. Top with the silver circles. Center the holes you just created in the cardstock with the 1" circle punch to create four rings. Glue these rings on top of each other. Then top with a solid 1" circle. This piece will cover the brad in the center. Place it aside for now.

Punch a hole in the center of the spinner and insert a brad, making sure that the hole is large enough for the top to spin freely. Stamp around a Whisper White (3 3/4 x 3 3/4),(I used Painter's Pallet dots), mount this to Pacific Point (3 7/8 x 3 7/8), mounted to  Basic Black (4x4). Punch a hole in the center, which can be found by drawing an X from corner to corner and the center is at the intersection of the two lines. Do this on the back so it won't show. Attach the spinner with the brad. Use the punching tool to hold against the brad on each side and fold over the tongs. This will give it a bit of room so that the spinner will work. Try it and if it is working like you want, add dimensional to the back, placing a couple on both sides of the brad, making sure they aren't preventing the brad from moving. Add this to the Pacific Point base card.

Now glue the button you created earlier over the head of the brad. For a little more interest, especially when it is spun, punch out a 3/4" circle from scrap DSP and glue it on top of the button.

Place a strip of ribbon on to the bottom area and top with a piece of the silver metallic ribbon. The sentiment is from Sprinkles of Life, stamped on to Whisper White and cut out. Can you tell what it is attached to? I used the larger piece from the Bow Builder punch! Added the sentiment to that along with a couple of brads on the ends and attached this piece with dimensionals.

I hope it will be enjoyed as much as I enjoyed making it!

Placing an order this month? Please add my name as your demonstrator and use the Host code: MN2YY4GF

DO NOT use the host code if you are ordering $150 or more of product. You will earn the host rewards with your order.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

New Catty!

Well, it is all the buzz!! If you go on any SU demo's website, you are going to see that ordering goes live at 1 pm MST, if they have created a post for today! We are just as excited as our customers! One of the perks of being a demo is that we get to order a few of the products a month early, but there are so many more that we also have to wait on the opening day to order.

There is also a great special on Paper Pumpkin for new subscribers! Sign up is available until June 10, so don't miss out on this one! Remember you can skip a month or cancel at any time!

I hope that you are as excited about this day as I am!!!

Thanks for stopping by!