Love Ya Silly

I don't know about you, but I love silly images with even sillier sentiments. The combination of both in stamp set, Love Ya Silly, makes me smile every time I look at them!

These 3 cards were created for a recent class. I also made several other copies and they were a quick sell. Here is how easy each of them came together.

 I wanted to utilize Hopscotch paper......which by the way is only available until the end of March! So the 3 cards use all 6 available patterns, in this paper package. I coordinated with Lagoon; Smoothie and Flaxen cardstock for mats and scallop borders.

You'll also notice this sweet monster appears to have a bit of texture. After I inked him up, I swiped him across my stamp pad to add this great textured looking effect, before I stamped him.

 Each card got Flaxen Thick Twine and Gold Sequins embellishments. You don't see the Gold Sequins......that is because I coloured the sequins with my Shin Han Alcohol Markers to coordinate them to the cardstock colour!

I also used several images of the wonderful scribble from, Doodled Designs. It was stamped with Lagoon; Flaxen and Smoothie ink on each focus piece, just to add to the fun of each card.

The cute monsters were stamped with Lagoon; Flaxen and Smoothie ink, also. Those sweet and silly sentiments were stamped with Black ink. I also added accents with my Black Journaling pen to each of the cards.

All supplies are Close To  My Heart.
Paper: Hopscotch
Stamps: Doodled Designs; Love Ya Silly
Ink: Lagoon; Smoothie; Flaxen; Black; Black Journaling Pen; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Cardstock: Flaxen; Smoothie; Lagoon; Colonial White
Embellishments: Flaxen Thick Twine; Gold Sequins
Tools: Scallop Border Punch; Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Watercolour Flowers #2

Whew, that was a busy week. The weather has been SPECTACULAR....with cherry blossoms; crocus and daffodils in full bloom. I seemed to have few things booked last week, but then all sorts of short notice things came up. So I didn't have as much creating time as I would have liked, but see that all is okay, since this is only the 3rd card in my 2nd watercolour card series. I already have 2 more sets done.

I used the exact same supplies for this card, as I did for the previous two with Seaside paper. This card was completed with a different flower configuration, but it didn't seem quite right. I had a fourth, smaller flower on the top left, where the leaf is now. It was too heavy looking and of course I am all about the rule of thirds and like having an odd number of things on everything. I also like the look of things being off balance, rather than all even and squared up in their layout. So, once I removed the extra flower and added another leaf, it seemed more to my liking.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Seaside
Stamp: Artfully Sent Sentiment; retired flower; Assorted Edges
Ink: Lagoon; Pear; Creme Brulee; Cotton Candy; Whisper; Slate; Versamark
Cardstock: Whisper; Colonial White; Lagoon
Embellishments: Lagoon Baker's Twine; Gold Sequins; Aqua Dots; Colonial White Embossing Powder
Other: Watercolour paper

More flowers with Seaside

Here is another watercolour flower card in my series using Seaside paper.

I pretty much duplicated everything from the first card, but in a different design. The patterned paper is from Seaside. I stamped the Whisper cardstock with the linen stamp from Assorted Edges, in coordinating ink. The sentiment is stamped from Artfully Sent's stamp set. The flowers were coloured in using our inks on watercolour paper. I tied things up with Lagoon Baker's Twine; then added Gold Sequins and Aqua Dots.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Seaside
Stamp: Artfully Sent Sentiment; retired flower
Ink: Lagoon; Pear; Creme Brulee; Cotton Candy; Whisper; Slate; Versamark
Cardstock: Whisper; Colonial White; Lagoon
Embellishments: Lagoon Baker's Twine; Gold Sequins; Aqua Dots; Colonial White Embossing Powder
Other: Watercolour paper

Seaside Flower cards

This is my 2nd series of watercolour cards. These flowers are from a retired set and I paired them with current paper package, Seaside.

I started the flowers by stamping the images on watercolour paper with Versamark ink, then embossing with Colonial White embossing powder. I smeared Creme Brulee and Cotton Candy ink on my craft mat, then spritzed with water. I painted the flowers several times...waiting for colours to dry in between, so I could see if I wanted to add more colour for a darker look.

The leaves were embossed in the same fashion and coloured with Pear and Lagoon inks. The lovely patterned paper is from Seaside, then I added some Whisper and Colonial White cardstock. The top border layer is Lagoon cardstock, stamped with the linen image from Assorted Edges in coordinating ink.

The sentiment is from the stamp set that came with our Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge. I added Aqua Dots and Lagoon Baker's Twine, along with some Gold Sequins.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: Seaside
Stamps: Assorted Edges; Artfully Sent Sentiments; retired flower set
Cardstock: Colonial White; Whisper; Lagoon
Ink: Black; Creme Brulee; Cotton Candy; Pear; Lagoon; Versamar,
Embellishments: Lagoon Baker's Twine; Aqua Dots; Gold Sequins; Colonial White Embossing Powder
Other: Watercolour paper

Flower Power

I am experiencing overwhelming flower power. I have been doing a lot of flower watercolouring and enjoying all of the flowers blooming in my yard. Then there are the awesome cherry blossom trees, lighting streets up with their delicate pink blooms in the thousands, in full bloom around town. Just to add to it, here in Victoria we are gearing up for our annual flower count. We like to share how many blooms there are here, while usually the rest of Canada is sharing their cold temperatures including wind chill!

Here is the 3rd set of blooms, in my watercolour card set, using Scaredy Cat. 

This card has lovely Gold Bling Gems and the sentiment is from, Say It In Style. The patterned paper is from Scaredy Cat along with Pixie; Thistle; Sunset; Slate and Colonial White cardstock. The Thistle cardstock is stamped with coordinating ink with an image from Assorted Edges. The flowers are from A Budding Friendship.

The flowers have been watercoloured with Creme Brulee; Sunset and Thistle ink. The leaves were coloured with New England Ivy; Pear and Lagoon.

The 3 watercoloured flower cards I've now finished showing are available for you to make on
Tues, Feb 24th from 6 - 8:30pm or
Sun, Mar 1st from 1 - 3:30pm
The cost is $29 and you will go home with stamp set, A Budding Friendship along with 6 cards and envelopes.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: A Budding Friendship; Assorted Edges; Say It In Style
Paper: Scaredy Cat
Cardstock: Colonial White; Pixie; Thistle; Sunset; Slate
Ink: Creme Brulee; Sunset; Thistle; New England Ivy; Pear; Lagoon; Versamark
Embellishments: Colonial White Embossing Powder; Gold Bling Gems
Tools: Scallop Border Punch
Other: Watercolour paper

Watercolor fun!

This is the second card in a 3 card series, I recently created, when I watched a video about watercolouring with distress inks. Knowing distress inks are dye inks, just like my Close To My Heart inks, made me realize I could try this technique too!

I used Thistle cardstock as my first mat along with patterned paper from Scaredy Cat. The smaller scalloped edge mat is Slate, as well as, the sentiment mat. The card base and other light cardstock is Colonial White and the pink piece is Pixie cardstock. I stamped it with coordinating ink and an image from Assorted Edges. The sentiment is stamped with Thistle ink.

For the flowers, I first stamped images from A Budding Friendship with Versamark ink on Watercolour paper. I added Colonial White embossing powder, then heated it up with my heat gun. I used Thistle; Creme Brule; and Canary. The leaves were done with Sweet Leaf; Pear; New England Ivy and Flaxen.

It is really fun to play around with our inks and watercolour paper. For these flowers I smeared ink on my Craft Mat, then spritzed the ink spots with water. Then I painted the flowers. If I felt like I needed more colour or if wasn't moving the way I wanted, then I spritzed the flowers and leaves with water. I tried blotting some of the colour on some and just letting the excess water sit on others. If after they dried I felt they needed more, then I spritzed up more colour and/or the flower or leaf and added more colour with my paintbrush.

Most importantly, I had fun! I didn't worry too much about whether I was following any rules that may be out there for watercolouring. I like to do the opposite of what rules tell me sometimes.....but mostly I do my own thing and have a tendency to read rules at a later date once I have experimented my way. Art is an expression of yourself, so I think you should do it on your own terms.....with or without rules!

I added Pixie Thick Twine and Flamingo dots to finish this card.

All supplies are Close to My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: A Budding Friendship; Assorted Edges; Artfully Sent Sentiments
Paper: Scaredy Cat
Cardstock: Colonial White; Thistle; Slate; Pixie
Ink: Thistle; Pixie; Creme Brulee; Canary; Sweet Leaf; Flaxen; New England Ivy; Pear
Embellishments: Pixie Thick Twine; Flamingo Dots
Other: Watercolour paper 120lb

Another Valentine's card & Challenge

I noticed a Close To My Heart friend, Casandra Bennett made a sweet card that she entered in the Love themed challenge #172 over at Use Your Stuff Challenge Blog. Since I have been using parts and pieces I had previously cut and/or stamped, on my Valentine's cards, I thought this would be a great challenge to enter.

The piece I started with was the stamped heart and Cricut cut Lagoon heart flourish circle. I added a Ruby and White Daisy cardstock circle, then stamped my sentiment from a retired set in Black ink. I added Red Glitz to the heart and sponged Black ink around the edges, just to make it pop a bit more.

The patterned paper is from Heartstrings and the "I Love You" sentiment is stamped from a retired Stamp of the Month. I finished the card with Black Shimmer Trim.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Heartstrings
Stamps: retired
Cardstock: Black; White Daisy; Lagoon; Ruby
Ink: Black; Ruby
Embellishments: Black Shimmer Trim; Red Glitz
Tools: Artiste Cricut Cartridge

LOVE Challenge

 Thankfully, I am not challenged with LOVE! I am sharing this card today and entering it over on the JUGS blog. It is a word week and their challenge is "create with an expression of LOVE". 

 This is a Valentine card I created for sale at my friend's coffee shop. It is 5 x 7 and started with Cranberry cardstock on a White Daisy base. The black paper is from retired, For Always paper. The border is comprised of Turquoise Shimmer Trim; a Heartstrings zip strip; Turquoise Heart Washi Tape; Black Baker's Twine; with White Daisy and Cranberry cardstock. The sentiment is also from a Heartstring's zip strip.

The heart was stamped from a retired set with Cranberry ink on White Daisy cardstock. I added some Red Glitz to the heart, also.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Heartstrings; retired For Always
Stamp: retired
Cardstock: White Daisy; Cranberry
Ink: Cranberry
Embellishments: Turquoise Shimmer Trim; Black Baker's Twine; Turquoise Heart Washi Tape; Red Glitz Gel

Watercolor wonder!

Okay, I've been bitten......bitten by the watercolour bug! There are tons of videos out right now showing watercolouring with distress inks. Distress inks are water based, just like our 40 Close To My Heart inks. So, well......why wouldn't I just use what I have!?

I have had a pad of watercolour paper, in my workshop, for a couple of years now. It has actually been collecting dust the entire time. Now and again I have thought to myself that I should use it for whatever the reason I bought it for! Sounds reasonable, if only I could remember what that was!

I don't know if this was the reason, but it IS the reason, now! I first embossed these flowers on the watercolour paper using Versamark and Colonial White Embossing powder. Then I got my All Purpose Mat out and pounced some Creme Brulee and Thistle ink on it. Then I sprayed each with water, using our Spray Pen. Next, I used a fine paint brush I had laying around and started adding colour to each petal.

I didn't realize how light the colours would be, when the water dried. I wanted to add more colour, so I smeared more Thistle ink on my Craft Mat and spritzed it again. The ink was not blending and moving the way I wanted it to, so I spritzed the flowers with water, too. That was the ticket....the paint was moving nicely now. 

I love to experiment, so one flower I left to air dry; one I used my craft heater to dry; and a third flower I blotted almost dry. Blotting muted the colours and the craft heater pushed the colour around a bit. So, for the most part, I like the air drying best. I went back in a third time with more Thistle for shading on the petals and Canary for the centre.

The flowers are from, A Budding Friendship. I also stamped with the linen image from, Assorted Edges, on the Thistle cardstock in coordinating ink. I added White Daisy and Slate cardstock for mats on the border. The large mat is Pixie cardstock.

I followed the same techniques for watercolouring the leaves. I used Sweet Leaf; New England Ivy and Pear ink to colour those. I also altered some Gold Sequins with our GY234 Leaf Green Shin  Han Marker.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: A Budding Friendship; Assorted Edges
Paper: Scaredy Cat
Ink: Thistle; Creme Brulee; Canary; Sweet Leaf; New England Ivy; Pear; Shin Han Alcohol Marker
Cardstock: Pixie; White Daisy; Slate
Embellishments: Gold Sequins; Colonial White Embossing Powder
Other: Versamark; 120 lb Watercolour paper

Quick Valentine card & Challenge

Sometimes the simpler the card, the more I like it. This card is that for me and I am submitting it to Cuttlebug Mania for their "Heart" Challenge.

I used our "Heart" Embossing Folder with Slate cardstock and a Lagoon mat. The patterned paper is from Heartstrings on a Ruby cardstock mat. I stamped the circle image from, Doodled Designs, 3 times with Lagoon ink. I stamped the image from, Sweeter with You in Ruby ink and added a Red Enamel Heart. I did first colour the heart with a Shin Han Marker to change to colour to be closer to Ruby, first.

I added our retired Ruby Chevron Washi Tape and a Heartstrings zip strip to some Lagoon cardstock. I also added Red Shimmer Trim and that is how simple and quick this card was.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Paper: Heartstrings
Stamps: Doodled Designs; Sweeter with You
Cardstock: White Daisy; Slate; Ruby; Lagoon
Ink: Lagoon; Ruby
Embellishments: Red Enamel Heart; Red Shimmer Trim
Tools: Heart Embossing Folder

Valentine's Day is coming.....

I made several 5 x 7 Valentine cards and am now hosting a class for you to make at least one Valentine card and 2 other 5 x 7 cards. Here is one of the cards that will be available.

I used our Diamond Embossing Folder with Cranberry cardstock on a Black mat. I added a border with patterned paper from Heartstrings and Turquoise Shimmer Trim. The other patterned paper is from a retired pack as are the stamped images. The hearts were cut from Artiste and I used some Black Baker's twine.

If you would rather not make this card, but purchase it.....it is available at Township Coffee, in Victoria, BC at 4343 Tyndall at San Juan.

Stay tuned for another Valentine's card tomorrow, that can also be made at my workshop this coming Sunday, Feb 8 from 1-3pm or Tuesday, Feb 10 from 6-8pm for a cost of $12.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamp: retired
Paper: Heartstrings
Embellishments: Turquoise Shimmer Trim; Black Baker's Twine
Cardstock: Cranberry; Black; Lagoon
Ink: Cranberry; Black
Tools: Artiste Cricut cartridge