thankful for all...

 Hello!  Got some time to make a card today and of course I had to make a card using my two favorite challenges:  Color Throwdown and Freshly Made Sketches!  I have been seeing lots of beautiful cards make with poinsettia images and dies and that inspired me to get out one of my favorite poinsettia stamp sets to use for my card.  That stamp set is Festive Poinsettia from Altenew.  I love the realistic looking poinsettia in this stamp set.  I stamped the image on Canson watercolor paper with Vintage Photo distress ink.  I then carefully wet different bracts of the poinsettia with water and watercolored with the dark red color from my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor set.  I made sure to color one bract and then color another that wasn't close to it.  This way I could make sure that the colors didn't bleed too much.  The Vintage Photo mixed with the dark red to give it a more burgundy color, as well.   Once one bract was mostly dry I would add an additional layer of color. The remaining bracts were just wet with water and then I pulled out the Vintage Photo to give the rest of the bracts a kraft/cream color.   The stems and the actual flowers of the image were colored in the same way.  Most people think that the red, white, pink or cream colored bracts are the flower, but they aren't.  The flowers in the poinsettia are actually really tiny and look like what might be the center of a flower.    Once the image was mostly dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I then die cut some red cardstock with a rectangle die and tore off the bottom.   I die cut a piece of the Canson watercolor paper with a large rectangle die and then stamped the sentiment from Festive Poinsettia with the Vintage Photo ink.  I splattered the large rectangle and the poinsettia with black watercolor and let them dry.  When they were fully dry I adhered the red cardstock piece and the poinsettia to the large rectangle and then adhered everything to a kraft cardstock base.   Also adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of fun with dies.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

two cards... one image...

Hello!  Well I seem to be in a cardmaking lately!  I'm trying to use all of the stam

ps and dies that I purchased in November and December.   Today is the day to share two cards that I made using one image.  In either November or December I purchased the beautiful My Favorite Things Floral Focus stamp and die set.  This set consists of a large floral image and different words that can be put together to create sentiments.  The die is one large die that cuts the entire image.  However, the way the image was design there is a way to cut the image apart thus creating two separate pieces.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper and then stamped the image using VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink.  I watercolored the image using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors in the MFT color challenge combo.  I'm really fascinated with using gray to color images and even though I had already created a card using that color combo I really wanted to use it again.  Once the image was dry I added some additional color with my Polychromos color pencils and I then carefully die cut it.  The die is solid and so I had to die cut it first from scrap paper to create a template, arrange the template over the stamped image, fit the die into place and then run it through my die cutter.  It took a little bit of patience to do that, but it worked like a charm. I cut the piece apart and then I created my first card using the layout from CAS(E) this Sketch.  I will also be posting this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge and the MFT color challenge.

The second card uses the layout from Mojo Monday.  I'm going to try to play along with Mojo Monday more often this year.  We will see how it goes.  I left the ribbon element off my card for a more clean and simple design.  Going to post this one to Simon Says Stamp, as well.  No need to explain the process as I already did that for the first card! With this card you can see more of my coloring as on the first card I partially covered that up with my sentiment strip.  I must say that  even though I had to cut the image into two separate pieces I'm really pleased with how well my coloring turned out.  I have been watching lots of videos on watercoloring and learning lots.  Now I have to put it into practice!  I'm looking forward to coloring this image again and using the full image on one card!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Fall and Christmas...

Hello there!  I have two cards to share for challenges that will be closing in a few hours.  First up is a card for Freshly Made Sketches.   A few weeks ago I colored up the large oak leaf image from the beautiful Colorado Craft Company stamp set called Oak Leave & Acorns from their Big and Bold line of stamps.  At the time I colored up the larger image I had also colored the smaller oak leaf and acorn image, as well.  I set that image aside, forgot where it was, found it, then forgot it again, and finally found it one last time!  Determined to not have it disappear again I die cut it with one of the rectangles from the AJVD Stitched Dot rectangle die set and then adhered it to a kraft cardstock base pursuant to the FMS layout.  I then stamped the sentiment on additional craft cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink, trimmed it down and adhered it to the image panel.   It has been so long since I did the coloring in this card that I don't remember what exactly I used, but I think it was my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.   The paper used was Canson watercolor paper and the image was stamped in Acorn ink.

The second card is for a few challenges:  the Paper Players, Color Throwdown and Inspired By.  For the Inspired By challenge I was obviously inspired by the large lawn ornaments.  After embossing the ornament from the Simon Says Stamp Ornate Ornaments stamp set in silver I did some very simple coloring with my ZIGs and a little bit of water.   The ornament was die cut with the matching die and the little string from some silver glitter cardstock.  I then adhered them together with Nuvo Deluxe adhesive.  Strips of orange and silver glitter cardstock were cut and adhered to a white cardstock panel that I die cut with a rectangle die from AJVD.   The strips were adhered along with the ornament and then I added the sentiment (from a now retired SSS stamp set called Gifts of Love) that I stamped in VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist ink.  Super quick and easy and now I have one more Christmas card!

Before I go I want to let you know that Spellbinders' Pre Black Friday blow out sale has started and runs through December 3rd at midnight MST.  Here are some of the deals they are offering:

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Just click here to find all the deals.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Christmas and Thank You...

Hello!  Got some crafty time in and made a Christmas card (yay... one more down!) and a thank you card.  First up is my Christmas card.  This one is for the Paper Players and Reverse Confetti's stock your stash challenge (holiday/winter).  I used the Reverse Confetti Triangle Trees stamp and die set along with another die from Reverse Confetti Polka Dot Panel.  My idea started out a little differently then the resulting card and for a time as I was trying to make the card I didn't think things were going to turn out well.  But in the end I was able to bring the card together in a way that I liked.  I stamped the trees in the Paper Players color combo and die cut them with the matching die.  The sentiment was stamped on white cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and trimmed down.  I die cut the Polka Dot panel three times from white cardstock and then adhered them together.   The tree with the polka dots had little dots of Nuvo Crystal drops added and when everything was dry I added little snowflake sequins to the tops of each tree.   After arranging and adhering the trees to the polka dot panel I started to have trouble when I began trying to arrange the silver thread.  Thankfully I was able to get it on the card and it didn't look awful!  The panel was then adhered to a light gray cardstock base.

The second card is for the current Sunday Stamps challenge (a beautiful color palette... hopefully I got the colors right and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of Thanksgiving/thank you.  Last year my dear friend Greta was so kind to share with me a large prize she won and I was able to get the Penny Black Berry Flourish die.  I finally got around to using it (hangs head in shame) for this card.  I die cut it twice from watercolor paper and then used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to color the leaves and the berries.  Hopefully you can tell that I did use at least four of the colors.  Once the branches were dry I arranged them on a piece of kraft cardstock that I had die cut with a rectangle die so I could determine where to place the sentiment.  The sentiment is from the Simon Says Stamp Thankful Flowers stamp set and was stamped with VersaFine CLAIR Acorn ink.  I then glued the branches in place and added the little bow tied from some beautiful golden yellow twine from Spellbinders/Fun Stampers Journey.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wondeful day!

Hey... buttercup!

Hey there!  I'm popping in to share a card that I made for a couple of challenges:  the Paper Players (colors) and Time Out (nature).   Back in May I purchased the Chin Up Buttercup stamp and die set from Honey Bee Stamps.  I just loved the sweet little flowers in the set and when they had a sale I decided to make it mine.  I have been wanting to use it ever since I arrived in my mailbox and the Paper Players challenge was the perfect opportunity, as is the challenge at Time Out.  I stamped all the images from the set on Arches hot press watercolor paper with VersaMark watermark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder from Hero Arts.  I then colored everything with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and clean water.  When everything was dry I die cut them with the matching dies.  Then the hunt was on to find a purple ink that was similar to the Highland Heather color called for in the Paper Players color combo.   I don't generally buy purple inks and so my choices were limited, but I think PTI's Winter Wisteria filled in nicely.  I used that to stamp the words hey and buttercup.   Both words have matching dies to I used the one for the word buttercup and then stamped the word hey on my white cardstock panel.  Then I arranged all the die cut pieces and adhered the panel to a white cardstock base.  Love how this one turned out!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  PTI white; Arches hot press watercolor paper; Stamps: Honey Bee Stamps; Dies:  Honey Bee Stamps and A Jillian Vance Design; Ink:  VersaMark watermark ink, PTI Winter Wisteria; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts

fabulous day...

Hello!  Hope you have a had a great week!  We had a teeny tiny polar vortex here in the Pacific Northwest at the beginning of the week.  It got super cold and we got snow.   Things have thawed a lot, but we are supposed to get more snow this weekend.  Good time to stay inside and do some crafting.   The other day I received some happy mail in the form of the Altenew Cattleya Build-a-Flower stamp set.  I pulled it out and worked on my watercoloring.  I stamped the image using VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink and then colored it with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.  I only used one color for the flowers and two colors for the stem and the unopened bud.   I really took my time as I colored the image and I really like how it turned out.  Once it was dried I die cut it with the matching die.  The colors come from this month's Altenew Inspiration challenge.  To finish the card I stamped the outline image on white cardstock in light gray ink and then splattered the image with some gray ink mixed with water.   Arranged where I wanted the image to be and then stamped the sentiment.  I adhered the image and then adhered the panel to a light gray cardstock base.  I will also be adding this to the current Flower Challenge to use your newest stamp set.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  MFT white, SSS fog; Arches watercolor paper; Stamps:  Altenew; Dies:  Altenew and AJVD; Ink:  VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne, Ranger Hickory Smoke distress ink; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi 

some cards to share...

Hello!   As my blog title suggests I have cards to share.  Two cards to be exact.   First up is a card for this month's Altenew inspiration challenge, as well as Freshly Made Sketches.  I did some watercoloring using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and the Altenew Starry Flowers stamp set.  I stamped the image using VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then did my simple watercoloring.  I used the red and scarlet red colors from my palette to color the flowers and then added in touches of orange to deepen the colors.  The stem was colored with a turquoise green.  When the image was dry I die cut it with the matching die.   Some teal color cardstock was die cut with an AJVD rectangle die and then stamped with the other floral image from the set using teal ink.   The sentiment was then stamped with the Nocturne ink.  I adhered the panel to my card base per the sketch and then adhered the watercolored image.  Another super clean and simple design.

The second card is for Color Throwdown.   I used my newly acquired Everyday Bouquet Turnabout kit from Concord & 9th.  Can I just tell you how much I love the new jig that comes in the kit, as well as the alignment tool the comes with the stamp set?  Both are fabulous and I can't wait to create more cards with the turnabout stamp sets that I have!  I stamped the images using the three inks from the CTD palette and then finished off the image by stamping the fourth turn using SSS Fog ink.  I love how the soft gray fills in the missing images, but doesn't make them stand out too much.  I stamped the sentiment in the dark blue ink and then die cut it with the square die from the die set.  I used the smaller square to die cut gray cardstock twice to get the little frame around the sentiment.  The flower and leaves (also from the die set) were die cut from dark blue and green cardstock.  I die cut the main panel with an AJVD rectangle die and then layered up the sentiment square with the other elements.  I added in a little loop of silver sequin trim (from C9) for some sparkle.

you are beautiful...

Hello!  Hope you are having a good week!  A week or so ago I finally got my hands on the gorgeous Essentials by Ellen Mondo Sakura stamp set.  It sold out quite quickly once it was released by Ellen Hutson and I wasn't able to get one.  Then it came back in stock, but I think it sold out, again.  Finally third time was a charm for me!  I stamped it on Bristol cardstock with VersaFine CLAIR Nocturne ink and then I colored the image with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors and a water brush.  I'm not very good at all with a water brush so my first effort didn't turn out very well.  I think it had to do with the fact that I was trying to use my ZIG markers.   The end result was bad, but it wasn't great either.  So I switched to my Gansai Tambi watercolors and things turned out much, much better.  I actually pretty proud of my effort.  Anyway, once the image was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I then did a light wash of pink and yellow on a piece of watercolor paper.  I let it dry and then splattered it with the same color paints and some black paint.  I trimmed down the fully dry panel and then adhered the die cut piece to the panel.  Because I didn't want to cover up the image I stamped the sentiment on vellum with watermark ink and heat embossed it in white.  That was adhered with glue dots.   The layout is courtesy of Freshly Made Sketches so I will be posting it there as well as with the Essentials by Ellen color trend challenge since I used a couple of the colors from the palette.

Hope you have  wonderful day...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  kraft, Bristol, watercolor paper; Stamps and dies:  Essentials by Ellen; Ink: VersaFine CLAIR, VersaMark watermark ink; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts

two cards to share...

Hello!  I'm popping in with a couple of cards that I made over the last few days.  I did some watercoloring on both cards.  First up is a card for the current My Favorite Things sketch challenge.  I pulled out the super cute MFT/Birdie Brown Rain or Shine stamp set and colored up one of the sweet little girls from the set using ZIG clean color real brush markers.  I used VersaFine CLAIR in Morning Mist for the stamping.  Once she was done I die cut her with the matching die.  I then watercolored up a small piece of watercolor paper with a dark blue from my Kuretake Gansai Tambi set and die cut a circle from that once it was dry.  The little water splashes were stamped on the scrap left over from the die cutting the circle and then die cut as well.  I used the MFT Mini Raindrop stencil to add raindrops using Ranger texture paste in transparent gloss.  The sentiment was stamped on vellum with watermark ink, embossed in white and die cut with the MFT Slanted Sentiment die.  Once the texture paste was dry I layered up everything on a white cardstock panel and adhered it to a dark blue cardstock base.

The second card is for the April Altenew Inspiration challenge as well as Freshly Made Sketches.  I had wanted to use my Chrysanthemum Build a Flower set, but the colors weren't working for me with the solid images so I fell back on my Coral Charm BAF set and did a little watercoloring using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors. I pulled my colors from the photos to get that softer look. Once they were dry I die cut the flowers with the matching dies.  To bring in some of the dark blue I splattered my white panel with dark blue paint and embossed the sentiment on dark blue cardstock in white.   Once everything was dry I layered up the flowers, leaves and sentiment per the sketch.  To finish I added some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins in two sizes for a little sparkle.  Will be adding this to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge of sparkle and shine.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:  Card 1:  Cardstock:  white, medium blue, Canson watercolor paper, vellum; Stamps:  My Favorite Things; Dies:  My Favorite Things and A Jillian Vance Design; Inks:  VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist, VersaMark watermark ink; Watercolor medium:  ZIG Clean Color markers, Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors; Texture Medium:  Ranger Texture Paste; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts

Card 2:  Cardstock:  white, dark blue, Canson watercolor paper; Stamps:  Altenew; Dies:  Altenew and A Jillian Vance Design; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi; Inks:  VersaFine CLAIR Morning Mist, VersaMark watermark ink; Embossing powder:  Hero Arts

if friends were flowers...

Hey there!  Hope you are having a lovely weekend!  I have another card to share today.  This one is for the February Altenew inspiration challenge.  Also going to add it to the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.  I recently got the Altenew Peony Spray stamp and die set.  I just love peonies!  I have several plants growing in my yard and look forward to their beautiful blooms every year.  So... it just makes sense that I would want to have a few peony related stamp sets in my collection!  Using the Altenew inspiration photo I pulled out the lighter shade of pink and the green (although my green isn't that dark) as a starting point.  I stamped the peony on Canson watercolor paper using VersaFine Smoky Gray ink and then loosely colored the image with Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.  When it was dry I die cut it with the matching die.  I watercolored a second piece of Canson watercolor paper with a light pink ZIG marker and when it was dry die cut it with the Altenew Watercolor Stripes cover die.   I stamped the sentiment using VersaFine Onyx Black and then popped the piece up on a light gray cardstock base.  I originally had the flower adhered flush with the die cut but didn't like it.  Thankfully I was able to remove it and add some foam dimensionals to the back.  It looks much better popped up.  Finished with some Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear sequins.

Have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:  Cardstock:  SSS fog, Canson watercolor; Stamps and dies:  Altenew; Inks:  VersaFine; Watercolor medium:  Kuretake Gansai Tambi, ZIG clean color marker; Sequins:  Pretty Pink Posh

a flamingo and a fox...

Hey friends!!! Happy Friday!! I'm popping with a couple of cards today for several different challenges.  First up is a card is a card that combines two of my favorite challenges:  Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.   I really like flamingos and have for a long time so I'm really loving all the flamingo inspired stamp sets out there.  Recently I purchased the Hero Arts Color Layering Flamingo stamp set along with the matching die and I couldn't wait to ink it up.  I know that flamingos are not red, but red is one of the colors in the Color Throwdown palette and so I just went with it.  I have to say that I really love how my flamingo turned out!  I had a bit of panic when I couldn't find the tiny beak stamp, but thankfully I found it!!  I used my mini MISTI to help me stamp the body of flamingo.   In order to get the variation in the layers of color I inked up the main body image and then stamped it off on scrap paper before stamping it on my cardstock.  Then I stamped the second layer at full strength and the third layer was actually stamped twice to get the depth of color needed.  For the oval element on the sketch I used the MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rectangle dies.   I added some clear Wink of Stella to the body and it looks really pretty in real life.

My second card is for the current My Favorite Things Wednesday sketch challenge.   One of the trends lately has been critter stamps.  I have resisted buying critter stamp sets because I'm just not that great at coloring, but I stepped outside my comfort zone and purchased one of MFT's cute little critter sets, Sweet Forest Friends, and did some watercoloring.  My watercoloring is a work in progress, but I really do like how everything turned out.  Initially I tried using my Zig Clean Color markers, but I need more practice with them so I used my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors.  All the images were stamped in VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink and then water colored.  After everything was dry I die cut the images with the matching dies.  A background was watercolored with light blue and green watercolors to create my grass and sky.  When that piece was dry I die cut it with a Inside and Out Stitched die. Obviously the round element from the sketch was replaced with my little scene of the tree, fox, bird and flowers.  The banners were cut with the MFT Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax die from some MFT patterned papers in neutral colors.

Thanks for stopping by today...

Supplies:  Cardstock:  white, SSS fog; Stamps:  Hero Arts Color Layering Flamingo; My Favorite Things Sweet Forest Friends; Dies:  Hero Arts, My Favorite Things and A Jillian Vance Design;  Inks:  Stampin Up! Gumball Green and Real Red, VersaFine Vintage Sepia and Onyx Black; MFT patterned paper; Ranger watercolor paper