Watercolor Wednesday - The Greeting Farm

Hi Everyone! I'm back with my last Watercolor Wednesday post for 2014 and I am in LOVE with this card I'm sharing. I recently got my hands on some peerless watercolors and have been playing with them a LOT. I've been intrigued by these for some time and I finally took the plunge. I purchased the main pack as well as the bonus pack so I have a total of 60 colors to work with. O.M.G. These things are Ah-MAZING! So much color packed into a little area. The blend like buttah! Seriously, I am in love and so happy to have them added into my watercolor arsenal. I cut little 1x1 squares to create a travel palette. I love that I can take these anywhere so I can color easily at the kitchen table with 60 colors right at my finger tips while watching a movie with my hubby. Nothing like being able to color and spend quality time together. :)

I almost left the card without a sentiment because I couldn't find one I liked but as I looked again at the Together Anywhere stamp set, I saw the Awesome and the Together from the different sentiments and decided to merge them together with some simple masking of the stamp before I inked it and created my own custom sentiment perfect for the card. I think I am going to give this one to my hubby for valentine's day - can never start too early, right?! I kept the card very simple as I really think the coloring is the feature here. I'm starting to think I just can't do layers. Plus, I really want to try to mail more cards in 2015 so it's best to keep them simple so I have no excuse not to slap a forever stamp on an envelope and put them in the mailbox!

Here is a close up of the coloring. It is fun experimenting with skin colors. haha I think Ian looks a little sunburnt here. I do love the sunset background though. Seriously, look at how those colors just blend so pretty into each other! I took my inspiration from the Bo Bunny papers I received in my Simon Says Stamp January Card Kit. Those papers are gorgeous! Has my two favorite colors - purple and teal - LUSH! I think I need to get my hands on a full pad. hehe

I would also like to enter my card in the following challenge:

• Simon Says Anything Goes Challenge

Thanks so much for stopping by - if you liked my card today and don't want to miss a post please be sure to follow me by clicking the button below!

SSS Work It Wednesday Challenge - I love Watercolors!

I came across this challenge on the Simon Says Stamp blog - I am an avid reader and *drooler* of their blog - love being inspired by their designers although I don't join in to play as often as I would like - so I thought today I would do just that. They have a monthly challenge called Work It Wednesday - with a theme - this month's theme is to show something you LOVE. Well, that was easy - after a week of organizing my stamps, I was inspired to pull out some favorite stamps that I haven't ever used. I mean, seriously, how cute are these Gorjuss stamps?! I love them but then get intimidated by coloring them. I decided to pull out my new Peerless Watercolors and just have fun.

I also love my SSS Card Kits - I used the stamp set and perfect pearls that came in the January Kit. LUSH, I tell ya! I don't subscribe to a lot of kits - well, any actually, but the SSS Card Kit is the ONE exception! I stamped my image on some 5x7 watercolor cards that I have - love having these pre made cards - perfect for watercoloring and I just kept it a one layer card letting all the painting shine. It was really relaxing to bring this stamp to life. She's just too cute!

I know I've been quiet - I'm super excited though for 2015 - stay tuned! 

I apologize about being a lazy blogger lately and not listing my products. I promise to start doing that again - just gotta find the time and energy to fire up the old inlinkz thing again - I let it expire. 

Thanks so much for stopping by - if you liked my card today and don't want to miss a post please be sure to follow me by clicking the button below!

Watercolor Wednesday - WPlus9 Birthday Card

Hello everyone! It has been a couple weeks since I've posted for Watercolor Wednesday but I'm back today with this fun card I created last month for my hubby's birthday. I have recently become obsessed, er I mean aware of a stamp company called WPlus9. They also make dies and I purchased their Stag Trio die. It's PERFECT for masculine cards. I had seen some silhouette watercolor paintings on Pinterest which is where I took my inspiration for this card. I just laid down a rainbow of watercolors for my background and die cut my stag from some Simon Says Stamp woodgrain card stock. I used a stamp also by Simon Says Stamp for the Happy Birthday sentiment and then thought it would be cute to add My Deer so I used my Lawn Fawn alphabet set to create a custom sentiment.

I absolutely love creating these watercolor backgrounds like this and I'm so happy to have found a new (to me) stamp company that has such cute and fun stamps and dies! Plus, the owner is an incredible watercolorist and I've learned so much watching her videos on youtube!

For another watercolor card, please check out my post on The Greeting Farm Blog! 

Thanks so much for stopping by - if you liked my card today and don't want to miss a post please be sure to follow me by clicking the button below!

Visible Image - INKognito Thursday Inspiration

Hi everyone! It's Thursday so that means Visible Image Inspiration day! The line of stamps that really made me fall in love with Visible Image was the INKognito line! These stamps are so grungy and original and perfect for art journals. It was long overdue time to get them in mine. I also had been neglecting my Pan Pastels so I grabbed those, my stamps and my old book journal and decided to have a play and experiment a bit.

I love this old book I picked up at a thrift store. It is one of my favorite art journals because I love having book text as a base. I can show as little or as much (like these pages) with the amount of layers I use. Plus, there are these great quotes that are so fun. I decided to keep the layers light in order to keep the quote showing. I started by stamping the stem from the Flower INKognito stamp to frame the quote in VersaMark. Then I stamped the flowers along the bottom of the pages also in VersaMark. 

After I did that, I started adding Pan Pastels in red, yellow, green and blue and blended them together over the page. This is where the magic happens. Where I stamped the images in VersaMark, the color is much brighter and vibrant. I love that effect!

Next I stamped my sentiment Imperfection Is Beauty in Archival Black Ink and highlighted it with a white gel pen. I also added some Ink Splats stamps all around the page. These make the perfect imperfect ink splatters! 

Here is a close up of the gorgeous Pan Pastel across the VersaMark stamped images. Isn't it beautiful? Playing in my art journal and this fabulous medium has only reminded me that I don't have NEARLY enough colors! Must rectify that pronto. ;)

I also want to show how this technique can be applied to cards as well. Here I stamped my flowers on a piece of Neena Solar White Card Stock and then added the Pan Pastel over them blending just orange and yellow this time with a touch of green. Then I stamped the same sentiment in Archival Black and highlighted with a white gel pen. I also added some white highlights on the flowers. I just mounted the entire panel cut slightly smaller than a standard A2 size card (4.25" x 5.5").

Here is another close up of this gorgeous technique! I hope you have enjoyed my post today. I have some sad news as this is my last post as part of the Visible Image Design Team. I have had so much fun designing with these fabulous stamps. The company is amazing - just great people. I have definitely added another fabulous company to my list of favorites. I am thankful for the time I've been able to spend with them. It definitely won't be the last time you see me using these gorgeous stamps! Especially, the new line of sentiment stamps. Be sure to check out the entire Express Yourself Line - they are awesome!

Be sure to check out our 'Tis The Season Visible Image Stamps Challenge this month for your chance to WIN £20 to spend on our stamps!

For more inspiration from the Design Team and our amazing fans, be sure to join the Visible Image Facebook Group and visit the Visible Image Blog.

SUPPLIES USED:

Visible Image - Flower INKognito, Imperfection is Beauty, Ink Splats

Pan Pastels

Archival Ink - Black, Sepia

White Gel Pen

VersaMark Watermark Ink Pad

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop

Hi everyone, wow, what a hop this has been! If you are coming from my dear friend Annette's blog you are right on track, if not, definitely take a look at the links at the bottom of this post to make sure you hit all the stops along the way.

I am excited to be a part of this little (big) hop down memory lane. I still remember the first time I got received the happy email from Susan Opel saying one of my cards got picked for publication. 

Oh, how excited I was! Literally doing the happy dance. I've always loved flipping through my crafty magazines and the thought of having one of my little ole' cards in print was incredible. 

When I first heard the news that Paper Crafts was going digital I thought that we have really seen an entire industry change before our very eyes. When I first started seeing the news rapidly fly on Facebook that the magazine was forever shutting her doors, I couldn't believe it - didn't want to believe it - but sadly, it is true. 

I've met a few of the Go To Gals and Editors in the past couple years when I've been able to attend CHA and they are just as nice and awesome as they are online. It's been an honor to meet them and because they are so awesome, I know they will all be landing on their feet and continuing to create, inspire and be fabulous in whatever venture they decide to do next! 

So, in the spirit of this hop, I've created a little Thank You card. A card to thank them for their inspiration, their thoughtfulness, their generosity…it's just not enough! I wish everyone the best!

I used this fab die cut from Papertrey Ink to create my background. I cut it from Simon Says Stamp Woodgrain Cardstock. Then I die cut my banner (also from Papertrey Ink) out of vellum and embossed my sentiment from Paper Smooches. I created a second smaller banner to layer on top using washi tape, sprinkled some sequins and called it done. I love this large die cut. It is definitely going to be a go to staple for my cards. It fits perfectly on a standard A2 size card which is my favorite card size to make.

I don't want to go on too long as this hop is BIIIIG! Your next stop is one of my all time favorite crafty companies: Crafter's Companion! 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you've enjoyed my card - made especially for all our friends at Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine.

I found a pair of Blitsy Golden Scissors!

Hi everyone! It's no secret that I LOVE Blitsy.com - perhaps a little too much my hubby might argue. LOL Anyway, they have an AWESOME giveaway going on and I created a little video to share with you all about it. Don't mind the no make up and crafty mess in the background! haha ;) Keeping it real here!

For more info, take a look at the Blitsy Golden Scissors Blog Post! Good luck! Remember, today is THE LAST DAY you can win a pair - and there are crazy awesome Cyber Monday days - check it out at Blitsy today! 

Visible Image - 'Tis The Season December Challenge!

Happy Monday, friends! Can you believe it is December 1st?! I certainly cannot. Wow! I don't even want to think about it being the last month of the year and all that. I sure am excited for Christmas though - it is my absolute FAVORITE holiday and season. 

This month at Visible Image we are in the holiday spirit with our challenge 'Tis The Season! That's right, dig out your favorite Visible Image winter or holiday stamps and create anything you design to join our Challenge this month! I created a Christmas card with our Winter Tree Stamp. First I created a background by doing some masking for the snowy hills and using Distress Inks in various blues and purples to create a winter twilight sky. Then I removed the masks and added just a touch of Distress Ink so it wasn't stark white. After that I stamped the tree using Archival Ink. I added snow with Imagine Crafts IrRESISTible Pico Embellisher in Wedding Dress. I also added some to the branches where snow would have fallen. For the snow on the hills, I used Faux Snow by Art Glitter - it is super chunky and fabulous! I finished the card off with a die cut sentiment. I love how it turned out and hope you find some inspiration in my card today.

Be sure to check out our 'Tis The Season Visible Image Stamps Challenge this month for your chance to WIN £20 to spend on our stamps!

For more inspiration from the Design Team and our amazing fans, be sure to join the Visible Image Facebook Group and visit the Visible Image Blog.

SUPPLIES USED:

Visible Image - Winter Tree stamp

Distress Inks

Archival Ink

Imagine Crafts Pico Embellisher - Wedding Dress

Ranger Embossing Powders - Silver

Art Glitter - Faux Snow

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue

Simon Says Stamp - Christmas Blessings Die