Case this Sketch #157 and a little watercolor

I love this week's Case this Sketch challenge!  I knew the minute I saw it what I wanted to do...and it turned out exactly how I envisioned it!  How cool is that....and how often does it really happen!

Using my MISTI, I stamped the sunshine first...then I sponged the clouds with distress ink.  After sponging the clouds, I put the panel back in my MISTI and re-stamped the sunshine to make it a little brighter.  I thought about masking it, but I really wanted a little blue behind the sun, so I decided re-stamping it would work the best.  The sentiment is from Flourishes...and just perfect for this card! I rounded the corners and added a touch of blue by added a small border around the panel before adhering it to the card base.  Another quick and easy card!

This card is one that I made just because I had an idea....and it kind of worked.  I love the tree popped over the sky background...I'm not too happy with the "ground" around the base of the tree.  But...still, kind of a cool card.  I die cut the opening with a SSS stitched rectangle die (using a partial die cutting to make it more of a square).  The tree is a Impression Obsession die cut from brown card stock.  I colored the base card (the background) with distress inks, and then popped the die cut opening over the "sky".  The sentiment is from HA. The "grass" was done with Copic markers.

This card is one I made a while back, but I don't think I every posted it.  I used a background stamp to heat emboss the background  (I think it's HA) on water color paper.  I colored the diamonds with distress markers and then added a little water to make them move across the diamond.  Popped the panel over a blue card base.  The sentiment was heat embossed in white on black card stock.

This last card was one I made after taking the intermediate water color class at Online Cards.  I'm not sure I like the colors (although IRL they are NOT this bright!) It was really a cool class and I did learn a lot.  I think my biggest challenge with water color is that true water color is loose...and free.  I like tight control...not going to happen with water coloring!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Online Card Class - Watercolor Exploring Mediums

I've thoroughly enjoyed the Online Card Class - Watercolor Exploring Mediums.  I've made a couple of cards from techniques shown in this class...and without further ado...here we go!

I have to say I LOVE how this card came out.  Jennifer Rzasa showed us how simple it was to "draw" our own image and watercolor it....and I'm amazed!

This card came out SO much better than I thought it would!  I will admit that I painted it twice.  The original is on the back of this finished panel.  I didn't like the feet and legs of the first bird.  Don't know if I could ever duplicate this card again...but I sure was happy with the end results.  The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter.  The flamingo was painted with Inktense watercolor pencils as was the "ground" at his feet.  I also used the pencils to flick splatters on the background.  I cut the painted panel down a bit and added a matching pink mat behind it then adhered it to a white card base.

I struggled with this one a little bit.  I stamped my flowers in Versamark and heat embossed them in white.  The flowers are the poppies from SU.  I ended up with half flowers on the left hand side and it didn't really look right, so I trimmed that side off a bit, cutting around some of the blooms and letting them hang off the edge.  The sentiment could have been stamped a little better...but I decided to leave it as it since I went to so much trouble to paint the flowers!  I needed something to make the front panel wide enough since I trimmed so much of it off, so I stamped some white card stock with a linen background stamp, trimmed it to fit the length of the panel and then added a small strip of black between the water colored piece and the linen background.  I think it's kind of growing on me now and I like it much better.

This was a great class, as are all of the Online Card Classes.  If you haven't taken any of these classes, you really should give them a try. I learn something new in every class!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

One-Layer Simplicity Challenge, Online Card Class and a Little Zentangle

It's been quite a while since I've played along with the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge...but this week I found a little time to play along.  The challenge for this month is called "Round and round": make a one layer card that has two circles on it. No more no less. Other shapes, words etc allowed.

Here's my take on the challenge:

I punched a 1.5 inch circle and using the negative of the punch, I inked up the small circle with Tumbled Glass DI.  Then I masked off the large circle with a 3 inch circle and covered the smaller circle with the previous punched circle.  I inked all the background with several shades of yellow and orange DI.  The flower is from Uniko Studios - Gerber collection.  I added color to the flower with Copics, then added a touch of clear Wink of Stella for a little sparkle.  I also added some gray Copics around the large circle, the small circle and around the flower to give a little dimension. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches and was heat embossed in white embossing powder.  I wasn't really sure I liked the card when I first finished it...but I think its growing on me now! :-)

I also wanted to share a couple of cards I made after taking the online card class - Maskerade:

These two cards were made using a technique shown by Laura Bassen.  I loved the cards she made and couldn't wait to give it a try!  I used distress inks for my cards.  The sentiment was stamped on the Wishing card and cut out on the Sending card.  All sentiments are from SSS. 

I know it's been a while since I posted...can't believe how much time has passed!  I keep telling myself that I'll post more frequently, but somehow I just don't get things posted like I mean too! Please forgive me!!

I've also been doing a little Zentangle Inspired Art lately.  This is one that I had framed to hang in my house (something I rarely do!)  The seahorse is a template from Ben Kwok of Ornation Creation.

I tangled on water color paper then added color with some watercolor pencils.  I love how this turned out and the lady who framed it did a fabulous job!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Simon Says Weekly Challenge...and a little scrapbooking

I made this card for the Simon Says weekly challenge.  The challenge this week is making a birthday card showcasing Simon Says exclusive products. I masked off the edges of my card, then sponged in four different distress inks. The sentiment is from Simon Says as are the stars.  I stamped them all in Versamark, then heat embossed them with liquid platinum embossing powder.  Super quick and easy one layer card.

                 

I've also been trying to do a bit of scrapping again lately.  I didn't do any scrapbooking for quite a while, and it's difficult to get back into it...but hopefully, the more I scrap, the easier it'll be!

Last fall, my son asked me to go to the shooting range with him and get in a little target practice.  I knew that we had a gun in the house, but had never shot it.  So...this was definitely a new experience for me!  I was shooting a 38 revolver, and after the first couple of shots (which were made with my eyes closed! LOL!), I finally got the hang of it, and did fairly well as you can see by my target in the top photo. (The target was set out 25 feet).  If you look closely at the photo in the bottom right, you see me ducking...when I fired the first time, I closed my eyes AND ducked!  It was kind of fun...so who know...maybe I'll go again one day!

This is a photo of my daughter and son-in-law taken at my house last summer.  I printed the large dashed circles and the brown splatters onto the 12 x 12 card stock with my large format printer.  I created the smile circle in my Silhouette program and used a 2 inch punch to punch it out.  The hearts are all dies.  The title work "hey, Good Looking" was stamped with a Lawn Fawn alphabet.  Arrow is a Spellbinder die.  Photo corner is a die from MFT.  The film strip and the striped piece are both washi tape.

This card is a tri-fold card that I made after my last Online Card Class.  It was super simple to make.  In the class we were shown how to use dies to make the word pop off the page so that the top fold could be slipped under the word, but I figured out how to do the same thing with the Cameo.  The top of the card was stamped with stamps from WPlus9. I'm not sure what stamp I used for the birthday.  I do love how this card turned out.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...

Muse Challenge #103

It's been so long since I've really participated in a challenge, but I'm feeling more like playing along after taking the latest online card class.  This first card is to play along with the Muse Challenge this week.

The techniques used to make this card were things I learned in the recent card class.  Once someone shows you how to do it...why...it's super simple!  Instead of making a round card, I made a large hexagon card.  I used the direct to paper inking technique for the yellow.  The white layers are popped up on the yellow background with foam tape, then I popped the top hexagon with more foam tape.  The sentiment is from Simon Says.  Hearts were punched with a MS punch then layered and topped with a touch of Wink of Stella and some glossy accents.  The three border stamps I used are some old one from my stash and I'm not completely sure who makes them.

I also have several more cards I've made this week....fair warning...LONG post!

This next card was made using more techniques I learned in the online card class also.  Sentiment (congrats) is from Walter & Winnie and I'm not sure about the "you rock" stamp.  Inking was sponged on in several shades of distress ink.

My very first shaker card!  Not too sure I like the glittery "shaker" stuff inside.  There seems to be a LOT of static and the glitter just sticks to the acrylic front.  The balloon was a die cut from Simon Says and the string and bow are from a MFT stamp set.  I used the Simon Says stitched rectangle set to cut the frame for the window.  The birthday sentiment is also a SS stamp.

 I had lots of paper scraps on my desk, so that's how this card came about.  I used the negative shapes from the previous card and stamped the white piece with a SU image.  The sentiment is from Avery Elle and was stamped in versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder.

This next card is another card I made based on a tutorial from the online class.  I struggled with it a bit, but finally got it finished.  I should have used a different type of glue....lesson learned for next time.  The pieces that make up the heart are from about 5 or 6 different dies.

This last card is just something I was playing with today.  The stamps are from PTI.  I stamped each candle in a different color then added the flame with the butter bar ink.  Then...this is where I began experimenting....I drew light pencil lines on my card base (8.5 x 11) to show where I would cut for the two cards...then stamped the candles on the top card and the bottom card.  I designed the word "celebrate" in my Silhouette program to align with the two cards on the piece of card stock. After I finished stamping, I put the stamped card stock through the printer and printed "celebrate" on top of my stamped candles.  I still need to tweak it a bit to get everything centered correctly.  I did play with another piece and discovered that I could print out the word first....then stamp the candles and they still look like they're behind the word....go me!!

If you've lasted through this photo-heavy post...THANK YOU!  I hope that I can get around to seeing some of your blogs soon!  I miss seeing all your creativity!!

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit!  Hope you'll come back soon!  Your comments are greatly appreciated! Until next time...