Oh So Happy

Well, I have been enjoying our Spring weather, along with some rain. My Tulips are up and should bloom in the next few days and we will be planting some vegetables in our gardens soon. Yes, my husband has started this April planting craziness in the past few years. Last year we had almost 6 foot tall pea plants and our green beans produced more than we ever dreamed of. So, this year we are going to try to boost production so we can have more stored for the fall and winter.

Now, onto a card I made for a class I recently held.

This is a 5" x 7" card using our wonderful and amazing Whimsy Paper Fundamentals. I mounted the Pixie heart cardstock on some Lagoon cardstock. I used the stamp set from the Brushed Workshop On The Go kit. I stamped on Glacier cardstock with Lagoon and Black ink. I added some Turquoise Shimmer Trim and a Scallop punched border.

I cut a rolled flower from our Turquoise Glitter Paper with Artiste. I stamped the leaf fronds with Memento ink, then coloured them in with Shin Han Alcohol Markers. I also added some Clear Sparkles to finish this card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamp: Brushed WOTG
Cardstock: Whimsy Fundamentals; Lagoon; Glacier; White Daisy; Turquoise Glitter
Ink: Lagoon; Black; Shin Han Alcohol Markers
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; Turquoise Shimmer Trim
Tools: Artiste Cricut Cartridge
Other: Memento Black Ink

Spring flowers or SNOW.......

I don't mean to gloat......but our annual flower count topped 17 Billion blooms......yes, BILLION!!! Wow, I guess once you have lived here for a few years, you are so used to seeing flowers blooming in February, that it is hard to imagine there are actually that many blooming at once. The count was done from the 5th - 11th of March and all of the gorgeous cherry blossom trees would account for likely several billion blossoms!

In keeping with blossoms, here is the 3rd card in my Laughing Lola watercolour set.

All of the details are the same as the previous two cards. This card saw the addition of some Pink Shimmer Trim. Oh.....Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: retired Laughing Lola
Stamp: Assorted Edges; Artfully Sent; retired flower set
Cardstock: White Daisy; Flaxen; Thistle; Pixie
Ink: Hollyhock; Gypsy; Black; Flaxen; Canary & Pixie Pigment ink; Shin Han Marker
Embellishments: Flaxen Thick Twine; Clear Sparkles; Stardust Glitz
Other: Watercolour paper

Happy Birthday Watercolour

It was a super rainy day today in Victoria! It was a rather extreme change from the rest of the week, but we don't call it the "Wet Coast" for nothing! I hope less rainy days will return!

Here is the 2nd card in this series of my watercolour cards.

I used all of the same supplies as the card I recently posted. For this card, I used the sentiment stamp set that came with Artfully Sent. I stamped the sentiment with Black Pigment Ink, then embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I will be posting the 3rd card in this series in the next few days. Stay tuned!

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: retired Laughing Lola
Stamp: Assorted Edges; Artfully Sent; retired flower set
Cardstock: White Daisy; Flaxen; Thistle; Pixie
Ink: Hollyhock; Gypsy; Black; Flaxen; Canary & Pixie Pigment ink; Shin Han Marker
Embellishments: Flaxen Thick Twine; Clear Sparkles; Stardust Glitz
Other: Watercolour paper

Watercolour with Laughing Lola

Well, the weather in Victoria has just been SPECTACULAR this last week. We are nearing the end of the first week of Spring Break and our annual flower count. Yes, this is when we gloat to the rest of Canada about how many flowers are actually in bloom, in Victoria. I have 3 beautiful Hellebore plants in full bloom, along with several types of Daffodils. My Camellia shrub already lost all of its blooms and my Heucheras are starting to get their showy leaves back. 

So, in enjoying flowers, here is a card in my 3rd set of watercolour flower cards. I used a retired stamp set with this lovely daisy and retired Laughing Lola paper.

I stamped this flower with Pixie Pigment ink for the petals and Canary for the centre, on watercolour paper, then added clear embossing powder. My watercolour colours were Hollyhock and Gypsy ink. I used Flaxen; Thistle and Pixie cardstock. I stamped the linen image from Assorted Edges on the Flaxen piece with the scalloped edge. The sentiment is stamped with Black ink from the Artfully Send sentiment set.

I added Flaxen Thick Twine; Pink Shimmer Trim; and Clear Sparkles that I coloured pink with Shin Han Alcohol markers. Finally, I added some Stardust Glitz to the centre of the flower.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Paper: retired Laughing Lola
Stamp: Assorted Edges; Artfully Sent; retired flower set
Cardstock: White Daisy; Flaxen; Thistle; Pixie
Ink: Hollyhock; Gypsy; Black; Flaxen; Canary & Pixie Pigment ink; Shin Han Marker
Embellishments: Flaxen Thick Twine; Clear Sparkles; Stardust Glitz
Other: Watercolour paper

Bokeh on my Cards with Colour!

Wow, first let me say. it was the most gorgeous day in Victoria today. A no jacket with gardening glove requirement, kind of day! I got my tomato patch weeded and some Primulas planted. We have never had the local deer come into our yard, but we will see if these flowers attract them! Apparently they are high up on their menu!

Okay, on with the 2nd Bokeh cards....with colour!

 I started these cards with watercolour paper again. For the top one I used Thistle; Hollyhock; and Pixie ink to colour the background. While the watercolour paper was drying, I cut 1/2"; 3/4"; and 1" hearts out of a transparency. A note for when you cut shapes to use for this technique: move your blade about 3 to 4 inches in between each size or shape, so you have room around each image for the ink that will be spread as you pounce it through the shape.

When my watercolour piece was dry, I embossed this sentiment with Colonial White embossing powder and Versamark. I used Hollyhock ink for the Bokeh effect with hearts. I used my Black Journaling Pen to add an outline, then added retired Hollyhock Twill Ribbon and coloured some Clear Sparkles to match. I added a Hollyhock mat and called it done.

For this next card, I used Canary; Hollyhock; and Lagoon ink for the background. I stamped the sentiment with Lagoon Pigment ink and embossed it with Clear Embossing Powder. I added the flowers with White Daisy Pigment ink. What happened next......see below!

After I added the flowers with White Daisy, I didn't feel like they were standing out enough...they seemed to be fading into the background too much. So, I thought I would try something to see if it would work. I busted out my retired Hollyhock die marker and drew an outline around each flower. Then I used my water brush and lightly brushed the lines so they would soften out. It worked great to push the White Daisy flower images back to the front!

I added Heartstrings paper and Turquoise Shimmer Trim, along with some Aqua Dots. I also added a Lagoon mat to finish this card.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.

Stamps: Your Own Kind of Wonderful; Big Hugs

Paper: Heartstrings

Ink:Canary; Lagoon; Hollyhock; Thistle; Pixie; Hollyhock, White Daisy, Lagoon Pigment; retired Hollyhock marker; Shin Han Marker; Versamark

Cardstock: Hollyhock; Lagoon; White Daisy

Embellishments: retired Hollyhock Twill Ribbon; Turquoise Shimmer Trim; Clear Sparkles; Aqua Dots

Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Other: Watercolour paper; transparency

Bokeh on my cards!

Here are a couple of cards that I created, which feature what one might call the "Bokeh" technique.

"In photography, bokeh (Originally /ˈboʊkɛ/, /ˈboʊkeɪ/ BOH-kay — also sometimes pronounced as /ˈboʊkə/ BOH-kə, Japanese: [boke]) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light". (from Wikipedia)

 This first card I used Pacifica; Pear and Lagoon ink to create a background on watercolour paper. I let it air dry, then stamped the sentiment with Crystal Blue Pigment ink, and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I took a transparency and cut circles at 1/2"; 3/4"; 1; and 1 1/4" with my Cricut. Then, I added White Daisy pigment ink, with a sponge dauber.  I randomly daubed the ink and made sure I overlapped to appear like "Bokeh". (A wee note...my sponge dauber had some existing ink on it, so when adding the White Daisy pigment ink, it did not go on completely white. I used a different ink tool for the second card so I could get the white to look white.)

I drew an outline with my Black Journaling pen, then added Outdoor Denim Chevron Twill Ribbon. I coloured some Clear Sparkles with my Shin Han Markers, then applied them and a Pacifica cardstock mat.

For my second "Bokeh" card, I created the background with Sunset; Pear; and Hollyhock inks. I stamped the sentiment with Sunset Pigment Ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. This time, I cut stars out of my transparency, then used those to create the "Bokeh" effect with White Daisy Pigment ink. Some of the starts seemed to disappear a wee bit too much into the background, so I decided to outline a few with my Black Journaling pen. I also used my Shin Han Markers to colour some Clear Sparkles. I used Sunset cardstock as a mat.

Stay tuned for another 2 cards with "Bokeh" techniques using hearts and dye based markers.

All supplies are Close To My Heart, unless noted.
Stamps: Glitter Glam; Big Hug
Ink: Lagoon; Pear; Pacifica; Sunset; Hollyhock
Pigment inks: White Daisy; Crystal Blue; Sunset
Markers: Shin Han Alcohol Markers; Black Journaling Pen
Cardstock: Pacifica; Sunset; White Daisy
Embellishments: Clear Sparkles; Outdoor Denim Chevron Twill Ribbon
Tools: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Other: Watercolour paper; Transparency

Fourteen and Fabulous

At the end of January, the day after my 20th wedding anniversary, my youngest daughter turned 14 years old! I still have to shake my head every time I realize I have 3 teens living in our house. It is even more mind boggling, that these 3 wonderful teens are our children! This is the card I created for my daughter.

This card is 5 x 7, as I like to make large cards for my family's birthdays. I used Lagoon cardstock and ink, with a wee bit of Sweet Leaf; Whisper and Black. I created a background with various images from, Your Own Kind of Wonderful. I also stamped a script image, from a retired set, in Whisper ink.

I drew outlines on most shapes with our wonderful Journaling pen. I stamped the sentiment with Black ink from, Joyful Birthday. The numbers were cut from Artiste and the other shapes from Art Philosophy. I added Sweet Leaf butterflies; Silver Sequins coloured with Shin Han Markers; and Lagoon Baker's Twine.

All supplies are Close To My Heart.
Stamps: Your Own Kind of Wonderful; Joyful Birthday
Cardstock: White Daisy; Lagoon; Whisper; Sweet Leaf
Ink: Lagoon; Sweet Leaf; Black; Whisper
Embellishments: Silver Sequins; Shin Han Alcohol Markers; retired Lagoon Baker's Twine; Stardust Glitz; Black Journaling Pen
Tools: Artiste; Art Philosophy