City Crafter Challenge - Post Card From the World

I decided to sit down today and join the fun over at the City Crafter Challenge Blog where they have challenged us to create a Post Card From the World - a project has either postage, postmark a postcard or simply a project that has a travel theme.

I recently purchased the Amy Tangerine Postcard stamp.  I had been thinking about making a postcard and the challenge inspired me to hop on board and make one today.

In the end, I paired the post card stamp with this Gorjuss girl, Heartfelt.  I used my Inktense watercolor pencils and a watercolor brush to color the image.  I'm super pleased with how this coloring turned out. I finished the front of my postcard with a Paper Smooches sentiment stamp.  

On the back of the card I stamped using the Amy Tangerine stamp and colored it as well with my Intense pencils.  The entire card was made using Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor paper.  I think this will hold up reasonably well through the mail and the Intense color is permanent when exposed to water - so the image can't be altered by exposure to water or humidity.

How about you?  Any travel themed or post card themed projects floating around in the brain?  Come join the fun at City Crafter Challenge Blog and create your own Post Card From the World.  I'd love to see you there.

An Altenew Sympathy Card

Unfortunately,  I had need of a sympathy card.  These are never easy to make, but in this case I focused on making something that expressed my emotion and meant to be a comfort.

I used my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp set to stamp the flower in Antique Linen Distress ink onto watercolor paper. My first thought was to attempt a no-line watercoloring technique.   After a few layers of color, I realized that I liked how the Distress Ink framed the flower, so I didn't try to blend it in.

I will tell you that I couldn't get a photo if this card that captures what it looks like in person.  This exposes my limited photography skills!  However, it was difficult to capture the soft colors without washing out the colors.  I finally decided to just go with this photo because you could see the details.  The card is much more subtle in coloring when viewed in person.

My friend needed to see beauty despite her pain and I needed to let her know I loved her and was praying for her. The card served it's purpose and for that, I am grateful.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes

and

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge Week 240/241 Anything Goes

Stamping with Prima Oil Pastels

In an ongoing effort to use up some of the patterned paper in the stash, I made these cards.  The stamping was accomplished with my Prima Oil Pastels and a solid rose stamp.

I tried to finish each rose image with a little Hickory Smoke Distress ink in the background. These yellow roses are well set off using the patterned paper with a bit of grey in it.

Finally, the blue rose really had the most variation in color.  Still, I like each of these cards for different reasons.  I've given these cards away along with the others in this list as a set.  Ican't wait to see what else comes out of that stash!

A Set of CAS Birthday Cards

Here's another Pinterest inspired card.  This time, it is a mostly literal translation of this pin.  I used my Simon Says Stamp Handwritten Borders stamp for the sentiment and my Avery Elle Ballons die.  I die cut the ballons from a watercolor wash that I'd practiced techiques with.

On the inside is this sentiment stamp in matching Distress ink.  It's a nice off set from that overly CAS card front.

This is another card set that I plan to give some away.  It will be a good idea to remember if I need a birthday card on short notice as this is simple and easy to put together.

Cards from Handpainting Panels

I can't say I'm overly enthusiastic with these card fronts on their own.  I attempted to paint some abstract rose images and these are my feeble attempts.  I decided to finish them off by ding the background with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.  I was surprised at how the background helped with my vision of the panel.  Also, I trimmed down the panels to fit onto these colored A2 card fronts and that really helped as well.  Finally, I added a simple sentiment and I thought these could actually be used as abstract art.

On this last card, the background went a little dark.  I also accidentally trimmed the panel too small.  Oh well, I simply created a sentiment flag and colored with my Prima Oil Pastels.  I think it worked and I would say I'm proud of these cards and the final result.

A Happy Set of Birthday Cards

 I decided to put my Mama Elephant Birthday Wishes stamp set to work.  I started with white embossing the sentiment onto watercolor paper.  Occasionally,  the white wasn't super solid, so I poured additional powder over the still hot embossed sentiment and used my heat tool to melt a little more powder, creating a slightly more solid image.  I've found this technique to solve some of the ills of embossing on watercolor paper with the variable texture.   I then used my Mission Gold watercolors to create the watercolor washes, combining colors which complimented each other.  I ended up experimenting on multiple pieces and so this card set was born.   Once I had the washes completely dry, I used think watercolor to splatter and create the interesting detail on the card front.

I went looking for something to finish these off and decided to use my Cosmic Shimmer gold gilding flakes.  Using a technique similar to that found in this video, I sponged glue onto the panel edge and let the glue dry a bit before rubbing the flakes into the glue as demonstrated in the video.

Each panel was then backed with coordinating colored cardstock  and mounted onto a white card base.  I'm super pleased with how these turned out, so much so that I used one for my husband's birthday card.  Just so he knows I love him!

What have you been up to?   I don't know if I'll stop this watercolor kick I'm on.  It's been too much fun!

A Shaker Card

I used this post as inspiration for today's card.  I had need of an encouraging card for a lady at work and thought that this vellum shaker card would be perfect.  The flowers were stamped with black Archival Ink and die cut with my Arianna Blooms stamp and die set.  The flowers were shipped and put together with Glue Dots.  I used the same technique for creating the vellum shaker element found in this video.  I used my WPLUS9 Hand Lettered Hello stamp set and Lilac Hybrid ink to stamp the hello onto white cardstock and fussy cut the sentiment out.  The same stamp set was used with white embossing powder onto black cardstock to create the sentiment flag.

On the inside, I adhered the inner rectangle cut from the white frame used to create the shaker element.  Since I wanted to write a sweet note to my coworker,  I left this space deliberately blank.

I am very pleased with how this card turned out.  It is a great technique and ultimately a stunning effect.

I hope your July is going well.  It's nearly half over and my daughter is beginning her senior year in high school in a little over a week.  To quote Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

I plan to spend now until June next year when she graduates stopping once in a while to look around.  I don't want to miss a thing.

Come join the fun!

A Wedding Celebration Card

I'm sharing this card today inspired by this pin.  I needed a card for a male coworker.   I used my Altenew Vintage Flowers stamp and die set to create the flowers and leaves using Crimson and smoke inks.   I decided not to include the sequins since the simpler card was beautiful on its own.

I really like the results I've been able to achieve with my Altenew stamps.   If you haven't tried them,  I'd recommend giving them a try.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Flora and Fauna

and

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge Weeks #238-239 Anything Goes.

Card Boxes for Gifts

I've been blessed over the first part of this year by a small group of ladies at my work who secretly left gifts and words of encouragement to me in my mailbox.  I've been reciprocating,  but wanted to give them a special gift at our midyear celebration.   From that was born this set of card boxes.

I used the instructions found in this pin though I did notify a bit for some of the larger cards that I was giving away.

I picked out matching patterned papers and coordinating stickers for many of these boxes,  creating a collage focal point.

Many of the flowers were from the stash,  leftovers from previous projects.   This made the project come together quickly,  I did ultimately make 8 of these boxes.

I wanted to have a stamped sentiment tag on each box so the ladies would know how very much I appreciated them.

Many of the focal points were adhered wroth foam squares so that they would act as a flap for the lid   in the end,  I used glue dots to hold the lids closed.

This project made me realize how many beautiful patterned papers I have stored in the stash.   I'm glad this paper finally found a good use.   I'm going to be looking for similar opportunities to use up those stash papers.   They've got to be used!

I'm entering this into the City Crafter Challenge Blog Week#320 On the Border.  Come join the fun!