Happy Little Stampers January Watercolor Challenge

This is my first post as a member of the Watercolor Challenge Team at Happy Little Stampers. 
I joined this team because I want to improve my techniques in watercolor and the challenge blog is a good way to widen your creative boundaries.  I hope that I do a good job of inspiring your creativity.

This month the watercolor challenge at Happy Little Stampers is texture.

I recently took an online card class and one lesson was to use salt on your watercolor background to add texture.  I have done this in the past but had forgotten about it.

I took watercolor paper and colored it with watercolor and liberally sprinkled it with coarse sea salt.  Here is an example of one piece of blue watercolor paper with the salt lying on top.  You let the piece dry completely and then you brush off the salt and you get these amazing spots of color and texture on your background piece.

I had also done a piece of watercolor paper with a teal shade of watercolor.  My background piece is just a much lighter shade of the color used on the heart.  You can see the brushstrokes in the background and the different shades (I think this would be texture also). 

The heart started out as a square piece of watercolor paper on which a high saturation of color was placed.  The salt was sprinkled liberally on top of the wet piece and allowed to dry.  Once it was dry, the salt was brushed away and I die cut a heart.  The heart was pop dotted on top of the background.  Hello was die cut several time and layered together before adding tot he heart.  The sentiment was heat embossed on a scrap of the lighter watercolor paper.

Get our your watercolors and please join us for our January challenge at Happy Little Stampers.  You will have a wonderful time and start to develop new skills. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday time to show some love for your old supplies.  On these two cards I have used paper from an old 6 x 6 Prima paper pad and an old Hero Arts sentiment stamp.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings

Holiday wishes to all of you.  I am visiting my daughter in Alaska.

Here is a tag I made for an exchange.  I also made two canvases with the same basic design.

Enjoy your day.

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

More Tim Holtz goodies used on this card.  I love all the layers.  I do wish I had all these cards back so I could have mailed to my family and friends who would have appreciated them.  

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

I used some Tim Holtz goodies on this card along with some stamped snowflakes which were cut out with my Scan N Cut.  

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

I used a card base from Canvas Corp.  The trees are a Tim Holtz die.  

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

I believe this is a Penny Black tree stamp and the sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

I used some Tim Holtz stuff on this card.  I really liked this card.

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday time to show some love for your old supplies.

I continue to work out of the same 6 x 6 pad of paper.

This is an old stamp which had never seen ink.  I bought it when Operation Write Home was in full swing - I at least get to use it for some hero cards.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Merry Christmas

I am sharing some cards I submitted to be published but the magazine it was for - is no longer being published.  It is sad to see printed magazines not being published anymore.

I thought this was a fun take on a Christmas card.

Happy Little Stampers December ATC Challenge

It is time for a new ATC challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

The theme this month is Pet.

I do not have any pets - I have granddogs so  I am very partial to dogs.  I did struggle trying to figure out what to make for this month's ATC.

As I was pondering, what did my wandering eyes see but my packet of Tim Holtz paper dolls and I knew there were dogs in this package.  I went through the pack and pulled all dog related figures out.  I chose these three designs.

The background is some very old sample paper.  I used a blue and a green.  I added distress oxides to both pieces of paper to give some more depth of color.  I adhered the two layers on top of a piece of chip board.

Everything was glued down with gel medium.

I added a piece of washi tape and sticker in the upper left corner.

Please come join us at Happy Little Stampers for our December ATC Challenge. 

There are prizes so please come play. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

I am working on some more card for a military box for a group of heroes from Minnesota.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Monday, time to show some love for your old supplies.

I had some extra colored images so used up more old paper to complete some more cards.  If you want to see the first card, check out my post on December 4.

Remember to show some love to your old supplies - they make beautiful cards.

Happy Little Stampers December Anything Goes With Dies Challenge

December is well under way and it is time for another challenge using your dies at Happy Little Stampers.  It is the best kind of challenge because Anything Goes. 

Since the crunch is on to finish our Christmas cards, I made a Christmas card for this month's challenge.  I had this new stamp and die pine cone set that I wanted to use.  The pine cone is a layered stamp - I must warn you there are 5 to 6 layers on this pine cone.  I had a hard  time finding that many brown inks to use especially since I was not at home.  Luckily I had brought all my distress oxide inks with me and was able to dig through them and find enough plus I had a dark brown ink and a Versafine Black Onyx ink.  With the help of my Misti I stamped over 10 pine cones.

I added color to the background of my card by smooshing it in some Peacock Feathers oxide ink.  I die cut out many pine boughs out of Bristol smooth paper and then colored them with different green colored oxides.  I love the variation of color that I got in the boughs.  The sentiment from Tim Holtz was stamped and embossed in gold.  The card front was layered on a gold card base I found in my supplies.  It has a coordinating envelope.

 Here is a picture of the stamp and die sets I used.

I first layered the pine boughs onto the card front filling up two sides.  I added a tangle of red thread (I did use regular sewing thread because I didn't have anything heavier in red).  I centered one pine cone and glued it to the card base.  I then pop dotted the other two pine cones over the top.  I cut up a pine bough and glued to the top of the pine cones to fill in that corner of the card.  After everything was assembled, I sprayed the entire card with a Tattered Angels sheer gold mist.  It adds such beautiful sparkle to your card.

Here is a close up of the pine cones.

Please come play with us at Happy Little Stampers and use some of those beautiful dies you have. 

Did I tell you there were prizes??

Happy Little Stampers December Mixed Media Challenge

Time for a new challenge at Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media.  I imagine Christmas festivities may be getting to you so take some time for yourself and get messy.  Indulge in some mixed media art which will make you feel fantastic.

The challenge this month is Fantasy.  How fun can that be.  There are so many areas of fantasy to choose from.  I chose to use a fairy.

The stamp for this card was bought at JoAnn Fabrics.  I had to tear it off it's wood block because I don't stamp anything without using my Misti.  The Misti has saved me so many times from having to throw away a project because it did not stamp properly.  I stamped with VersaFine Black Onyx ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

I colored with distress oxide inks.  I cut the image out into a partial circle for something different.  I did use glossy accents and a glitter gel on different elements of the image.

The purple background was created with a stencil and silver glitter embossing paste.  I love how it turned out.  I had just enough purple ribbon for the card.  Luckily the card is going in a box with her gifts..  The sentiment is from Penny Black.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers for our December Mixed Media challenge. 

This is my last post for the Mixed Media team.  I am going to try the watercolor challenge for the next six months and continue on with the Christmas challenge.

Thanks for dropping by. 

December Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

It is December - do you have your Christmas cards done for this year - if not - jump on the band wagon and join us at Happy Little Stampers for our December Christmas challenge.  Anything Goes is the challenge with the optional twist of snow.

I have had this stamp for quite a few years and decided I needed to use it this year.  I colored the snowman and penguins with Zig Clean Color Markers.  It is fun to use them.  I added dots and stripes to the penguins scarves and hats with a white gel pen.  The background was done with a new cloud stencil from My Favorite Things and distress oxide ink.

The paper is pieces I had in my vast collection of paper (pop in next Monday on my blog to see a couple more cards using this same image).  The sentiment was heat embossed with white embossing powder.  A bow of bakers twine was added to complete the card.

I love the happy expressions on the penguins and snowman.  Some glitter was added under the snowman and penguins to make you think of snow.

Please join us this month for our Christmas Challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

Did I tell you there is a prize?

Oldie Moldie Monday

Monday - time to show some love to your old supplies.

The focal point is an ATC I had made earlier in the year.  It was just laying around so I decided to make it into a card.  I have many friends who love their coffee so it will go to good use.

The paper is Basic Grey.  I do miss that company.  I could create for a couple years just using Basic Grey paper.  I even have it all together in several different holders.

Remember to show some love to your old supplies.

Oldie Moldie Monday

Yes I did miss last Monday posting an Oldie Moldie Card.  I have been cleaning my basement - OMG.  But I keep pushing through and try to get more stuff out of there.  I have taken a couple days off from cleaning/clearing because my body said it needed a break.

Here are a couple Thanksgiving cards I made and send out this year.  The paper is from a large 12 x 12 pad that is all fall paper.

Happy Thanksgiving - remember to show some love for your old papers.

Friends Are Like Snowflakes

I am continuing to play with my masks made from snowflake dies and my oxide inks.

I decided I wanted to do a portrait card with the opening on the left side.  I cut heavy card stock to make my own card base.

I added my mask to water color paper with some of the edges of the snowflake  being off the edges of the card front.  I painted over the top of the mask with oxide inks.  After the ink dried - with the mask still in place - I sprayed with a glitter spray to give the front some shine.  After this had dried I stamped the sentiment (from Penny Black) with silver embossing powder.  I then stamped additional snowflakes on the front of the card and used a white glitter embossing powder.  This adds a little contrast to the card front.  A small silver snowflake was die cut for the center of the large snowflakes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Snowflake Kisses

I am still playing with two different Snowflake Dies.  Yesterday I used a die to make a card using letterpress.

Today I cut masks from contact paper with my snowflake dies.  I learned many things as I made four of this particular card design.

I am sending these cards to my shut ins in January.  I made two of the pink card.  This is a sizzix die.

Here is the card with the lesson learned on it.  I wanted to add sparkle to my card so I sprayed with a silver glitter spray.  The lesson is to spray your card front before you remove the mask.  I had a little running of the ink.  This is a Penny Black Die.

Here is a different color.

The color is oxide ink which was brushed on across the card front with the mask on.  I tried to get an ombre look on each of the cards.  In the center of each card is a silver snowflake.  I made the paper for this snowflake by adding versamark ink to a piece of white cardstock and adding silver embossing powder. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Merry Christmas Snowflake

I took  the new Online Card Class - Clean and Simple Holiday Cards.  I learned lots of things and now need some some to try the methods that appealed to me.

I did a letterpress method for this card. 

I apologize for the poor lighting.  Winter in Wisconsin - ugh.

This is a Sizzix die and the sentiment from Gina K Designs is silver embossed.  The silver mat is very well aged paper.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Twofer Wreath Challenge

I recently stumbled across this challenge blog called Twofer.  It is a monthly challenge where you need to use the same stamp, die or stencil and make two different cards. 

The challenge this month is wreath.

I have this beautiful wreath stamp from Gina K Designs.  I decided this is the wreath I would use.  I had made a Christmas card out of it before so I knew it could be done.

I first stamped the wreath with distress oxide inks.  I used a little water to color the leaves that had an open area.  I stamped a sentiment inside each wreath - one to brighten someone's day and the other for a Christmas Card.

I decided to add colored die cuts to make the wreaths more dimensional.  For the Christmas wreath, I used pine bough die cuts and colored with different shades of oxide inks.  For the brighten your day card I used a leaf bough die I had and colored it with the same color that I had stamped the wreath in.  The die cuts were adhered to each of the wreaths.

I stamped a poinsettia for the Christmas wreath card.  The stamp is from Gina K Designs Also.  The little flowers on the other card are also a Gina K Designs.  The flowers were added to the card front with foam tape.

A set of nesting dies was used to cut all the mats and card base.  I went with a kraft card base for both cards.  A red mat was used for the Christmas card and a touch of burlap behind the pop dotted mat finished off the card.  A piece of patterned paper in the same shade of  the flowers was used as a mat on the other card.  A piece of green patterned paper finished the design.  To finish both cards, I sprayed a fine mist of gold shimmer mist over the top.  It adds just the right amount of glimmer.

Here is a close up of the Christmas card.

Here is a close up of the Brighten My Day card.

Thanks for stopping by.  I enjoy these type of challenges because it makes you think. 

Laundry Item Becomes Art Tool

The challenge at Just Us Girls this week is to use bleach on your creation.

I first colored a piece of Bristol smooth card stock with many different colors of distress oxide ink.  I then stamped my image in Black Onyx Versafine ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then removed the color within each design with bleach.  I colored another piece of card stock with a light shade of lavender (I have a problem with white white paper).  I die cut the design and lightly colored card stock with dies.  It was mounted onto a dark purple card base.  The thank you was heat embossed on a piece of colored card stock left from the design sheet.

Here is the design sheet before I cut it.

Here is a second card I made but on this one I removed the color in the design with just water.  I imagine if I had left the water on longer I might have gotten a lighter look.

Here is the design sheet before I die cut it.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Floral Thank You

I am working on some thank you notes for the founder of a non profit I work with.  Things are starting to progress and she will need thank you notes to acknowledge the people and groups helping her along the way.  Since I am not in the area and able to help at activities, this is one way I can add a special touch to our organization.

I am using the sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch for my inspiration for this card.  My floral images represent the oval in the sketch. 

The florals are from Altenew.  They were stamped in VersaFine Black Onyx ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then cut them out with my Scan N Cut.  There is light color on the background from distress oxide inks.  I also colored a mat with the same color as the florals.
I felt it just needed a little more of that color to make the card cohesive.

If you wish to read about the non profit I support, it is called Hope Her Way.  The goal of this organization is to help young parents start their journey into higher education.  Please click on these words HOPE HER WAY to be taken to the home page.  If you know anyone in the Raleigh,Durham, North Carolina area who would qualify for the first cohort, please have them contact Hope Her Way.

Thanks for stopping by.