Botanical Birthday with The Greetery

 Good morning! 

Just a quick post today! I had a special birthday card to finish and saw the great sketch at Freshly Made, so I am popping in to share it. Clean and simple works so well with the  Botanical Pine Boughs dies from The Greetery. 

I die cut them from watercolor paper. I've been using Aquarello Extra White Hot Pressed by Fabriano. I kept the die cut pieces in the paper and watercolored them using the 36 half pan set from Altenew. After they were dry I removed the pieces and assembled the boughs and pine cones. I can't get over how real they look this way from simply splashes of color.

Here's the great sketch. 

Thanks so much for your visit today! I will be back tomorrow and Saturday so I look forward to seeing you again.  

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Mixed Media Stamping with W Plus 9

 

It's good to see you today! 
I am beginning to dabble in another technique that has such possibilities I can't wait to try it again. I love mixed media because it gives me a chance to just play around with paper and ink. 
For today's card,  I die cut three images to create my own stencil: a flower, one leaf and a pair of leaves using the Christmas Rose Bouquet stamps and dies from Wplus 9Design. 


Using Bristol smooth card stock, I placed the large flower stencil and sponged inks with a dauber, blending colors for each bloom. Randomly adding images to create my own patterned background, I used WPlus9 inks: Last Leaf, Appletini, Wild Mango, V.I.Pink, Gala Red.  These inks are formatted to be colorfast when used with water so they are perfect for mixed media.

Next I added paint brush spatters with Distress Oxide Inks: Speckled Egg, Candied Apple, Mowed Lawn. When I was done I had ink spatters all over my work surface, (and probably on my face!) but I can't tell you how much fun I had making this. I was inspired to try this by Dawn Woleslagle and she has fabulous instruction videos! 
I recently used this stamp for a Christmas card HERE. After all the wintry cards it felt really good to combine some springy colors! Hope you are doing well today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Inspired By for Hero Arts

 Aren't you glad we have ushered in the new year? 
I'm still in wintry mode with one of my favorite snowman images and a new-to-me background stamp from Hero Arts. Stamping the Starry Night Background, I created a night sky by sponging Distress Oxide inks in Broken China, Blueprint Sketch and Wilted Violet on top. 

I colored the snowman and filled in the sentiment with Copic markers.

You can see the layer of patterned paper behind the die cut frame in this close up. 

The paper has subtle stripes and an ombre effect that I love! I added splatters of white gouache and a die cut snowflake or two to the focal panel. This card makes me happy! I hope it makes you smile too.

I will be laying very low this month. Meaning: staying at home. Stamping every day! I really appreciate you spending some of your moments here. Thank you!

I'm playing with the Hero Arts Stay Crafty Challenge where I was inspired by Debi's card 

and 

NBUS, Darnell's spot where we showcase our never-been-used-stuff! Also, the Paper Players are asking for us to use something new as well. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: Hero Arts - Starry Night BG, Happy Mail. Avery Elle - Be Jolly stamp and die

Paper: Neenah Solar White, DSP - SU

Accessories: PTI - Scallop Stackers LG Die; snowflakes from Elizabeth Craft Designs

A New Year and a New Challenge at Color Hues

 Welcome to a New Year and welcome to my blog. You're just in time for Color Hues Challenge #9 ! I know many have enjoyed a long break from card-making and stamping over the holidays. Jump back into the fun of our challenge to use red and gray for your project. 

I needed a few birthday cards for January, so I thought these colors would be great, especially for a couple of the men on my list

Using a monochromatic background really allows the red to pop! I combined some dies from my stash with a scripty sentiment and created a scene. Beginning with Dove gray card stock, I stamped pine trees in the background and die cut a trail of stars along the top. White die cuts of the stars are popped up. The stag was cut from white card stock, sponged with a very pale gray ink, and then covered with a wash of Wink of Stella. 

I hope you will check out the wonderful projects of our team, and play along!  

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

What's Brewing in Your Mug?

 

Hello stamping friends! Our holiday celebration was wonderful! Now that we are back to quiet days, I feel ready to hop back on the crafting saddle. I made a card to share on this wintry cold day. Of course my cuppa is filed with brewed tea. Whatever is in yours,  I hope it warms you inside and out. 

 I pulled out a few stamp sets but started with a clean slate of what I wanted to create, enabling me to participate in some challenges. Freshly Made Sketches 

Inspired By Challenge  where I chose the colors, stripes, and curled ribbon.

and Tic Tac Toe

I chose the diagonal row: Wink of Stella (on the whipped cream), die cut and pearls on the row of hearts. 

Thanks for your visit! Wishing you a beautiful day.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Supplies used:

Stamps: PTI - Merry Mug

Paper: Neenah Solar White, PTI Bitty Big DSP

INK: from Altenew - Rose Quartz, Morning Frost, Ocean Waves

Poinsettia Bouquets One stamp Three Cards

One week until Christmas! The cards are mailed, the packages are wrapped and the food is bought. I had time to play with a new purchase for the first time, the Poinsettia Bouquets stamps and dies from W Plus 9 Designs. Dawn's new release HERE is so beautiful and I love it! 
I love to watercolor, so I chose the bouquets to play with, and color them I did. Three different ways. Three cards to share with you today. 

 CLEAN and CLASSIC

This began with clear embossing over black ink, and coloring with Copic markers. A few dots with the white gel pen. I kept the lines clean and the embellishments simple - a gold embossed sentiment, and a few flat sequins.

SUBTLE SHIMMER

For the second card, I colored with watercolors mixed with Perfect Pearls in white. I began by embossing in gold onto watercolor paper. Mixing the pigment powder into each color gives a subtle shimmer and shine. I die cut the bouquet and then wondered what would set off the softly colored image. 

I decided to use a pale blue card stock run through the crimper. Lots of texture with a direct to paper inking of white craft ink on top of the ripples and lots of splatters. In gold and white. I finished it off with metallic thread, mirror paper mat, and pearls. IRL they are white. This was hard to photograph! It's my fav of the three cards because I love the texture.

Here is a better look at the shimmer.  And one more to go -   

BOLD ELEGANCE 5x7

This one is also embossed in gold onto watercolor paper and colored with Copics.  The gold mirror card stock is used minimally. This larger size is made easy by Dawn's dies for a 5X7 card. I loved having the extra space to make an impact! The bouquet was partially die cut and layered over Dove gray card stock. 

I am entering this at the NBUS Challenge. I'd love to know which of the cards is your favorite! Thanks for taking time to spend with me today. 

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!

Color Hues #8

 Hello stamping friends, it's that time again!  Yes, mid-December. We are almost there to Christmas but my post today is all about our new challenge at Color Hues. After all the Christmas cards we've been making, how does Green and Blue sound? 

I'm enthused about these colors but making my card at the last minute brought on some pressure! Oh my goodness, as often as I kept telling myself to keep it simple, instead I fumbled and bumbled my way through the creative process.  For way too long.

I began with the English Rose Bouquet Die (Memory Box) which is gorgeous all by itself. But could I stop there? NO! I wanted to come up with something different. And I did. I wish you could see the pretty blue gems in the flower centers IRL. 

I made a background using Distress Oxide inks, metallic inks and gesso on white card stock. Lost of playing, lots of splatters, and it was fun. 

You can only imagine how things went from there! You don't need any more details. I urge you to go have some fun with these great colors. 

Simple or complicated, it's all up to you! Hope to see you soon! Thanks so much for your kind visit.

Be yourself

     Delight in your craft 

        Make something beautiful!