Hello~Watercolor

Hi There!

Yesterday I started a case of a card by Suzy Plantamura as seen in this blog post. I was feeling brave enough to watercolor, actually. I painted the background panel and dried it with my heat gun. Then I added some more color and dried it. Then I set it aside. I stamped and watercolored the images. I used the Artist Loft watercolors from Michaels. I really like the blues and greens in that set. Hey, you can't be $4.99, either!

I'm making an effort to tweak my cases a bit more. Here you can see I added the journaling panel (from Lawn Fawn). I did die cut these images, but had stamped first and then die cut. Um, it's hard to line them up as the dies are solid and I can't quite tell where I should tape them. As it was, each cut was offset, meaning I ended fussy cutting to get the images to look good. Guess with these dies, you do the die cutting first and line up the stamps, huh? Now I know. 

Here's a close up. You can see I also watercolored the journaling card. All of the images are adhered flat with no pop dots this time. Being the messy watercolor-er that I am, I went over the images with a Micron pen, too, so you can see the eyes and the wings. :)

I'm also making more of an effort to decorate the inside of the card, too. I had a piece of leftover watercolor background that I die cut and added the images with SSS Fog ink. 

I so wanted to add some sparkle, but figured with it being a watercolored piece, I'd just mess it up. Sequins didn't look right, either. Ah well. Some white dots are all the embellishments this card got. 

That's it from me today.

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

I hope you have a great start to your week!

Hugs,

Jeanne

Wintery Thanks and Snowpeople, too!

 Hi there!

Oh golly, it's hard to believe we are at the end of January, 2016! Happy New Year just a tad bit late. I hope it's treating you well so far. Life hasn't slowed down much since our Winter Break ended. From time to time I've managed to get a card or two made, but my computer is giving me fits these days and getting them edited has been problematic. Sometimes just navigating the internet has been an issue as well. I had some time today and edited them all at one time. I hope I don't have any problems posting this. We've tried a couple of fixes, but the issue remains so obviously those weren't actually fixes. Sigh. Gotta love technology.

Anyway, onto the cards. They are copies of cards that I have seen in blogland and liked. I've added my own little tweaks.

Here's the card I copied. (sorry it's so dark, I tried my best to lighten it up)

My tweaks: colored with colored pencils and the pattern paper. I sent this is in the mail and could hear the beads shaking. Wasn't sure if the post office would get all worried at the noise, but it got to the recipient, so all is good. :)

Here's the card that inspired these two cards.

My tweak: I used glitter paper from DCWV. The snowflakes and thanks die-cut are sparkly even if you can't tell in the photos. I softened the stripes big time on the top card. The second one, I was playing around with the color combo for a different card, but I didn't like the end result for that card, so I used it here and felt it worked really well. 

The new year has been pretty good to us. I never mentioned it here on the blog, but my husband got laid off from his job way back in April of last year. Anyway, after all these months, he recently  accepted a job offer. Yay! While he hasn't started just yet, he should be back to work soon.  The girls are as busy as ever. Amy's Winterguard had an evaluation performance last weekend. They got positive and encouraging comments from the judges on their show so far. We also worked Bingo last weekend. Jessica has been busy with clubs and is going to a dinner theater tonight with one of them. This week has been filled with Girl Scout meetings as well. It's always something. This mom is doing her best to keep up! 

:)

That's a very brief update on us. I thank you very much for continuing to stop by from time to time. 

I so appreciate the visit! 

See you again soon!

Hugs.

Hello Friend and Enjoy Your Day Cards

Hello!

I have a couple of cards to share with you today. Two completely different cards. :)

The first one is my take on this one. I was really struck by the colors she used with the Hero Arts stencil. And just for fun, I added a liberal spritzing of Perfect Pearls mixed with water in my mini spritzer. I also used a die I received as some very happy mail a couple of months ago from my good friend, Alanna. She is so sweet! Thank you once again, Alanna! She makes some terrific CAS cards, too! I finally figured out a way to use the die...I think! LOL I actually made this card a week or two ago, but wasn't sure I really liked it. It's growing on me and hey, it just might inspire someone else, so I'm gonna go ahead and share. I really like how the blending and all that came out. I'm just thinking the card design needs work. (See why I am such a copycat-this stuff frustrates me).

 I had originally made the stenciled piece a full card front size. But I used the friend die on the bottom portion. I didn't like how it looked and thought to futz with the die cut, but messed it up. So, I was left with the size you see and couldn't figure out what to do to showcase it well. I then used the organdy ribbon and tied a bow. That looked silly, so off that went. I cut the friend in black and liked how that popped, but it needed more, so I tried the hello from Close To My Heart's Have a Happy Day Set. Eh, it works, I think. I added the black gems at the top to help balance it. All in all, I do like it. Sort of. 

And for the other card...I was inspired by different cards I saw on a google search of this Lawn Fawn Let's Play stamp set. One card I saw, the blogger watercolored using Inktense pencils. Oooooh, I have some of those! So I sat down to play. I don't have the dies for this set, so everything is fussy cut. (I didn't cut in between the lines attaching the swing to the frame and seat. I watercolored that part and glued the dog on top.)  I also inked the images in black pigment ink and clear heat embossed, so my colors would stay in the lines. This one produces a smile for sure! It's pretty vibrant. 

The clouds are from another Lawn Fawn set, Hello Sunshine. (Can you tell I realllllly like Lawn Fawn stamps these days? I'm acquiring quite the collection). I stamped in versamark ink  on vellum and clear heat embossed. They looked a little lost in the sky, so I tried watercoloring on them with white watercolor from a set I have (no white Inktense pencil in my set of 12). You can't see it very well in the photo, but the white looks kind of neat in person. 

That's it from me today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are having a great day!

Hugs,

Make a Wish Card

Hi Friends!

I am such a copy cat! I watched a video by Nicole on the Lawn Fawn blog and really liked how she created a watercolor background. I tried my hand at it right away and was happy with how it turned out. Yay! I also splurged just a bit and ordered the party animal stamp set as well as the puffy cloud dies from Scrapbook Pal. To my total surprise, the order came within 2 days! Gotta love that. :)

I sat down to color the images from the set today and cased the card Nicole made. I did tweak it a bit by adding a party hat to the deer and changed out the present for a little cake. I also colored with pencils and did some blending with odorless mineral spirits. Those little party birds are adorable!

I didn't order the dies to go with this set, so the images were fussy cut. I decided not to leave a white border and I like the look for this card. I had to be careful in a few spots, but if I had some white showing, I used a black Micron pen to fill it in. Worked like a charm! This shot is to show the dimension I got by adding some foam squares. I also wanted the balloon to be a bit behind the deer, so I didn't pop that image up.

You couldn't tell in the other photos, but I added a liberal spritzing of Perfect Pearls and water in a mini spritzer. Love the shimmer it leaves. I sat the card in front of a sunny window and was able to capture a bit of the shimmer. Feel free to enlarge if you'd like. 

I had hoped when I did the watercolor background that I could pull up my tape and have a nice white border. Um, that didn't work out quite as planned as some color seeped under the tape. I trimmed it off, then adhered that piece to a cut using a stitched rectangle die. 

That's it from me today. Thanks so very much for stopping by. 

I hope you are having a happy day!

Shimmery Butterfly Thanks Card

Hi There!

I recently started following a blog called Me and Minime Crafting. Marika is a wonderful artist and I've watched a video or two of her watercoloring. Oh my! Such talent. :) Anyway, she recently posted this card and I was instantly smitten. Butterflies! Squeeeee! I really liked how she heat embossed the image in white and chose to watercolor the butterflies green. I decided to try my hand at a similar look.

Since I felt a bit more successful watercoloring with pencils, I used them again. Why mess with success, right? These butterflies are from an old CTMH butterflies set (long retired, I'm sure). I forgot to note the name of the set, and I'm too lazy to go back and look for it. Let me know if you'd like the name of the set. I stamped them in Versamark and heat embossed with white. The first butterfly I made was all green. Then I started to wonder (uh oh) what it would look like with some blue. I liked the result! I set them aside to dry. Then I added some shimmer with my Wink of Stella pen. Only you can't really tell. I set this aside and left it alone until today. Should I mention I'm working hard now not to rush myself in finishing a card? 

I sat back down today and decided to fussy cut the butterflies out. Initially I planned to plop them onto white cardstock, but I got to thinking again...I wonder what it would look like if I washed a watercolor card piece with shimmery blue watercolor? I liked the result! (whooo hoooo 2 for 2)

You can see the shimmer much better in this second photo. :)

Finally, I wanted to add a sentiment and I really like the thanks Marika used. But I don't have that die. I noticed some wayyyyyyyy old Cuttlebug dies on a shelf. I mean these were released the first year the Cuttlebug was, if I remember correctly. I remember when purging before debating whether I should donate the dies as I'd not used them much at all. But I decided to keep them. Golly! Am I happy to have hoarderish tendencies when it comes to crafty supplies. :) I cut the thanks with a shimmer cardstock from Michaels. It's a recent release stack called Sophia and is part of the Recollections brand. Adds just the right touch. And to finish off the card, I added some sequins. 

Happy sigh!

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

I hope you have a happy day.

Hugs,

Jeanne

Having Some Artistic Fun

As I was watering my flowers one day last week, a friendly neighborhood butterfly decided to come for a visit. It looked so lovely fluttering from blossom to blossom, that I had to take some photos. When I chat  on the front porch with my neighbors across the street, we'll see this butterfly flitting around in their yard or other yards. Makes us smile, that is for sure. (This photo was taken with the up close flower scene setting on my camera, one that I haven't used all that much because I forget to move the dial sometimes. And I didn't edit the photo, it is straight out of the camera-well, except for my name down there in the corner).

I've mentioned my friend, Barb, a time or two. *Ü* Some recent email chats with her and her blog posts about watercolor has piqued my interest in playing around with watercolors myself. As I have said before I am supremely watercolor challenged. I recently watched this you tube video by Amy Rysavy where she reviews the Artist Loft brand of watercolor paints. These are Michaels "house brand" of watercolors and this review, coupled with projects Barb has been sharing using watercolors prompted me to buy a set (with a coupon, even though they aren't expensive at all without a coupon-hey, save where you can, right?) I watched a few other videos on using watercolors in cardmaking and took the plunge to play a bit. (Boy oh boy, You Tube is amazing, isn't it??) I messed around  a while to get the background and set it aside to dry(for like a week, because the girls and I were off doing summer vacation activities or I was watching more You Tube...that site can get addicting).

I knew going in to creating this background that I wanted it to look sort of like a sunset. Not sure I got it right, but the feel is there. I also knew I wanted to use this Hero Arts cling stamp for the silhouetted flowers. So, yesterday I stamped it, not even considering that I was stamping onto watercolor paper and the surface wasn't smooth! (Yeah, I'm not the brightest bulb, sometimes). It looked awful and I was so bummed. But before I chucked the piece in disgust (it was the only one I painted this way) I remembered a trick I saw Jennifer McGuire do with a black marker on an image that didn't stamp cleanly and decided to try it, using a Micron pen. Oh thank heavens, it didn't look too bad and I was able to salvage the image. I'm very happy with the final result. Whew! This isn't a card at this point. I've toyed with the idea of adding a sentiment, but I kind of like it as is. Who knows...maybe I'll frame it and keep it for myself. 

And finally, I'm going wayyyyyyyy out on a limb here, sharing this next picture. I've recently become intrigued by something called Zentangle and ZenDoodling. If you Google either term you will come across tons of links/images/videos on this art form. There are boatloads of pins on Pinterest and Flickr as well.  Basically, it's repetitive drawing with the intent to de-stress and express oneself. I used to tole paint years and years (and years) ago, and somehow the art I've been seeing reminds me of the patterns I used to paint. So, I've been playing around with this form of expression as well. Not all Zentangles or doodles are colored, but I can't seem to leave it alone after I am done drawing. I've used my Prismacolor pencils on this page. 

I was really inspired by some pieces I saw on the internet, but I didn't print anything off to "follow" or use as a guide. This is very out of the norm for me! It was fun trying different doodles and patterns. 

Who knows maybe someone will be inspired to try something new like I did. I feel like my creative juices are flowing again, after a very long dry spell!

I'm very thankful to those who share so willingly and freely. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a terrific day.

Jeanne

Casing Barb's Just Keep...Swimming!

Hi There!

My good friend, Barb over at The Buzz recently shared a really neat looking watercolor card here. She has been taking an online class on watercoloring and I've just been amazed by her creations. (You can see them here) You see, I am completely watercolor challenged. As I told her, it's not a bid for sympathy or anything. I just don't have the right touch. I remember becoming so frustrated years ago when I was a consultant for Close To My Heart and I would try watercoloring. Nope, watercolor and I just don't get along. 

When I came across the post I linked above, I was intrigued. Barb insisted that you can't mess this technique up. In her post she explains how to do the technique and I watched the video she linked as well. Seemed like it could be something I could do. I had most of the supplies on hand. Well, except the two ink colors I wanted to use, that is. What a perfect excuse to add to my stash of distress inks! *Ü* Armed with some coupons, I picked up Peacock Feathers and Spiced Marmalade yesterday. And wouldn't you know, Michaels put ink pads on sale starting today?! May have to add a couple of more colors to my stash this week.

I wandered into my crafty space this afternoon to give it a try. My first attempt...did not like! I couldn't get a good coverage of ink onto my watercolor paper. There were large patches of white showing through. I had no idea really how much ink to smear onto my craft sheet and how much water to spritz onto it. I dried my paper and reinked it, but still large spots of no ink coverage. I got a little worried that this easy sounding technique wasn't going to be so easy for me. I tried again on a new piece of paper, still a lot of white space. Hmph!! Then I got the idea to try on the flip side of the watercolor paper, the side that was a little more smooth. Ahhhhh....that looked much better!

And, after a bunch of fiddling and futzing...here's the final result...

I told you in my title that I cased Barb's work, but I did try to add my own little twist. I added some detail on the fish with a colored pencil and a colorless blender. I had some googly eyes in different sizes and I found some neat looking sequins in my stash. They are from Hobby Lobby, Make It Christmas. I need tips on how best to add sequins. These were a bit of a pain to get to stick. My extra touch is the spraying of the shimmer onto the background, all over the watercolored piece. I took the second picture in the sunlight to help capture the sparkle. You might need to enlarge to see it better. 

That's all for today. Felt good to get my fingers inky (and I do mean inky, this may be a somewhat easy technique, but it is also a little messy, hee, hee).

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day.

Jeanne