Watercoloured Stencil

Time for February's CAS Watercolour challenge and our host, Marcia, has picked "Red and Pink" as the theme.

Perfect for Valentine's Day!  I did something a little different and watercoloured through a stencil for my card.

I used a TCW stencil called "Confetti".  Here's a picture of it:

It seems I had it flipped over the other way but I don't think it matters.  I taped it down onto watercolour paper and just used the top section.

I took plain old watercolour paints and a small flat brush (a flat brush seems to work better with the stencil than a round one).  I dipped the brush in water and then dabbed off some of the water so it wouldn't run under the stencil.  I drag the flat brush head on an angle over the stencil openings, rather than painting into the openings (if that makes sense!).  I did all the blotches and dots in pink and the hearts in red.

To finish it off, I added an encrusted jewel heart out of my UFO box and a simple stamped sentiment.  The panel is popped up on fun foam on a red card base.  Here's a close-up of the heart and surrounding watercolouring:

We have wonderful examples of red and pink watercolouring from the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer, Darnell (djkardkreations) over at CAS Watercolour.  You have until February 24th to link up your cards.

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz sentiment

Ink - SU Real Red

Paper - watercolour paper, red cs

Size - A2

Accessories - TCW "Confetti" stencil, watercolour paints, encrusted jewel heart from my UFO box (heart die, versamark, red embossing powder, clear UTEE, various tiny beads and sequins, glitter), fun foam

Twofer Birds

I love birds as a theme for cards so had to squeeze in some time today to make cards for Darnell's Twofer Card Challenge:

Here's the Twofer photo:

I really love that bird stamp with the wonderful quote on its body.  The card on the left is a thank you card for my sister who has really inspired me to follow some of my passions.  The one on the right is a birthday card for a close friend who does bird watching.  The sentiments for the occasions are on the inside because I wanted to use the word stamps that came with the bird stamp.

First up:

I started with a piece of background I made at Loll Thompson's house using Jennifer Maguire's Distress ink monoprint technique (see video here).  It uses blue Distress ink with a leafy background stamp - this is the monoprint version (or what I think of as the negative version).  It came out a bit patchy so I decided to add some layering with the music background stamp and two of the words that came with the bird stamp.

The bird is stamped, heat embossed, and fussy cut, with its legs glued to the die cut branch and its body popped up with dimensional tape.  The whole panel is popped up on fun foam.

And the second card:

I put the bird stamp in my MISTI and coloured it with Distress markers, repeating until I was happy with the results.  Then I put the "happiness" stamp in the MISTI and got it close to the bird's feet to ground the bird.

I placed a leafy stencil over it and used a finger dauber to sponge around the bird with pale blue and pale green.

After I trimmed the panel into a square, I decided I needed something below the "happiness" stamp as I'd kept the stencil sponging above it.  So I wrapped twine around the bottom.  And then had an "ah ha" moment that it would be perfect on a kraft base - popped up on fun foam of course for some dimension.

I'm also adding it to Loll Thompson's new CAS Stencil Challenge:

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies for card 1:

Stamps - Fiskars "For the Birds" set, Impression Obsession music background, unknown leaf background stamp

Ink - various Distress blue inks, Adirondack Lake Mist, Vivid Cobblestone, Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - white and brown cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Sizzix branch die, clear embossing powder, foam tape, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:

Stamps - Fiskars "For the Birds" set

Ink - Memento Sky Blue, Distress Bundled Sage, Archival Jet Black

Paper - white cs

Size - 5.25" square

Accessories - Distress markers, Dina Wakely Little Birdies Leaf stencil, twine, fun foam

A Night Sky and Stenciled Holly

Yesterday was a horrible rainy day and I got to spend some of it in my craft room and got pieces made for several cards.  This evening I put two cards together.

The first one is for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge:

I have a sentiment stamp of the second line of "Silent Night" - it seemed the perfect place to start when planning my card.

I made a night sky background by sponging four colours of Distress Inks, then flicking some drops of water onto it.  I die cut the little landscape and two small stars and a small Christmas star.  Put it all together with a stitched border and popped the panel up on fun foam.


Then I wanted to do another card for Loll Thompson's new CAS Stencil challenge - an easy challenge to start with:

And, since I was in Christmas card mode, I chose a holly stencil and created this:

I sponged with Distress inks, then trimmed with an inverted scallop die, and bordered in red glitter cs cut with the next size up of inverted scallop die.  I embellished with red glitter domes and heat embossed the sentiment in sparkly red embossing powder.

Two more for the Christmas card stash!

Supplies for Card 1:

Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black;  Distress Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, and Dusty Concord

Paper - white and gold cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - Memory Box Country Landscape and Star of Wonder dies, Simon Says Stamp mini stars die, Lil Inkers stitched square die, fun foam

Supplies for Card 2:

Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Chianti; Distress Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles, and Brushed Corduroy

Paper - red glitter and white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz holly stencil, Spellbinders inverted scallop dies, red glitter domes, Old Island Red Dragon embossing powder

Snowman in a Snowstorm

The Double D challenge is Let It Snow, and it's definitely snowing on this card.  The snowman looks like he's raising his arms and saying "it's still snowing and has been snowing forever".

I stamped the snowman and coloured him and the ground beneath him with Tombow Markers. I used the Falling Snow stencil and Snowflake paste to add the snowstorm around him. And put a bit of glitter on the ground.

No snow here in Vancouver where I live.  A decent dry day today after a horrid damp drizzly one yesterday.  Those of you with sunshine and sparkly snow, get outside and enjoy it for me!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. snowman, Northwoods sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - white and blue cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - SSS Falling Snow stencil, Finnabair Snowflake paste, Tombow markers, glitter

Sparkly Poinsettias

This is quite a large card for me.  It uses the full size Tim Holtz stencil in its entirety.  The size was inspired by a SCS challenge to make a tall card.  The poinsettias are for October's Flower Challenge "Add Sparkle".

I laid the stencil over some white cs and sponged with red and green Distress Oxide inks.  I washed the stencil and put it back in place and went over it with translucent embossing paste.  After removing the stencil, I immediately sprinkled glitter all over the wet paste.

When dry, I trimmed it, popped it up on fun foam, and added a heat embossed sentiment, die cut with a label die.  The label die needed a little something so I added red gemstones to the four points.

It's very hard to photograph glitter and sparkle, but I managed to capture it somewhat in this photo:

With Christmas coming up, I think I'll be using more of the glitter!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Candy Apple, Fired Brick, and Lucky Clover

Paper - white cs

Size - 7.75x4.5"

Accessories - Tim Holtz poinsettia stencil, Dreamweaver translucent embossing paste, Martha Stewart glitter, red gemstones

Dragonfly with a Stencil

Sneaking in under the wire for the AAA Cards challenge:

I used my favourite paste (Dreamweavers Pearlescent) with a stencil my kind friend Loll Thompson made for me on her Silhouette.

I was playing around with splashing some Distress Oxide inks and made a panel in pretty shades of blue with a touch of violet.  I die cut the dragonfly from it and set it on the stenciled panel and popped it up with fun foam.

The Dreamweavers Pearlescent Paste has a lovely creamy shimmer that changes in different lights.  Here's a close-up:

It's hard to believe it's September 1st - where has the summer gone?  I will be back a lot in the next few weeks with Christmas cards, hoping to get ahead in building my stash ready for my sale in November.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Shaded Lilac, Peacock Feathers

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Local King dragonfly die, stencil made on a Silhouette, Dreamweaver Pearlescent Paste, fun foam

Q is for Quote

The ABC Christmas Challenge this month is "Q is for Quote".  One of my favourite Christmas quote stamps is by Kay Foley and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it.

I stamped and heat embossed the quote in gold, then trimmed it down and bordered it in gold.  I popped it up on fun foam on top of a background created by using silver embossing paste and a star stencil.

Here's a close-up of the quote so that you can read it clearly:

I'm also taking it over to The Double D Challenges "The Moon and  / or the Stars".

Thanks for dropping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Kay Foley

Ink - ColorBox gold

Paper - white cs, gold shimmer cs

Size - 5" square

Accessories - gold embossing powder, silver embossing paste, star stencil, fun foam

Monochrome

I haven't posted much lately as I've had my sister visiting from Toronto.  We had a lovely time and I was sad to see her go home.  I made today's card to send to her.  It says "Just to say" on the front and inside it says "I'm glad we're sisters".

This month's Flower Challenge inspired me.

I went with blues of course since they are my favourite colour (and my sister loves blue too).

My background used a technique inspired by this post by Magouille.  She also includes a video.  In a nutshell, here's what you do: 

Create an alcohol ink background on Yupo and let dry.  Place stencil over top and using a small sponge dauber, dip into blending solution.  Blot off excess blending solution and then pounce dauber over stencil to remove colour.  Make sure all areas are done before removing stencil.  You can dry off the stencil and move to another location and repeat.

I then stamped "Just to say" in blue Staz-On on the bottom corner that hadn't been completely covered by the alcohol inks, mounted it on a very narrow white border and then on fun foam, used a blue card base, and topped off with a white die cut.

Here's a close-up:

I love this technique and also the way the Tim Holtz wildflower stencil and dies go together so well.

Supplies:

Stamps - Chocolate Baroque sentiment

Ink - StazOn Midnight Blue

Paper - blue and white cs, Yupo

Size - A2

Accessories - various blue alcohol inks, alcohol ink blending solution, Tim Holtz Wildflower stencil and die, fun foam

Happy Birthday, AAA Cards!

It's the AAA Cards Clean and Simple Challenge's 4th birthday and they are asking us to post a birthday card for their challenge, as well as participating in their birthday bloghop.

Here's my card:

It was done by putting Distress Oxide on my craft sheet, spritzing with water, and smooshing tissue paper into it, drying between colours.

I glued it onto a piece of cs then die cut the flowers. I went over the stems with a green marker.

For a background, I lightly sponged some of the Picked Raspberry through a stencil, added a sentiment, cut a second flower to layer under the first for extra dimension, and popped it up on fun foam.

Happy Birthday, AAA Cards!

Supplies:

Stamps - unknown sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Faded Jeans, and Salty Ocean

Paper - white cs, tissue paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Penny Black Field of Dreams die, Memory Box Texture Mesh stencil, green marker

April Showers on Crocuses

It's been raining a lot in Vancouver lately so I was inspired by a couple of very appropriate challenges to create today's card.

I put the crocus stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with Tombow markers, one colour at a time, misting lightly with water after each colour.  I left the stamp in the MISTI while I pulled some colour from the outlines of the leaves and flowers, and then re-inked with the markers and stamped again (without misting).

I then taped a raindrops stencil (made for me by my kind friend, Loll Thompson, on her Silhouette) over it.  And experimented - I squeezed out some Nuvo drops onto my palette and with a palette knife, dragged them over the stencil.  It was hard to get even coverage but I'm fine with that.  What I wasn't fine with was how hard it was to get them off my stencil even though I washed it right away - so probably won't do that again!

They look very different depending on the angle and the lighting:

I die cut with an octagonal die and glued it to an octagonal card base.

It's for the following challenges:

SCS's CAS Challenge  "A Rainy April Day" (celebrate the rains that bring beautiful flowers).

The Flower Challenge  "Shaped Cards"

Addicted to CAS Challenge  "Code Word - Rain"

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge  "Flowers"

Time Out Challenge - Photo Inspiration (I went with yellow flowers):

Now if only the rain would stop long enough for my garden to dry out so that I can get outside and do some spring clean-up and enjoy the flowers!

Supplies:

Stamps - Serendipity crocuses

Ink - Tombow markers

Paper - mixed media cs, white cs

Size - 3.75" octagon

Accessories - Spellbinders octagonal die, grey Nuvo drops, raindrops die made on a Silhouette

Music and Holly Challenges

I got to spend the afternoon in my craft room today.  I had intended to work on organizing my unmounted stamps but instead, made two cards.

First up, for Jingle Belles "Hark the Herald Angels SING" - have a musical element on the card.

One of my goals this year is to use up lots of pieces from my UFO box.  This little piece of background was in there - it's smooshed oxide inks on photographic paper.  I die cut the musical score out of navy cs, added strips of navy cs to the top and bottom, stamped the sentiment in navy, and popped the panel up on fun foam.


I also wanted to make another card for the inaugural CAS Christmas Card Challenge "Holly".

I had a piece of mixed media cs in my UFO box that I'd sprinkled and spritzed with green brushos.  So I started with that.

I used a Tim Holtz stencil with white glitter embossing paste.  I missed a section of the stencil so I die cut the sentiment and placed it over that section to hide the fact that it wasn't evenly covered with the stenciled design.  I trimmed it down and added a narrow red border, and popped the panel up on fun foam.

If you want to join us at CAS Christmas Card Challenge, it's open until March 24th.

Supplies for first card:

Stamps - A Muse sentiment

Ink - Staz-On Midnight Blue

Paper - photo paper, white and navy cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Simon Says Stamp Jingle Snowflake die, fun foam

Supplies for second card:

Paper - mixed media cs, red cs, cream shimmer cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz Festive stencil, Cosmic Shimmer glitter paste, Tattered Lace Merry Christmas die, fun foam

Holly Two Ways

March is flying by and there is only one more week to enter a card in this month's (the inaugural) challenge of Loll's and Bonnie's new CAS Christmas Card Challenge.

I created a card with two types of holly - an old favourite stamp and a stencil.

I heat embossed the stamp in platinum and watercoloured it with Twinkling H2Os.  I then fussy cut it.

It looked too plain on its own so I created a simple background with a stencil and Dreamweaver's lovely Pearlescent embossing paste - it goes well with the platinum embossing powder.  I popped the stamped holly piece up on foam tape.

I decided to play around with the stamp and heat emboss one in black and one in white, and then use exactly the same colours of Twinkling H2Os to see how they compare with the one heat embossed in platinum.

I used a different stencil on this one, with a spray rather than an embossing paste.

And this one just uses some red cs to border it.

My favourite is the first one with the image embossed with platinum embossing powder.  How about you?

Supplies:

Stamps - Serendipity holly, Penny Black and A Muse sentiments

Ink - Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black, ColorBox Frost White

Paper - watercolour paper; white, gold shimmer, and red cs

Size - 5.25" square and A2

Accessories - Twinkling H2Os, embossing powders (platinum, clear, and white), homemade stencil, Dreamweaver Pearlescent embossing paste, gold spray, SU sentiment punches, foam tape