Simple Watercolor

This is a very simply card I made using distress markers as my coloring medium. This image is from a long time favorite Stampin' Up set call "Lovely As A Tree". The trees were stamped on watercolor paper and heat embossed. I used a distress marker to mark a line just about the horizon. With my aqua brush, I pulled the color up. I added a little more ink and water until I had the amount that I thought looked good. Then using a gray colored marker, I outlined the marks at the base of each tree and softened with the aqua brush.

 Image finished!

Cut to size.

Mat.

Add a colored, embossed and matted background layer. Assemble and add to a white card base.

You are finished.

"Clean and Simple" -- my favorite style.

The Artist Rule of Three

Today at the meeting of our stamp club "Create, Challenge, Encourage", the challenge was to use the artist rule of three on our cards. I looked through some of my older cards and was surprised how often I have used "three" flowers, butterflies, squares, circles, etc. in my design. The card I made for today's challenge had the three pandas from the 2018 Sale-a-bration set called "Party Panda's". These little guys are so cute. I had to hand cut each one. It really didn't take very long at all. I found the designer series paper in my scrap box which coordinates with a long time retired card stock called "Bordering Blue". I still had a few sheets left which was perfect. I meant to cut all the circles using the smaller circle punch, but when I started, I picked up the wrong one which was larger. I didn't have another piece of designer series paper so I just made it work. When I got everything glued together, I loved the card. I still want to add a sentiment but not sure just yet if it will be "Happy Birthday" or "Thinking of you". I hope that these little pandas will make you smile when you see them.

My First

My first "waterfall card". I wanted to do something different. I looked and looked and looked. Since I had never done a waterfall card, I decided that would be my challenge. Watched several videos. WOW! There is so many talented card makers out there. My card is a combination of several ideas that I came across.

For my card, I chose Smoky Slate and So Saffron as my color combination. The card base is Smoky Slate and So Saffron is the accent color. I used the large flower stamp from the set "Indescribable Gift" to stamp the four little squares. To add some interest on the band that holds the waterfall strip, I used a die from the new thinlets set called "Petals and More". It wasn't quite long enough so I cut it in half and stretched it out a little. The break got covered up when the waterfall strip got glued onto the band.

This verse is from the new set called "Hold On To Hope".

A New Card

I was looking for ideas for my upcoming stamp club meeting coming this weekend. So many wonderful inspirations. This is the first card I chose. It is called a "Double Point Fold". I did a CASE of a card I saw; I was having a hard time getting started. Here is a link to Lisa Curcio's blog Lisa's Stamp Studio. She created a video with great instructions. I am so thankful for all the talented people out there that are so ready to share their talent. Lisa also shares some great ideas on how to watercolor on Whisper White card stock in her video.

I made a card like this in the stamp club that I was a member many years ago. I enjoyed trying it again.

For A Friend

Last night, I worked on a card that I want to give to a special friend for Valentine's Day. I used the "Bouquet Bunch Framelits" set.

For the bouquet I used Pale Plum, Wisteria Wonder and Old Olive card stock. I did use a different die for my bow because it was just a little bit larger. I am really happy the way the card turned out.

Getting Ready For Our Valentine Lunch with Friends.

On Wednesday, February 14, we are to have lunch with three other couples. What do we have in common with these folks? All of our husbands have Parkinson's Disease. We have all been married about 50 years.  All of our husbands have had great careers. Our husbands are currently attending the "Rock Steady Boxing" exercise program here in Jackson. All are active in their church. Most of all, we enjoy being together.

Since it will be Valentine's Day, I wanted to do a little something special to celebrate our time together. I would like to share with you what I came up with.

First, I made these little boxes filled with candy. I purchased a bag of Dove Chocolates -- milk chocolate with swirls of dark chocolate wrapped in purple foil. For the box top, I chose SU Elegant Eggplant card stock.The box is small -- about 2 1/4" x 3 1/2"and about 5/8" tall. It holds 6 pieces of the chocolate. I made the flowers using a couple of punches that I have. I used Pale Plum card stock (a long retired color), sponged the edges with Elegant Eggplant ink, shaped the petals, glued two large pieces together, added one layer of the smaller petals, filled the center with glue and topped that off with yellow prills. I truly love making these flowers. I found some pieces of greenery and added them to the box top before gluing on the flower. To finish off the flower, I added a little bit of diamond stickles to the edge of each petal.

I wanted a card to go with the little boxes. I chose to do a little 3" x 3" card. It is made using white card stock for the base. For the top layer, I punched the heats out of white card stock, trimmed it to about 2 3/4" square, embossed that layer and added a piece of Elegant Eggplant card stock underneath. The last thing I had to do was make the envelopes. I think that the little boxes will look so pretty setting on the table.

I looked and looked for a sentiment to go inside the card. I couldn't find one in my stamp collection. Last night, I went looking on Pintrest. I found a quote that I thought might work. This morning I was playing with it, changed some of the words and this is the result. Using Microsoft Publisher, I created and printed the inside of my card. I was able to get the three cards I needed from one sheet of white card stock. I found the RGB code for "Elegant Eggplant" and used that as the color for the printing. It comes out being pretty close to a match.

Using "Heartfelt Blooms" One More Time

I did another card this morning using the "Heartfelt Blooms" stamp set. This time I used Primrose Petal card stock and ink along with Very Vanilla card stock. This is a very simple design but one that really stands out because of being asymmetrical. Before adding the focal image to the card base, I stamped around the edges with a stamp from the "Waterfront" set and VersaMark ink.

I often forget about adding something to the inside of the card. This time I remembered. I added just a little bit of color using the focal stamp and the Primrose Petal ink. I hope this inspires you today in your card making journey.

2018 Sale-A-Bration Heartfelt Blooms

I needed a couple of cards this week so here is what I came up with. At first this stamp set did not jump out at me. I thought it was one that I could do without. After seeing a lot of cards made with the stamp set on Pinterest, I began to have different feeling about it. On the last Stampin' Up order that I sent in, I had the opportunity to get this set. The more I have seen cards made with it, the more I really love it.

Yesterday I needed a get well card. I also needed it a little larger than a regular A2 card. So here is what I did. Of course the focal image is from the set "Heartfelt Blooms" stamped with "Wisteria Wonder" ink on white card stock. It is layered on a piece of Wisteria Wonder card stock. The card base is white. Found a piece of Designer Series Paper in Wisteria Wonder. When I was checking the pieces and layout, I found that the white card base was to stark; it was too white. I started looking through my stamp sets and decided on using a stamp from the set called "Touches of Texture". I stamped it around the exposed edges. What a difference that made.

The next picture shows the back of the card. When I was all done, I turned the card over. In the upper left corner, there was a big, dark ink smear. I didn't have time to start over. What could I do? I thought about ways that I might cover it up or I could just leave it. I didn't like the last idea. What I ended up doing was punching a 1 1/4" square from the Designer Series Paper, cutting it on the diagonal and covering up the smear with one of the triangles. It sort of matched the front of the card. Good or bad, that is what I did.

The second card I needed was a sympathy card. I find these cards difficult to make. I used the same stamp set "Heartfelt Blooms". This time I stamped it with a Stampin' Up retired color called "Brocade Blue". I had seen a card on Pinterest where part of the image had been cut it such a way that it hung over the edge. I wanted to give it a try. I also stamped the image twice so that I could cut out the main flower and attach it over the main image to add interest and dimension to the piece. The sentiment I used is from a Our Daily Bread Designs set called "Loving Memories". Here is a link to the original card I saw.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Four Fold Cards

These cards show my journey at making the four fold card. Some months ago this was my first attempt at making this design. I followed the tutorial that I found HERE. I used the Stampin Up sets called Touches of Texture and Butterfly Basics. It was a challenge but one I enjoyed working on.

For my second card I used designer papers that I had purchased at my local Jo-Ann store. I used basic black for the die cuts. Love how the black looks on the paper.

This last card was one that we did in our Create, Challenge, Encourage Stamp Club for our January meeting. We used the Delightful Daisy stamp set. The card base was basic black with Calypso Coral as the accent layer. The daises were stamped with Calypso Coral and Pacific Point ink. This layout becomes a little time consuming but I think it is well worth the effort.