On a Halloweed Card Kick

Today I go back to work after my first week-long vacation in at least a couple of years.  It's been a lovely break, but I'm not looking forward to how buried my desk must be.  One of the nice things about never taking time off is that I can just about keep up with the flow of things.  Once I take a day or two off, it gets tricky to keep things moving.  I'm really nervous about how missing a week is going to be.  It will be the real test of how easy it's going to be to take time off in larger chunks going forward (something I'm going to have to do since I'm maxed out on vacation time and now am earning even more since I passed my 15 year mark at work).

I have to say though that the week off was great.  Hubby and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary, we went camping, spent time with my family, and I got to spend quite a bit of time making cards, which always makes me happy.  In preparation for the trip, I picked up a couple of new things, some new Prismacolor pencils, new Newton's Nook, which I've shown over the last few days, the October card kit from Simon Says Stamp and my very first ever Stampendous House Mouse Design stamps (but I'm pretty sure they won't be the last).  I spent quite a bit of our camping time crafting (okay, just to be clear when I say camping, I mean in an RV with a satellite dish for TV and my Keurig coffee maker.  I do not sleep in tents or on the ground). 

I started out my doing all my September Project Life.  It's the fastest I've done an entire month ever.  I think it took less than four hours to do four weeks.  Of course, I had my photos all printed and in packets for the weeks so that helped.  But I also find that limiting myself to my Citrus Twist kit really helps too.

So I had lots of time to play with my new things.  The first thing I decided to play with was the Stampendous House Mouse Trick or Treat stamp.  I stamped it out on watercolor paper and watercolored it with Distress Ink markers.  I didn't have my heat gun plugged in (okay so I was too lazy to go pull it out my craft tub and plug it in) so I found I had to work a bunch of different areas at a time because I tend to use a lot of water.  It didn't realize this before this trip until Mom and I talked about because she colored a second stamping of the image with Distress Inks as well.  But she uses way less water.

I wasn't sure what to do with the panel when I was done.  I only have one Halloween 6x6 pad and it didn't really fit.  I pulled out an old DCWV Fall Stack looking for something and found this purple plaid that really made the one mouse pop and that sealed the deal.  I cut the paper to fit my card base, trimmed down my watercolor piece and framed it with a slight black frame.  Because I used a pretty lightweight card stock for my base (I really need to go get some heavier duty white card stock), I decided to add a little to the inside.  I cut a second piece of the purple plaid to fit my card inside, used the Simon Says Stamp Frames die to cut out the center.  I then used the same frame to cut a black piece and a white piece.  Then it was just a matter of nesting the die cut pieces together.  I'm still not sure about a sentiment, so I left it blank for now.

You're Tea-rrific!

You might have seen a shot on Instagram of my watercolor of a tea cup.  I've never inked it up because it just isn't my style; it was part of some supplies that a friend gave me when she cleaned out her closet.  But once I started playing with watercoloring with Distress Ink markers, I realized that I just hadn't yet seen the potential in this vintage Stampendous China Tea Cup stamp.  It was the perfect stamp for a little watercoloring.  I finished the coloring and it's sat on my desk for a while.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but then I remembered I had bought this Fiskars Latte Love stamp a while ago and I was pretty sure it had something tea in it too.  Sure enough, it had the perfect sentiment.  I opted for a simple treatment.  I cut out the panel using the stitched frame from Mama Elephant's Femme Frames and used the larger scalloped piece to cut our some vellum.  I topped my card with piece of paper from the 6x6 paper pad from Crate Paper called Flea Market cut to fit the whole card base, then topped it with the vellum and watercolor piece.

Happy Fall Take Two

After our class at Runaway Art and Crafts, Pat bought the cute scarecrow stamp.  The next day we stamped in out on various papers with different inks so we could play with it later.  I was supposed to be practicing my copic coloring because I'm taking the Copics for Card Makers class at onlinecardclasses.com, but I just couldn't wait and, by the end of the weekend, I had to pull out my Distress Ink Markers and start watercoloring.  Those markers are my favorite for watercoloring. 

I put on my class videos in the background and just started painting.  It didn't take terribly long but it is definitely the most detailed image I've ever watercolored.  I was a little intimidated when I began, but it just came together so easily.  When it was done, I pulled out a box of my paper pads and was immediately drawn to the Awesome 6x6 paper pad from Simple Stories.  It was just the right colors and feel for a fall card.  I cut my image down, but it needed some kind of frame.  I first looked at some striped paper from the same pad, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for.  I finally decided just to add a little Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the edges of my watercolored image.  That was the perfect edging I was looking for to tie the watercolor to the pretty polka dot paper I selected.

But something wasn't quite right.  I looked at it for a long time before I realized the pumpkins just looked a little too bright.  So I toned them down with a wash of Vintage Photo and Tea Dye.  It was just the right touch to tie the colors in the watercolor to the paper.  Once I had the image adhered, it just seemed right so I called that good and sent the finished product off to Pat to thank her for coming to class with me and letting me use her stamps. 

Wish You Were Here

What a weekend!  I took Friday off and, for the first time in probably close to two years, I didn't actually work because I hired someone who took over some of the day to day things that required that I work.  I thought I would have a lot of time to play in my craft room with a long weekend, but we filled it up with other things.   That said, I can't tell you how much more relaxed I feel.  So nice!  The hubby and I spent the whole day on Friday playing.  We checked out the new Cabellas just a bit north of us, ate the most amazing ice cream at Salt & Straw and watched the home opener of my favorite WHL team.  It was so nice to have a whole day just doing things together. 

On Saturday I cleaned the house while he worked and then we went back for game number two courtesy of some tickets in the suite that hubby's boss gave us.  Yesterday I ran a few errands and finished up the Mojo Monday card in enough time to get it posted to the challenge but not up on the blog because my parents came over for Sunday night dinner.  I love that.

I had eagerly purchased the Simon Says Stamp Stamptember exclusive Tim Holtz blueprints stamps.  These are the first Tim Holtz blueprint stamps I've bought.  I've looked at them several times and put them on wishlists, but I've never actually picked any up until now.  But these ones were too good to miss (if you are thinking about them yourself, hurry over to Simon Says Stamp - they are a limited release for Stamptember only so there's only few days left, that is, if they aren't sold out already). 

I stamped the image in Archival Ink in Jet Black, then watercolored it with my Distress Ink Markers.  I was just playing with the stamps, but then I saw the Mojo Monday #363 sketch and I knew it was perfect for that.  The paper comes from the Lost and Found 2 6x6 paper pad from My Mind's Eye.  That paper pad is perfect for a masculine card.  I finished it off with some ribbon and a button threaded with crochet thread, all from my stash. 

 

I've entered this card over at Mojo Monday in challenge number 363.  That challenge is now closed, but there's a new one every Monday so check it out if you are looking for some inspiration and fun.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday so it's only fitting that I post a birthday card.  Now this is not the card I'm giving her, but it is a birthday card.  I had this idea for the card and it didn't really turn out the way I had pictured in my head.  I loved the background technique that I saw on the Onlinecardclasses class Stretch Your Stamps 2 where Kristina Werner made the most amazing background with a heat embossed background and some watercolors.  It was so amazing and my version, well, it's not.  I used the cutest background stamp from Impression Obsession called Sketchy Flowers with some Versamark and clear embossing powder.  I then used some Distress Ink markers to watercolor in the flowers and the background.  I'm just not in love with it, but often these cards grow on me after time.  So I used my Simon Says Stamp Postage Stamp dies to cut a white background with the largest and then the next size down on my background stamp panel.  I layered them on an orange card base.  For the sentiment, I pulled out the Lawn Fawn Chit Chat stamp set and stamped the cute birds in Momento ink then colored with copics.  I stamped out the Happy Birthday set with some Orange Peel Simon Says Stamp ink and then added them all to the card with some pop dots. 

Miyako and Kate Take Two

Since I wasn't happy with some of my choices on my first attempt with the Miyako and Kate stamp from Whimsy Stamps designed by the amazing Sandy Allnock, I immediately decided to start a second one so I could leave the shoes a lighter color.  I changed up a few things, such as the colors, but followed quite a bit of the same technique.  I even built the card the same way, but this time used a piece of paper from the Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper Flea Market 6x6 paper pad.  I like the overall look of the coloring of this one better, but I like the cat on the first one better (it looks more like my beautiful Smoke). 

Miyako and Kate

While at my conference, I saw a notation on Sandy Allnock's blog about a sale on her stamps at Whimsy Stamps so I quickly snapped up a Miyako and Kate stamp before it was gone for good.  I cannot believe how incredibly fast it got here.  I think I ordered it on Wednesday morning and it was here when I got home on Thursday.  Lightning fast!  So I had to ink it up.  I'm not ready to do something quite so detailed with copics yet, but I was willing to give watercolor a try.  So I pulled out my Distress Ink markers and did a little coloring.  I even posted a sneak peak on social media.  Once it was done, I didn't like the shoes.  I had these glossy black mary jane's in my head, but they seemed too dark for the rest of the image.  I added some Glossy Accents, but I still don't like how they turned out.  It was good enough that wasn't willing to scrap it altogether, so I cut it out using the Femme Frames dies from Mama Elephant.  Then I used a piece of the 6x6 Kate & Co. paper from My Mind's Eye for the larger frame and mounted it on a white card base.  Super simple and cute, but it means the sentiment has to be on the inside because I totally wasn't thinking about what I was going to do for that.

Another Watercolor with Art Impressions

 Here's the other card I put together using a watercolored panel made with Art Impressions stamps and Distress Ink.  I used another sheet from the Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper 6x6 pad with the same design as yesterday's card, only this time in a monotone yellow color. 

 

 

Here's a shot of yesterday and today's cards together:

More Watercoloring with Art Impressions

I have two panels of watercolors that I did a bit back that were sitting on my craft room desk for a long time.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them.  Then I was putting away a few things in my craft room when I saw the Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper 6x6 pad with a snippet of this cute floral paper on the cover and decided it was the perfect paper for those watercolors.  The watercolor panels were done with stamps from Art Impressions and Distress Ink Markers.  It's a totally fun way to watercolor, even if, like me, you don't have any artistic talent.

Love Card Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

I'm still working through the backgrounds I made in the Onlinecardclasses.com class Watercolor for Card Makers.  For today's card, the background was done with this stencil technique they taught sing a variety of Distress Inks and the Mini Woodgrain stencil from the Crafter's Workshop.  It's such a cool technique.  I then water colored the raccoon from the Critters in the Forest set from Lawn Fawn before cutting it out with the matching dies.  I then stamped the cute little love bubble from the Into the Wood set using Black Soot Distress Ink then cut it out with the matching die.  I finished it off with some Liquid Pearls.

Another Birthday Card Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

Today I have yet another card inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers using the background created using an acrylic block and Distress Inks.  I also inked up another image off of Lawn Fawn's Admit One set.  Then I used my Distress Ink markers to watercolor the image before fussy cutting it (what a pain!).  I added a little Wink of Stella to the Ferris wheel and over the sentiment as well then added some pop dots to adhere it to my background.  For my sentiment, I used stamps from Simon Says Stamp's Happy Sentiments set and another from the Lawn Fawn set inside the card.

 

Thinking of You Clean and Simple Card Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

I am obsessed with these Art Impression stamps!  They are so much fun to play with and I love that they were featured in the Onlinecardclasses.com class Watercolor for Card Makers.  For today's card, I stamped out a simple scene using Distress Ink markers and several sets (A, Flower Set, and the Foliage set) that I had purchased previously after watching Bonnie, the owner, demonstrate them at CKC. I then added a simple sentiment from the Crafter's Meow Potted Garden set and some Versafine ink.  Then I just added a simple black mat and mounted it all on my card base.  Simple, but very pretty.

Birthday Wishes Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

I made this background the other day after watching the lessons from the Onlinecardclasses.com Watercolor for Card Makers class.  I hadn't used this stamp from the Crafter's Meow set Potted Garden and it was calling my name.  I used Distress Ink markers and I learned a bit doing it that I put into practice the next time, but I though this was one was good enough for a card anyway.  I added the sentiment and cut it out with my Stitched Journaling Card die from Lawn Fawn.  I then used a little watered ink to brush the edges.

For the card background, I used some pretty paper from the Polka Dot Party 6x6 paper pad and some Queen & Co. baker's twine with some pop dots for my watercolored picture. 

Yet Another Newton's Nook Card

I have one more set of Newton's Nook cards to share with you from my initial time playing with them.  I used the cute balloon image again, but this time I cut it out after inking it up and coloring it.  I made the one on the right using some cute paper from the Amy Tangerine 6x6 pad called Yes Please.  I cut it down to fit the front of a top folding A2 card with the sun and clouds in the corner.  I stamped Newton on the front and colored it all black to shadow under my colored image adhered with pop dots.  I made the banner sentiments the same way as a previous card in this series by water coloring some paper with a Mustard Seed Distress Ink marker then stamping my sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments set and, finally, cutting it into a banner shape before adhering it to my card.  I though the card still need something, so I inked a cut a few clouds from the Lawn Fawn Blue Skies set.  The clouds seemed too white, so I added a little Distress Ink that doesn't really show in the picture.  For the card on the left, unfortunately my paper pad only had one page with the cloud and sun in it.  So I pulled a plain blue page from the Fancy Pants Park Bench 6x6 pad.  I used the extra colored watercolor paper to stamp and cut out the sun from the Sunny Skies set from Lawn Fawn.  Using that, I built the card a second time in style similar to the first.   

More Fun with Newton's Nook

 While I had my new Newton's Nook sets out, I could help but ink up Newton's Birthday Bash too.  It has such cute images.  This time, I used my watercolor paper, some Jet Black Archival ink and my Distress Ink Markers.  The one on the right was my first try and I was able to learn a few things that made the left image a bit easier to do.  For the cards, I used some paper from the 6x6 pad from Crate Paper called Party Day as the background and some baker's twine.  I cropped the corners with my We R Memory Keeper's Corner Rounder.  I ran the images through my Stitched Journaling Card die from Lawn Fawn for a little more interest.  I wasn't really sure about how to put on my sentiment and finally decided on a banner, but I couldn't find the right paper.  So I finally decided to add some color to watercolor paper using my Distress Ink pens, stamp the sentiment from Sophie's Sentiments from Lawn Fawn using my Archival ink.  Then it was just a few snips of the scissors to make a banner and some pop dots to finish it off.