April Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge

It is April in Australia the home of Happy Little Stampers and it is time for a new watercolor challenge.

The April Water Color Challenge is Anything Goes with the Option of Stars.

I die cut the star background out of watercolor paper using my Silhouette Cameo.  

I colored it with different shades of blue watercolor.   I was going for an ombre look to my star background.  I let it dry and added more color several times to deepen the colors of the blues.  I die cut the sentiment from the same card stock used to mat the star background.

This card is going to a 17 year old old.  I struggle making card for teen boys.  

Please come join us for our April Watercolor Challenge at Happy Little Stampers. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday

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

On this card I recycled a valentine I received and all the other paper is from the scrap bin.  The sentiment is a new stamp.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies, your scrap bin or to recycle some cute things you may have.

Watercoloring Poppies

I wanted to play along with the new sketch challenge at My Favorite Things.

I thought the three stems of this floral image represented the sketch.

For this group of water coloring, I first smooshed the backgrounds in oxide ink to add some color.  I then stamped the images with a very light oxide ink.  I then water colored each image.  After the water color had dried, I restamped the imaged with black ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thinking Of You Time 3

I am trying to send out at least one card a day during this trying times so I needed to stock up on some Thinking of You Cards.

Recently while clearning/cleaning I found a couple background stamps.  I decided to play with one of them.  The first card I did I stamped it with oxide ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  The second time I inked it, sprayed with water and stamped it.  The third time I just sprayed it again with water and stamped it once more.  I got a much lighter image the third time.

I decided to play with the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.

This was the first stamping which was sprayed with water.  You can see the brighter colors compared to the 2nd card.  I added pink to the background by smooshing it in some pink oxide ink.  I die cut the circle from the panel.  I matted the white with grey and to save paper, I first die cut the sentiment from the middle of the grey mat.

This is the second stamping of the background stamp.

This is the image that was stamped and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I cut a circle out and pop dotted it up.  I added the sentiment which was cut from the mat.

Thanks for stopping by.  Try to stay sane.

Happy Birthday Dear Niece

Since I am staying home, I am trying to get ahead on my birthday cards.  This card is for a May birthday.

Luckily My Favorite Things has a Birthday Challenge each month and this month the challenge is flowers.  I have a few flower stamps and dies from My Favorite Things. 

 I first stamped the floral image with black VersaFine Onyx ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  It makes it so much easier to confine your watercolor when you have the embossing lip.  I used several different shades of purple watercolor to color the image.  There are also several colors of green on the leaves.  Of course, the background was too white for me so I had to add splatters. 

After everything was dry (it is very hard to see) I used a happy birthday die and cut right into the floral design.  I cut several layers of cardstock and stacked them in the opening before I glued the die cut image back on top of the openings.  I did add some glitter pen over the top of the die. 

You may be able to see it a little better in the close up.  I then heat embossed the birthday sentiment onto a piece of paper that matched the card base.

Thanks for stopping by.  I am all done with my May birthdays - not onto June birthdays.

Make Your Mark

The current challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More is Make Your Mark. 

 This card went to a special young lady who reached out to me and asked that I send her a card to lift her spirits in these troubling times.  Of course, I am a cardmaker, someone wants a card from you so I was happy to make her a card.  She loves monkeys and the color orange is her favorite.

I used a background from my lovely background box.  This box comes in so handy when you are making simple cards.  I admit I do have a problem with a pure white background.  The monkey (I believe is from My Favorite Things).  He was colored with copics.  I believe the sentiment is from Pretty Pink Posh.  I stamped the sentiment directly on the background and then used a circle die to cut it out.  I added some fun foam behind the circle to add some dimension.  The little hearts have glitter on them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cards From Kits

I recently visited a friend and she had purchased some kits - I believe they are from Queen and Company.  Here are the cards we made.  Everything comes in the kit so it was easy to assemble.  She said they were very reasonably prices.

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Happy Birthday Cards

I bought this beautiful sheet of balloon paper at JoAnn Fabrics for a quarter.  I made three cute cards out of it for a military box.

I added a little white gel pen detail on the balloons.

Thanks for stopping by.

Let's Be Creative

I try to take time each day to be creative.  With the current happenings, it seems to be even more important.

I had a young friend reach out to me and ask me to send her a card to cheer her up. Of course, I was more than happy to do this.  She loves monkeys and the color orange.

I decided to use the current challenge at The Paper Players.  The current challenge is a sketch.

 I also used the current challenge at Paper Smooches where the challenge is animals.

I stamped the kitty and colored with Copics.  I tried to color an ombre look on the Hello in the same colors as the patterned paper.  I really do like how the card turned out.

The card is already in the mail to a young lady.  I hope it brightens her spirits.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday

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

This is paper from a 6 x 6 pad from We R Memory Keepers.  The colors are so pretty.  I bought the snowman die cut when I bought the pad of paper.  I have made 4 cards so far from this pad.

I die cut some flowers with a die set from My Favorite Things.  The other elements are just fussy cut from the paper pad.  I free hand cut the leaves.

The sentiment is an old stamp from Paper Smooches.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.  They still make beautiful cards.

Happy Easter

It is time to work on some Easter cards.  This will be my second card.  I bought a new Easter stamp set and I plan on using that for my cards this year.  It has a bunny, a chick, eggs and several cute sentiments.

I used the current sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch.

The bunny, eggs and chick were colored with Copic markers.

I based the colors on the plaid paper I used to mat the card front.  The card front was from my background box - most likely it was colored with a pink oxide ink.

I really like how bright and cheerful this card  turned out.  It made me happy when it was done.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafting for Your Mental Health

Right now it is a little crazy in our world so we are all staying home.  I stay home most of the time but when you know you should not be going out - times get tough and you need your crafting to keep your hands and mind busy.

I decided to play along with a few challenges

I loosely followed the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. 

 I decided to start making some Easter cards.  This will go to a little girl who will be celebrating her first Easter.

I found the background in my background box.  It is an abstract sky and green grass.  I colored the bunny and eggs with copic markers.  The strip of plaid paper grounds the bunny. 

I am also adding it to the challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More where the challenge is Anything Goes. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Sending you all cyber hugs.

Cards for the Military

These cards are based on the design from Call Me Crafty Al Sheetload of Cards.  Check her out on You Tube.  She shares a new design on the 1st of each month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday

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

I had gotten the Gnome die from Simon Says Stamp.  I became obsessed with it.

I went into my vast collection of 6 x 6 pads and took out two pieces of coordinating paper for the hat and pants of the gnome.  The beard and nose were cut from white card stock and colored with copics to give them some depth and personality.

I must confess I have made lots more - now what do I do with them. 

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.  Sometimes it takes something new to inspire the use of your well aged supplies.

Sheetload of Cards

Call Me Crafty Al has a video at the beginning of each month on You Tube for how to make a group of cards.  It is great because she has all the dimensions you need to make these cards.

This is the link to the video for the sheetload design for the month of  February 2020. 

I used two sheets of double sides pattern paper and was able to make three cards out of each sheet.  I computer generated the sentiment.  These cards will go in a military box.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oldie Moldie Monday

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

I found these stamped panels in a drawer waiting to be made into cards.

These cards will be put in a box going overseas to some of our military heroes. 

Remember to show some love for your old supplies, or hidden treasures you find in drawers.

Patterned Paper Cards

I have so much patterned paper and I keep trying to use it.  I had this sheet of beautiful double sided paper and I managed to make 6 cards out of it.  These cards will go into a military box and a box for a foster care facility.

Thanks for stopping by.

March Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge

It is March already - have you been keeping up and making a few Christmas cards each month to help you when it times to mail your holiday cards in December.  The monthly Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers will help you with this goal. 

The challenge is always "anything goes" but there is always an option.  This month the option is beverage.  What is your favorite beverage for the holidays?  Here is your chance to put it on a holiday card.

I had bought this stamp set at Michael's on clearance after Christmas.  It has coordinating dies.    The images were stamped and colored with Copics.  I used a silver metallic pen to add some highlights to the stem and outline of the glass.  (I may still have to add some glossy accents to the drinks or clear glitter.)

The sentiments were heat embossed on bright pink card stock.  The same card stock used to mat the focal point of the card.

The background for the images was colored with a light pink distress oxide ink using the squish method.  After all the elements were put on the background, I splattered it with a brighter pink ink and a clear silver metallic spray.  If you look closely at the background, you can see the splatters of the metallic spray.  Adds a subtle bling to the card.

There is also a large die cut snowflake behind the beverages.  It is cut out of glitter paper. 

A couple strips of patterned paper in coordinating colors was added to the card front to add more interest. 

Here is a close up of the design elements.  See the big snowflake behind the glasses.  This adds just another subtle point of interest on your background.

Please join us at Happy Little Stampers and play along with our March Christmas challenge. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Oldie Moldie Monday

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

I am making more birthday cards for a charitable cause.

The die I used for the leaves is a new die but the paper is very well aged.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Get Cracking On Christmas

I stumbled across this challenge to help you "get cracking on your Christmas cards for 2020".  It is a good idea to work every month of your Christmas cards.  This is the reason I am on a challenge blog for Christmas cards.  I know I will have at least 12 done when Christmas rolls around.

You can find February's post about Get Cracking on Christmas at this link. 

Besides my own Christmas cards, I also need to make approximately 30 for a non profit I am associated with.  I could never do 30 cards of the same design so I am trying to do 10 cards of a design.  This is one of the cards for the non profit.

While I was in Florida in November and December, I took water coloring with me to keep my creative juices flowing.  I water colored all these images while in Florida.

I used a gold gel pen to add highlights to the pine cones.  I have issues with white backgrounds so have added a light blue to the background.  I then splattered the image with gold water color.  I matted the image with dark green card stock and put it on a kraft colored card base.  This is a very large image so part of it was cropped when die cutting the rectangle.  I die cut a sentiment from gold mirror card stock.

Thanks for stopping by.