Watercolor cards

I found some time to play with my Distress Inks today to make a few thank you cards (always need plenty of those!)  The firs card uses a Hero Arts stamp and a Distress Ink bleed technique from Jennifer McGuire on the sentiment:

It was sooo relaxing to color in the flowers.  I haven't used this stamp in ages, so it was good to pull it out again.

 

On my next card with a banner, I used the weekly Kerri Bradford freebie (Flower in a square) on top of a watercolor background:

It's funny how watercolor backgrounds come out - I started out with an idea of multiple colors, but it just stayed in the orange/yellow scheme, so I went with it!

 

I'm entering this card in the June Mid-month throwdown over at Operation Write Home and of course, I'm adding this to the 30 Day Coloring challenge over at The Daily Marker.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 



Love ya to the stars

Happy hot Sunday to ya!  It's not only hot here in the deep South, but it's also very humid.  We're expected to hit 100 degrees on Wednesday!  Ouch!  I can't complain, though, because we've really had a mild summer -I  knew those hot days would come to visit us sometime!

I'm officially an empty-nester now that my son moved in to his college dorm this weekend.  Yeah!  I found time to make cards and catch up on some challenges.

My first card is inspired by Kristina Werner's galaxy card.  It was fun to play with acrylic paints and Distress Inks to create a sky for the Lawn Fawn sentiment:

I'm entering this card into the August Words 2 Scrap By challenge - From darkness to light

My next two cards are for Operation Write Home challenges.  I used Penny Black Critters stamps and colored them with Distress Inks.

My thank you card is for the Mid-month throwdown challenge - Gratitude

My final card is for the latest sketch challenge - #236:

Those little critters are so adorable!  I couldn't pass this stamp set by when I bought it at Absolutely Everything in Massachusetts.  There's other images too that I can't wait to color.

Well now I'm off to work on making a Kaper Chart for my Daisy Girl Scout troop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Appreciate our soldiers!

The PWH midweek throwdown challenge is to make a card with a soldier image.  I hunted through my files and found an image from Melonheadz .  I don't remember if I bought it or if it was a freebie, but it's definitely her work.  I made a quick card with it:

   I love the sentiment and that it has both a guy & gal.  I hope you can find the time to make a soldier's day with a card over at Operation Write Home.

Thanks for stopping by!

OWH Midweek Throwdown

Hey ya'll!  I've been busy with vacation weekends that's taken me away from crafting, but I still wanted to join in this week's OWH midweek throwdown challenge - AnyHero cards with stars .  This card went together very quickly because I used rub ons to decorate the card with scrap paper:

Since this is an AnyHero card, I used a thick button to decorate the sentiment.

I'll be vacationing for the next few weeks, so my blog will be quiet, but I like to keep up with what everyone's doing so I can catch up when I get back!

Thanks for stopping by!

Flip flop love card

The inspiration for my first card today is from the flip flop brads that I bought years ago.  I thought it would be cute to have a his and hers pair of them on a card.  I used the colors from the flip flops as well - teal and pink - and a Darice embossing folder:

The "You & Me" is a retired Silhouette file.  

I'm entering this card into the July A2Z Challenge - Anything Goes

My second card is for today's Midweek Throwdown challenge at OWH, which is Any Hero cards - Thank You for Your Service.  I used the digital file from Jess Crafts to make a very quick card:

Papers are WeR Memory Keepers Hero.

I'm packing up my OWH box to send off to Sandy with 121 cards.  This weekend's virtual card making party sure helped fill that box up!

Thanks for stopping by!

Red, White and Blue!

The midweek throwdown challenge is up over at Operation Write Home and we're making Any Hero cards with red, white and blue colors.  Looking at the cards today is like a July 4th parade and I had to add mine to the line up here:

The flag is from Miss Kate Cuttables; the hero cut file is #32171 from the Silhouette store.  I embossed the red vellum with the Stars folder and added some brads around the border.

I made another file using the same flag file:

The sentiment is by Lawn Fawn for this card, which I'm entering in the red, white and blue challenge at Party Time Tuesday.

My last card for today was inspired by the tropical card below, created by Jennifer Wills for the Muse challenge #74

I love the beach scene and since I just came back from a weekend beach retreat, I created a scene of my own:

The files I used are from the Just Beachy collection  by SVG Attic and the paper is the Glitzy Glitter 6x6 pad by DCWV.  The Silhouette cuts through the paper like buttah and the best thing is there's no glitter rub off!  The tiny sentiment is from the newest SSS stamp set - Sending love.  I'd just love to be in that chair thinking happy thoughts!

I'm also entering this card in the SVG Attic July challenge - Anything goes

I hope you can play along in the latest Muse challenge - they're always so inspiring!  

Thanks for stopping by!

You make me smile

A happy hot day to you!  It's a sweltering day here in South Carolina and we're getting our usual afternoon thunderstorms, so it's a good time to make a few cards.  I had quite a time coming up with an idea for this week's Muse challenge card (#72 ), which was designed by Marion Vagg:

I couldn't find any stamps to do the trick, so I used a flower file and cut it on my Cameo.  I made a shadow and cut two different blue glitter papers to fill in behind the flower border:

I cut the "You" from glitter paper, using a die from Simon Says Stamp, which I just bought- again.  I lost my first You die and now I've got that baby adhered to a piece of magnet so that won't happen again!  The rest of the sentiment is from the You SSS stamp set, which I stamped in Versafine black ink and embossed in clear powder.

My second card is for the peach and teal color challenge  at OWH.  I searched through a lot of my papers and couldn't find anything with these two colors, so I made my own background, using the Filigree stamp set from Mama Elephant:

I used two SSS inks - Audrey Blue and Cotton Candy, which came with my SSS haul this week.  Honestly, there's been so many good sales going on that I've bought way too many things!  I'm enrolled in the upcoming Stretch Your Stamps 2 class and they just released the supply list, so there will be yet another box of goodies coming to my door!  But, I do love it - it's like Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by!

Red, white and blue

I regularly follow the Muse challenge blog because the cards are always amazing and the inspiration can be difficult, well, for me, that is!  This week, it's Muse challenge #71  and Therese Calvird's card was our inspiration:

After making my version of her card, I've got a true appreciation for the effort that was put into her card.  I decided to make a patriotic Any Hero card for Operation Write Home and cut out the word "hero" multiple times.  I layered each letter to pop it up, like Therese did:

I did try layering the words on the same background paper, but it stood out better against the striped background, so that's what I went with.  The top layer is backed with red letters, the second with white and the bottom with blue (red, white & blue).   The sentiment is from the Doodlepantry Tree Glee set.  I punched a few stars to go with the sentiment and added some Wink of Stella to make them shine.

Papers are WeR Memory Keepers Red White & Blue.

Edited to add:  Barb over at a2zscrapbooking invited me to join in their June Stars and Stripes challenge, so I'm entering this card over there too.  Thanks for the invitation and I'll be sure to enter more A2Z challenges!

 The mid week throwdown challenge at OWH is kites and I love to using up scraps to make a kite:

Papers are Corinne by SEI.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks a melon!

This week cannot end soon enough for me!  Work stress and then an important event - my son's high school graduation - happens this weekend.  I've had few moments for crafting but I still fit some in to keep my sanity.

My card for the OWH midweek throwdown challenge is a Thanks a Melon card.  The theme for the challenge is cheeseburgers/BBQ and since I made a cheeseburger card earlier this year (here), I wanted to try something different.  I think watermelon is a must-have when you've got a BBQ, so I made a watermelon punny card:

I couldn't find a digistamp, so I made my own.  I just love punny phrases!

I'm entering this card over at Pause Dream Enjoy's latest challenge: Food or Beverage.

Have a great day and thanks for your comments!

1 Stamp, 4 ways

I bought the Filigree stamp from Mama Elephant and used it in several different ways and techniques.  I took my color cue from this week's pink/gray color challenge at OWH and off I went!  

Card #1: - Miss You

  I embossed the filigree in silver and the sentiment is embossed in pink. 

Card #2 - Love

I embossed the filigree in white on watercolor paper and used Tim Holtz Distress markers to color it in.  I then cut it in half and in half again to use as corner pieces on the card.

Card #3 - Thank you

I did the same embossing as before but this time, I used watercolors to color in the filigree.  It turned out with a softer glow this time.

Card #4 - Happy Birthday

I embossed the filigree and used different Distress Markers.  I cut it in half and layered it over scalloped circles.  Sentiment is Hero Arts Fancy Basics.

I stretched myself to use the stamp in different ways and love how beautiful the cards came out.

Since I worked so hard, I'm entering these cards into the following challenges:

4 Crafty chicks - Anything goes

In the Pink - Shabby Chic

Happy Birthday cards

The midweek throwdown at OWH is to make masculine and feminine birthday cards.  I usually make two cards at the same time, so that's no problem for me.  For inspiration, I looked at the His & Hers  class that I took last year and CASE'd these two cards:

The technique uses vellum colored with Copics.  I think I'd cut the "Happy" on the guy card in black next time, but otherwise, I'm satisfied with the results.  On the feminine card, I used Imaginisce brads - a neglected embellishment in my collection.

Hope you have a great Thursday and I'm looking forward to this weekend's OWH bloghop!

Thanks for stopping by.

My favorite OWH sketch...so far

Out of the more than 200+ OWH sketches, my hands-down favorite is #215:

When we get a new OWH sketch, I try to set up a cutting recipe to make the card layers quick and I was able to do that with this sketch.  You'll need three 6x6 design papers and one 6x6 layering paper and you can create 2 cards in about 5 minutes.  Yes!  It can be done!  

Here's two cards that I made in that time:

I put together my cutting recipe in a PDF that you can download at this link here.  I wrote and created layouts to show you how to cut each 6x6 paper.  I hope this helps explain the process.

I'd love to hear your feedback - were you able to follow my instructions?  Did you find any issues?  Let me know in the comments.  If you like it, I'll try creating another formula for an OWH sketch.

The paper comes from Basic Grey; sentiments from Hero Arts Year Round Sentiment set.

Adding this to last week's OWH MWT: Miss You cards.

Thanks for stopping by!



Watercolor technique

I love the watercolor techniques in the Watercolor card class and I'm learning that practice makes perfect.  The card below was my third attempt!  I can't reveal the technique used, but here's the card:

I'm sending this to my mother-in-law, who surprised me with a quilt wall hanging this week.  I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:

OWH Flower MWT challenge

SSS Flower challenge

I enjoyed a great Saturday today cropping with some friends.  I hope you had a great day too!

Thinking of you masculine card

Hi!  I'm popping in briefly to add my card to the midweek throwdown challenge at OWH, which is masculine Thinking of You cards (here).  I used Distress Markers and a stencil to create the background for this card and after all that hard work, I wanted to keep the sentiment simple:

I'm still learning how to use the Distress Markers and still collecting them.  I hope that next week's watercoloring class will teach me some new tricks with them!

After watching Sandy Allnock's video about needing more Miss You and Thank You cards, I'm working on those types for my next box.  I only had 8 Miss You cards in my last box!  I'm using the Doodlepantry Digital Missing You sentiment and a Silhouette cheeseburger file to make some Miss You cards like this one:

Paper is the Doodlebug Take Note 6x6 pad.  I'm entering this card into today's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, which is Anything Goes.  

That's it for me today.  Hope you're all doing well and thanks for stopping by!

OWH challenges

Hey there!  Happy Hump Day!  I'm joining in today's Brown color challenge at Operation Write Home with this card:

   This stamp set is from Hero Arts and I embossed the clock and sentiment in gold, with gold paper behind them.  The design paper is from my stash.

 

I made a set of cards using OWH's sketch #221.  This sketch was tough for me, for some reason, and here are my cards, using stuff from the April SSS kit:

Hmmm...hope they're not too busy - the last one may hurt your eyes (maybe I shoulda warned ya!)

 

Well, that's it for me today.  Thanks for stopping by!



Disney cards

I was excited to see that the Midweek Throwdown at OWH is Disney cards!  I have Disney paper leftover from a Disney-themed baby shower and needed a challenge to push me to use them, so I made several cards using Mickey and Cars paper:

 

I used scrap paper to make these and the "Hi!" is from the Silhouette store. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Masculine card + stamp storage

OWH is challenging us to make masculine cards for the Midweek throwdown this week.  I bought the Tim Holtz Hot Air balloon stamp at a stamp show and decided to use it for my card:

 

I colored the balloon with Crushed Olive distress ink and edged it with Vintage Photo.

 

I've been busy organizing my stamps into Avery Elle storage pockets - just like Jennifer McGuire did here.  It's been good to get them labeled and see stamps that I haven't used in a while.  I put them in a box I bought at Michael's:

Because the storage pockets are thin, I can fit a lot of stamps into one box.  I am enjoying the Brother label maker that I bought too - I find that I'm labeling everything all over my house!  (How did I live without one of these?)

 

Happy Thursday to you and thanks for stopping by!



Creating backgrounds

Hello!  The next deadline for Operation Write Home is Father's Day and to get us going, OWH's midweek throwdown challenge is Father's Day cards.  I cut a clock on my Silhouette from Lettering Delights and then realized I had no background paper, so I made my own.

 

I used the clock pieces from the Hero Arts All the time stamp set to make clear embossed images on my background paper.  Next, I used Distress Inks to make it all vintage-y (is that a word?):

 

It amazed me how great a job my Silhouette did cutting the intricate clock face.  Since my father was a clock maker, it's the first thing I think of when making Father's Day cards. 

 

I'm entering this card into A Blog Named Hero's latest challenge - Build a background.

 

My second card is a shameless CASE from Jennifer McGuire's watercolor tutorial -  here.  Sometimes I try a technique because she makes it look so easy and then I totally flop at it, but this one was easy!  Here's the card:

I used Distress Ink watercolor paper and the Sky Blue Brilliance ink for the sentiment.  I love how this came out and I'm going to try another masculine version of this technique.  Fun!

 

I'm entering this card into the Anything Goes challenge at Loves Rubberstamps.

 

Thanks for stopping by!  Only one more day until the weekend!

 

 



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