Rose Are Red … and Yellow … and Easy

I am addicted to these Rose Flurries dies from Altenew. Absolutely addicted.

Now, you know nothing makes me happier than using up my paper scraps. And then making pretty things. These dies let me do it all.

First, check out the card:

(Cover die is Altenew’s Watercolor Stripes over a watercolored background. Sentiment is from Altenew’s Persian Motif set. Gems from Studio Katia.)

As you can see if you look at the dies, there are a LOT of them in this set. So here’s what I did to keep them straight:

First, I used a Sharpie to label the back of each die (yes, they are skinny!) according to their set (1, 2, 3, etc.). Then I added letters to show the layering order (a, b, c, d). So it looks something like this:

While I was cutting, I separated the dies and the pieces in a box top. This helped me keep track of the dies and the pieces:

After all that cutting, I stored them in little baggies, which makes putting them together so much easier!

And now I have a nice stash of dies for easy card making!

Shop ’til You ….

…. Can’t stop making these adorable shopping bags from Hero Arts!

These are made using the Fancy Dies 3-D Shopping Bag.  As you can see, I couldn’t stop making them! The bag is open enough to let you add things, but not so puffy that it won’t easily slip into an envelope.  I love that you can put anything in these bags!

Check it out:

For the background, I did a soft watercolor wash using Hero Arts’ liquid pigment watercolors. The greenery was created from Spellbinders’ Fern Dies. The dots are Nuvo crystal drops.

For this card, I first stamped Hero Arts’ Floral Mandala Bold Print in Unicorn White onto the gray cardstock. The flowers are from Hero’s Coloring Layering bird CL866, and the stems are an older stamp from Art Impressions F3022.

This one is a particular favorite — I love the ombre bag and the balloons!

The paper for the bag was colored using Ranger Distress Oxides; the background is Lawn Fawn’s Quilted Backdrop die, and the balloons are from My Favorite Things,  the Bundles of Balloons card kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Elephants on Parade!

Sometimes the best way to try new products and techniques is by making tags. These were fun and easy!

I started by playing with Hero Arts’ new liquid watercolors (check out the great video in the link) in Strawberry, Moss and Indigo (the only three colors I have, but see how nicely they mix and play together?) . These come in a dropper bottle and are highly pigmented.

I used the watercolors to create a large background sheet (which I cut into tags), but they are also great for coloring individual images. I dropped some watercolors into a paint tray, let them dry, and keep them handy on my desk. They re-activate with the touch of a damp or wet brush.

Once the paper was dry, I stamped and white embossed a portion of Hero Arts Bold Prints Floral Mandala background.

The larger pink elephant on the left is a punch from EK Success; the smaller elephant is a Hero Arts layering stamp (which has a matching die). The balloons on the large pink elephant is from Stampin’ Up!’s Balloon Builders set (if you can’t find it, there are several other great balloon stamps on the website!).

So much fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Tags, Tags, Tags!

Happy New Year! I spent a fruitful week before Christmas finishing up some gift boxes to deliver to friends and co-workers. One of my most relaxing projects was creating these easy watercolor tags:

These were so fun and easy! First, I splashed watercolors on some scrap watercolor paper using various paints, including handmade colors from Pfeiffer Art Supply.  While those were drying, I punched a bunch of tags using a Fiskars tag punch (with built-in eyelet setter!) and painted swooshes of watercolor.

I die cut cut some birds (unknown die … one of the first dies I ever used)  from that painted watercolor scrap. Because the die did not come with a bird wing, I created wings by using a leaf die that was the right size! The stamped birds (old Hero Arts Decorative Birds set and a Claudia Rose flamingo) were white embossed.

Here’s another look:

(The larger bird is Tim Holtz’s Caged Bird Sizzix Alterations die.) sitting on a double stitched oval die from Gina K. Designs.

Such fun to make, and happily received.

Here’s to a happy, healthy new year with many creative opportunities ahead. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Hello Honey Bear!

These Wild Things animal tags from Stampin’ Up! (A Little Wild set) are not just stinkin’ cute … they are very versatile, too!

Using the stamps and matching dies, it’s easy to make the cutest tags (which I plan to use for party favors at an upcoming baby shower!). Check them out:

See how they fold over? And have a built-in hole for a string?

But, wait! There’s more! You can also cut them apart to use on cards:

The 4 7/8 x 7″ sized card was made using the Papertrey Ink die Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection and Stampin’ Up! card stock. I love this die set!

Don’t forget about the back side of the stamps!

And one last idea … a cute banner would bed cute, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Finds Friday: The Cats’ Meow

Today, I’m obsessed with cute cats.

Here are two quick and easy cards using two different kitties:

I love this playful cat set from Waffle Flower. Above is just one of the cute kitties from Flora Cat Play.

I die cut the Stitched Journal die from Lawn Fawn then painted a soft blue watercolor wash rectangle. I stamped the kitty in black VersaFine and lightly colored in the images with a bit of grey. Gel pens added color to the cat’s flowers and a Wink of Stella added a touch of glitter.

The background was stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink using images from Spellbinders Designer Series Feather stamp and die set. When everything was dry, I mounted the cat panel with foam dimensional tape.

I’ve always loved Laurel Burch designs, so I was delighted to find that Stampendous! has licensed her images for stamps. This was also fast and easy, and came about as I was playing with the stamp, testing it out. (This cutie is from the Indigo Cats set.)

I stamped the cat on watercolor paper with VersaFine black ink, then colored with a mix of Ranger Distress yellow and mustard markers (which I first scribbled on my palette, then picked up with a watercolor brush.)

I added some color with sparkly gel pens. I did a light wash of blue watercolor around the cat and decided it needed more interest, so I used the stencil that comes with the stamp set to add a bit of Ranger Distress blue ink. I trimmed the panel, edged it with black permanent marker and attached it to a top-folding yellow 4Bar card. A few sequins finished the deal.

Have a great weekend! Meow!

Stamp, Color, Cut with Spellbinders

Today I’ll show two cards (that I teased in my last post) using the lovely floral bouquet from Spellbinders’ Designer Series Feather from the Earth Air Water Collection by Stephanie Low. (There’s also a cool feather in the set, which has stamps and coordinating dies.)

I stamped the bouquet in VersaFine black ink (from Imagine Crafts), then painted using various markers. (And cut it out with the matching die.) To get my color, I scribbled the  markers on a palette, then picked up the colors using my water brush. (I use this technique a lot when I want a watercolor look without a heavy saturation of water.)

When using markers, I use a variety, including Ranger Distress Ink, Faber Castell’s PITT Artist brushes, Tombow markers, etc. I also will dab water-based ink pads on my palette and pick up the color with the water brush. The sentiment was cut using a Technique Tuesday die from the Celebrate set.

Here’s a variation:

The components are mostly the same, but the frame is from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for coming back!

 

Fabulous Finds Friday: Spellbinders Magic

I am always amazed and awed at the variety of styles Spellbinders presents each year. Here are a few catches from the latest release.

Love the soft watercolor look of these stamps …

… and the tiny details on stamps such as this one below:

… not to mention this pretty watercolor look:

And for something different, the mixed media stylings of the delightful Seth Apter:

Stay tuned for an upcoming project using THIS new Spellbinders stamp/die set! Have a great weekend.

Fab Finds Friday — Coastal Christmas

It’s always such fun to discover a new stamp company! So when I checked out Flourishes, I immediately fell in love with this *Coastal Christmas set.

First, I played with the boat, which was perfect for coloring:

I used a variety of colored pencils and my Kuretake Gansai Tambi to watercolor this scene, which was first stamped in VersaMark black on watercolor paper. (The card is a 4Bar (7″x7 7/8″, folded to 3 1/2 x 4 7/8). And added a touch of Wink of Stella clear to some of the packages. It felt unbalanced, so I added a strip of a scrap paper to the left side.

The next card features the pretty beachy wreath:

Images were stamped and embossed in white on blue cardstock, colored in with various gel pens, edged with Aegean Silver glitter powder (Judikins). The pieces were mounted on a silver shimmer cardstock from Paper Source.)

That same wreath and sentiment also made quick cards with simple white embossing:

*Disclaimer: This stamp set was provided to me by Flourishes. Thank you, Flourishes!

Pretty Poseys

I’ve always loved this big, bold, beautiful floral from Stampendous! And it makes an easy, fast card:

It’s just perfect for watercoloring. The image was stamped on Ranger Specialty Watercolor paper (love it because one side is smooth, great for stamping, but it still holds up to watercolor!) in VersaMark ink, then embossed with black powder. (By the way, before stamping with VersaMark, I used I used my  ScraPerfect Perfect Embossing Pouch to eliminate static and stray powder), and  Zig Kuretake Clean Color Watercolor markers for coloring. And of course, a dash of clear Wink of Stella … why not?

After it dried, the panel was trimmed, edged with a black permanent marker, and mounted on a moss green folded card. The sentiment (Technique Tuesday) and stamped in VersaFine black on piece of white scrap, edged in black, then mounted with foam tape. The sequins are from Doodlebug Design.

Here’s to a great weekend!