I'm Over the Moon

Ever has stamp or die envy?  I will admit that there are times where I am a tiny bit jealous of a stamp or die set that Brandy has.  Usually I resist giving in to this petty thinking and either request a few stamped images and/or satisfy the "itch" by making something pretty with what I have.  When Waffle Flower offered grab bags of products Brandy and I each purchased a set and one set had the Waffle Flower Moon and Star die set.  I was ecstatic because this is one of the sets I had some die envy over.  It took me a little while to get some other projects out of the way, but I'm sharing today my first sets using this die.  First are a pair of Welcome Baby cards for the stash.

I just love the sentiment on this yellow one from the Simon Says Stamps Tiny Words Faith stamp set.

One last card that could be an all occasion and/or birthday card.  The soft pastels were made using my Brusho watercolor crystals.

My God is Mighty to Save

Feeling the spring kinda mood and wanting to make something light and cheery, I decided to use my Papertry Ink Walk by Faith sentiment stamp set to create these cards.  The postage frame is from The Greetery and the sprigs were die cut from watercolor paper colored with my Brushos watercolor crystals.  I tried to get a variety of greens by mixing Emerald Green, Leaf Green and Brown.  I'm so very pleased with how these cards turned out.

The sentiments stand out given the Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide shaded background.  The delicate feel is just what I was trying to achieve.

These are delightful and I am enjoying the making process immensely.  Guess we all need something to distract us and these worked very well.

Hello - A Spring Inspired Set of Cards

I mentioned that I've recently had a bit of travel for work.  This takes me away from my crafty supplies.  I decided to take some stamped images and my Crayola colored pencils with me and this set of cards came out of those efforts.  The images were stamped onto Bristol cardstock using my SSS Look for the Rainbows stamp set.  I'm so pleased with how the coloring went - different than my Polychromos pencils, but I'm delighted.

The backgrounds are a combination of Brusho watercolor crystals and Glimmer Mist.  I added some Art Anthology Dimensional Medium with a stencil for added interst behind my blooms and butterflies.

Such a fun set of cards.  So rewarding for some simple colored images.

A Notecard Set of Fairy Good Friends

It's been a little while since I've played around with my Brusho watercolor crystals.  They are so fun that I really shouldn't have waited so long.  Guess that comes with having a variety of options - we get in a rut and use the same things over and over again.  Today, I'm sharing some fairies that I stamped with my MFT Fairy Good Friends stamp set onto Bristol cardstock.  I colored the images with a set of Crayola colored pencils.  I was traveling for work and didn't want to risk my Polychromos pencils on the traveling.  The Crayola pencils surprised me.  The technique needed is different and the result is different, but I am really pleased how these little girls turned out.

As I was looking for a backdrop for my fussy cut fairies, I thought of my Brushos and sat down (at home by this point) to play around in the primary colors I used to color the girls.   Some of them turned out better than others.  For the few that didn't meet my vision, I decided to get out my collection of Glimmer Mist.  The original shiny spray media, Glimmer Mist has sat unused in my stash for too long.  The photos don't do justice to the pretty shiny backdrop for my fairies!

However, I think the Brushos that turned out as I visioned were ultimately my favorite.  These two among my favorite.

Oh my I am ever so delighted with these cards.  Mainly, they represent creative renewal during a period of heavy work commitments.  Crafting has always been an outlet for stress for me.  That remains true and I am very pleased with how this turned out.

Bringing Tidings of Comfort and Joy

So, I fibbed to you all.  I promised to get working on some of my crafty gift making.  However, I had a little time at the end of my weekend to myself.  I decided to use that time for a little crafty expression of joy.  In this case, that amounted to using my new-to-me Avery Elle Comfort and Joy stamp set.  This sentiment stampe has just the right mix of elegant and simple text to use for Christmas cards.  However, it was watercoloring that I wanted to focus on so I simply white embossed the sentiment onto a piece of watercolor paper.

Some of the card fronts were created with Brusho's watercolor crystals and others were made with my Mission Gold watercolors.  I can't tell you which I like better - they all turned out!

The kraft paper die cut stars were made using my SSS Holiday Shapes dies.  They work really well to keep the design simple (I didn't have a lot of time to myself) so that I could focus on the watercoloring which I find calming.

On the inside, a simple white embossed sentiment using my Concord and 9th Holy Night stamp set.  I think they go well together and I really like my tiny A2 sized Christmas greetings.  They are a little out of my comfort zone making it a wonderfully re-energizing time to myself.

I'd like to encourage all of you out there during this busy season to take a little time to recharge yourself for the efforts that lay ahead of us all.  Enjoy the season - it's meant to be on of both comfort and joy!

Circle Scribbles - Simple Celebration Card

I whipped this card up a few weeks ago for a challenge and then never took a photo.  So it has been sitting there, neglected and lonely.  I thought it turned out well so I wanted to share with you.  The background was made using my Brushos in red, orange and yellow.  I taped the card down to the work surface and spritzed the top with water to activate the Brushos.  The circle scribbles were cut with my Papertrey Ink dies.  A simple sentiment and this card waits for the right moment to give away - maybe with a congratulations inside for some achievement or maybe as a birthday celebration.  Who knows, but it is a good one to wait....

For a Grown Son's Birthday

Just a quick post to share this card I made for my son's birthday last month.  I taped the kraft cardstock card to the work surface with some painters tape and then sprinkled the card with the blue and violet Brushos.  I sprintzed water over the top and created this fabulous background.  If I had to do it again, I'd add a kraft cardstock piece that was watercolored because you can see color bled through to the other side.  Son didn't care though!  I then ran the card through my printer and put this sentiment in block letters over the top.  The printing didn't stand out so I brushed on some black molding paste with a paint brush.  I'm pleased it turned out and my son thought it was a bit funny.  Hit that note just right!

A Masculine Happy Birthday

Of course we always need to make those masculine cards.  Trouble is to get it right so that you aren't that weird, card making lady who sprinkles glitter on all the cards.  Watercoloring makes the job easier.  For this card I used one of the stamps from my Darkroom Door Trees.  I stamped the image in Vintage Photo Distress Inks and then sprinkled some red and orange Brushos onto the leaves.  Using a brush I added water to the Brushos and they covered the Distress ink completely.  I used my Distress marker (the fine tip) to bring back some of the branch definition that could still be seen.  Then it was the sky - watercolored with my Prima Oil Pastels.  Brandy bought me a set as a birthday present.  It was the best present in the whole world!  There are two different colors of blue in the sky which adds a lot of depth.  I scribbled the oil pastel onto a piece of palette paper and wet the media with water to bring it to the watercolor paper project.  For the ground, I drew on the watercolor paper directly with the brown oil pastel crayon and then filled in with three different colors of green oil pastel crayons.  I then used the brush with water to wet and create the watercolor look.

I finished the kraft cardstock card with some brown cardstock (ever do manly don't you think?) and a piece of rough fiber (manly?  too girly?  it is soft- maybe too much?).  All together I really like how this turned out.  If you haven't jumped into the watercoloring, I encourage you to try.  It isn't all the tough and the results are fantastic.  Have a wonderful rest of your day and thanks for stopping by.

A Fall Scene

Oops, quick before I loose my fall season all together I thought I'd share this handmade watercolor scene with you.  I just want to first say that I wouldn't have dreamed 3 years ago that I'd be attempting let alone making this kind of card.  I didn't consider myself that talented.  Granted, the tools have improved a bit and I've purchased a few of them, but the other thing I'd say is that my own vision of me shut down a possibility that was always there.  I'm going to encourage you to put off those crafty limitations you've set for yourself and give a new and challenging technique a try.  I did and look how it turned out.

This card front was made with a combination of watercolor media.  I started the image by stamping with my Darkroom Door Trees stamp using Tea Dye Distress Ink.  The burst of color in the tree leaves was made by sprinkling Brusho Scarlet, Yellow and Orange watercolor crystals on the watercolor paper.  I covered the tree limbs a bit with a paper towel and spritzed the Brushos with a spray bottle to burst their color.  It was at this point I believed this image could become a card front.  I used my Inktense Pencils to create the extension from the tree base and shape the hills.  A little water on the waterbrush blended this shape and made that ink permanent.  Then I sprinkled Leaf Green and Dark Brown Brusho watercolor crystals, covering the rest of the image with a paper towel and spritzed the Brushos to burst the brown and green color at the bottom.  I used a bit of Prima Oil Pastels to fill in the color on the grass and the blue of the sky, dropping small water droplets full of color int he spaces between the Brushos which were now dry.

For the inside of the card I used the technique used in this video to stamp Happy Birthday in green, red, orange and yellow Prima Oil Pastels.  I then flicked color off the end of the crayon with a water brush to create these tiny burst of color on the inside of the card.  I'm super pleased with how this card turned out.  I might give it a try again.

I am linking to Jennifer McGuire's Sharing Handmade Kindness challenge.