New Watercolor Whimsy Collaboration with StampGrl (Dalis)

 Good day my friends!  I am excited to start this new collaboration with Dalis (StamprGrl).  We were supposed to start in January, but...I ended up catching every virus known to man in January and was sick for pretty much the whole month.  I am now on the mend though and we decided to roll January's project into February, so you get 2 projects this month :)

A little background:  Dalis and I decided to do a collaboration with watercolors as our medium.  We randomly chose 12 stamp companies from our combined stash and assigned one company to each month.  Dalis and I won't have the same stamps, but that's part of the fun of it...you get two different inspiration pieces from the same company every month!

January's company is Stampendous, House Mouse collection specifically!  And for February we have Avery Elle.

You can see Dalis' beautiful creations here!

Here is my January creation using Stampendous/House Mouse Designs' Happy Hoppers Bouncing Bunnies!

They look like they're having loads of fun don't they!  My projects are watercolored using Prima Marketing watercolors.  

For my February project, I worked with Avery Elle's Peonies stamp set.

Such a fun month for this new collaboration.  Dalis and I will be back on March 10 with some more watercolor fun using stamps from Stampendous!

Inspire, Imagine, Dream

We are bringing back our favorite creations this month at TRHD, and here is my first :) 

 Have I told you how much I love this Succulent Life stamp set from The Rabbit Hole Designs?  I love it so much, I've created 3 projects with it this month!  This is the second project and it is a hexagon shadow box with a clear acrylic front.

Hexagon Shadow Box with The Rabbit Hole Designs

 Have I told you how much I love this Succulent Life stamp set from The Rabbit Hole Designs?  I love it so much, I've created 3 projects with it this month!  This is the second project and it is a hexagon shadow box with a clear acrylic front.

HLS Watercolor Challenge for October

It's time for the HLS watercolor challenge, and I have created a bright and fun art journal page to share with you today.

Happy Little Stampers September ATC Challenge: Ocean/Sea

Happy Little Stampers' ATC Challenge theme this month is Ocean/Sea and this happens to be one of my favorite themes and color schemes :)  I also happen to love the water, it is my happy place.  It's so peaceful.

HLS September Watercolor Challenge: Tropical Theme

Robin S Sharma once wrote:  Getting lost along your path is part of finding the path you are meant to be on. When I finished this "Lost and Found" watercolor piece this summer, I knew it had something to do with finding my path in my art.

HLS ATC August Challenge...Time!

It's time for a new ATC Challenge at HLS!  The theme this month is "Time" and I have created another bundle of ATCs :)

I started these just as I usually do, with a big piece of bristol or mixed media paper.  Then I added some Dr PH Martins Hydrus watercolors and let them move around.  Next I did some stamping and then I cut them down to size.  I got 8 ATCs out of this sheet of paper and I kept the little extra pieces to add as embellishments to these cards.  After I cut them to size, I distressed the edges with distress inks and heat embossed the text which comes from a stamp by Tim Holtz.  Then I layered on some embroidery thread, and the extra bits of paper which I also added three brads to.  I think the brads give a nice finishing touch. Thanks for stopping by to visit, I will have more projects for you again soon!

HLS August Watercolor Challenge...Ocean theme!

Hello friends!  I have created a set of three watercolor/mixed media cards for you today for the Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge blog!

July Watercolor with HLS - Theme: LOVE

Happy summer days are finally here!  It feels so good to feel the heat and see the blue sky and green grass every day :)  I have been accepted on the Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Team and I couldn't be happier haha.  I watercolored this House Mouse Stamp for you this month.

Friday Feature: Jenninfer McGuire #2

Hello all, I have the second feature card today CASE-ing Jennifer McGuire's card from this video :)

 I changed it up again, and used less elements to create the card. It makes for an elegant CAS card :)  Again I used the Altenew Peony Scrolls stamp set, and heat embossed with white embossing powder, and then colored with Gansai Tambi watercolors.I added the sentiment, then some lace and adhesive backed pearls for a clean look.

I am really enjoying this Feature Friday posts.  It gives me a chance to create and learn from some of my favorite card artists!  Next up...Sandy Allnock!  SWOON :)

Firday Feature: Jennifer McGuire!

Hello everyone :)  I am starting a new Friday Feature series today where I CASE some of my favorite card artists!  Today I will start with the fabulous Jennifer McGuire of Jennifer McGuire Ink.

I created this card by CASE-ing Jennifer's card in this video.  However, I did change things up a bit :)

I colored this card using my Gansai Tambi watercolors :)  I stamped and clear embossed the background with the  Heidi Swapp Mixed Media background stamp, and the sentiment is the Sweet Wishes die and stamps from My Creative Time.  I love the Altenew Peony Scrolls stamp set, it is just gorgeous!

In two weeks I will use the same stamp set and video from Jennifer McGuire, to create another card, a little bit different yet again :)  I will be taking a break next Friday to post a DT project for Quick Creations :)

See you soon!

Friday Feature Altenew's Hennah Elements #3

This is last Friday Feature post for Altenew's Hennah Elements stamp set (for now lol).  This is such a versatile set, I can definitely see doing more.

This also happens to be my favorite of the three, saved the best for last of course!

I wanted to create my own DSP with this stamp set, and wow did it turn out great!  I also created this with watercolor pencils on hot pressed watercolor paper!  I apologize, I can't remember which pencils for sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say these were done with Inktense pencils.  They are nice and bright.

The sentiment and sequins are added from my stash.  But I do have to say, this was the most fun card to make out of the three :)  I love to experiment, and when the experiment turns out so well, well...it just makes my day :)  Do you experiment with different mediums on your cards?  Hmmm, I might see another Friday Feature series in the future....

But for now, next week I will start featuring cards that I have CASEd from some of my favorite card artists!  Sandy Allnock and Jennifer McGuire, just to name a couple :)  I'll leave the rest for you to figure out.

Until then, goodbye for now, keep crafting and come back soon!

Feel Better Hydrangeas with Dove Art and Quick Creations :)

I just love the Dove Art stamps, they are so fabulous.  They are very realistic which always draws me in :)

I have created this Feel Better card for Quick Creations using the wonderful Dove Art "Hydrangeas" stamp.

I created this card by stamping the hydrangeas onto hot-pressed watercolor paper with Staz-On ink.  I painted them with the Prima Watercolor Pans in "The Classics" and "Decadent Pies".  To finish it off I added some Nuvo Crystal Drops in "Violet Galaxy".

You can find all of the linked products in the Quick Creations online shop :)

Come back soon for more inspiration for Quick Creations (and some just for fun too!)

Firday Feature Watercolor Card #2

I'm back with another Friday Feature for you.  Today is Watercolor #2, using Gelatos!

An online friend just loves her Gelatos (**waving at Shelly :) so I just had to try them of course lol.  And since we all know I have 'Full Set Syndrome', I couldn't just buy one or two lol.  I bought every single package I could find, but don't worry, I used a great coupon from Michaels lol.

I created this card by first stamping the Tree Poem stamp from Stampendous and heat embossed it with black embossing powder from Recollections (Michaels is my friend lol).  Then I colored the background with some green and yellow Gelatos and spritzed it with water.  After it was dry, I added the sentiment strip with some brads.  The sentiment is from the Tim Holtz "Saying Stuff" stamp set.

I think this makes a great man's card, and those are cards I always find myself short of.

Thanks for stopping by and seeing my creations, next Friday will be watercolor card #3, using my favorite Kuretake watercolors ;)  See you soon!

New Friday Feature Posts and a Watercolor Card

I have decided to do a Friday Feature post from now on, and to start...the first five weeks of Fridays are going to be easy but effective watercolor cards.

After the watercolor cards, there are many other features coming up such as product features (where I create several cards from one stamp set), my favorite card artists features (where I CASe two cards from my favorite card artists), a watercolor pencil comparison, and so on!

I am so excited to get started, so here is the first in the easy but effective watercolor cards feature:

I am totally smitten with watercolors, and even though I've been an acrylic painter for years, trying watercolors has me anxious lol.  So I've started with some super easy techniques for card makers, and hopefully one day I will be far more capable lol.

I created this card by first embossing the sentiment from Lawn Fawn "Scripty Sayings" stamp set with champagne embossing powder from Recollections (from Michael's).  Then I created the background with my Kuretake watercolors.  Its really hard to see in the picture but there is some pearl added in there with the aqua colors/  The ribbon is Swiss Dots from Crafty Ribbons.

Super simple, but effective, plus it gives me a chance to just play!

Come back next Friday for watercolor card #2, where I get to play with a brand new watercolor medium :)

Bold Flowers for Firefly Crafts

Hello everyone, I have some bold flowers on a Thinking of You card today. This inspiration is for a brand new store that has opened up on the net called Firefly Crafts.  Debbie Arvaneh is the owner, and she is as sweet as can be!  You should definitely go and check it out!

I created this watercolor card using Tim Holtz Distress Inks in the following colors:

Ripe Persimmon
Rusty Hinge
Hickory Smoke
Fossilized Amber
Vintage Photo
Tumbled Glass
Mermaid Lagoon
Twisted Citron
Peeled Paint

The stamp set is Petals and Stems from Avery Elle, and I stamped it onto cold pressed watercolor paper with Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black.

You can find all of the linked products in Debbie's online shop at Firefly Crafts.  Hope you enjoyed stopping by today, come back soon for more inspiration and challenge projects for Firefly Crafts!