Clover and Pansies

Introducing a brand new digital stamp from Power Poppy today:  Clover and Pansies.  What a dream!

The whole time I was coloring this I had the old Lucky Charms cereal commercial stuck in my head -- pink hearts, orange stars, yellow moons, and green clovers.  Now, there is none of that in this painting, other than the green clover.  Nevertheless, I couldn't get it out of my head.  I even Googled the commercials while I was looking up varieties of clover and pansies.  I tell you, this craft can take you all over the place.

So... this is my watercolor results with Gansai Tambi paints:

And check out Marcella's graphic:

Wow!  I always appreciate Marcella's release notes, too, because I wasn't sure about the littlest flowers.  She states they're Forget-Me-Nots, and it seems so obvious now, but I honestly was stumped.  Gosh, imagine all the beautiful ways you can color this!

"The third installment of our Café au Lait bowl bouquets overflows with spring favorites.  Four-leaf Clovers and their pom-pom-like flowers, Pansies in a variety of sizes and patterns, and sprigs of Forget-Me-Nots make for a rich look.  Color your clovers in shades of green for St. Patrick's Day, or go for the more unique dark purples and pinks with contrasting stripes.  The symbolism of the botanicals in this bouquet convey good luck, love and remembrance."

There are two versions in the set -- no line and black line. I printed the no-line version with no fiddling around in Photoshop; just printed the way it comes.  Sized to fit on a 5" square card with designer paper border.  I added a strip of gold trim and some gold paint splatters to finish.

Up close you can see all the good stuff, plus all the imperfections.  The nice thing about watercolor is that you can get by with a few imperfections.  Call it "loose" and "artist's interpretation".  I don't want to minimize the tender loving care that went into my painting, though.  It took time and layering and touching up.  Three different sit downs because we've been so busy lately and I didn't want to rush it.  Watercolor makes me slow down and relax.  I can feel the hush and calm wash over me.

Lastly, please do stop over to the Power Poppy Blog where Marcella has posted all about her new release.  She'll link you up with the other Instant Gardeners who are sharing Clover and Pansies today.  You won't want to miss a thing, trust me.

Hugs and love and happy day to all!

Double D Challenge: Pink and White

We're starting a pink and white challenge today at Double D.  Doesn't that sound nice?  You can use a smidgen of another color, if necessary, but predominantly pink and white.  The team has some nice samples to demonstrate.

I colored some cheerful pink and white flowers with sparkly silver centers and two little green leaves.  Sentiment is white embossed on dark gray.

The mood board is so cute with all the retro pink and white.  I would love to have any of these images in stamps or dies.

The team votes on creative winners, but there's also a random drawing for a prize.  See the Double D blog for more info.

The flower set I used is Poppystamps Sending Scribbles.  Colored with Copics, cut out and arranged on a Tutti Designs Butterfly Oval.  I layered the white Butterfly Oval onto gray with only the teensiest hint of gray showing underneath to help the oval stand out from the white card base.  The gray also makes it appear more dimensional than it actually is.  I put hearts on the butterflies just so I could add more pink, but aren't they cute?

I hope you can play along with us at Double D.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Poppystamps Sending Scribbles  Paper:  Neenah Classic White, wood grain card stock, SU Going Gray and Basic Gray  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark  Coloring:  Copics  Accessories:  Silver Stickles, white embossing powder, Scotch brand foam mounting tape  Dies:  Tutti Butterfly Oval, Paper Smooches Hearts

Butterfly Kitty

How about something that's just cute today?  It's a sweet way to start out the week.  This is a birthday card made special for a kitty-loving friend, and it uses the other half of the Tutti Designs Butterfly Oval which was on my previous card.  Butterfly Oval for Butterfly Kitty.  This Penny Black stamp is pretty old, but it's just as adorable now as it ever was.

Copic coloring and Mintay "Springtime" papers, some stitched dies... lots of fun in this card.

I'll list all supplies below.

Speaking of springtime and fun, it's busy days at our house.  We've been in the process of trading our current motorhome in on a new one.  Same size, but an upgrade.  It's like buying a car and a house at the same time, so lots involved, including unpacking our current motorhome and giving it one last courtesy cleaning.  We're picking up the new one on Thursday.  Looks like another fun spring, summer, and fall ahead of us!

I'll see you here again on Wednesday.  Take care, and have a happy day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Butterfly Kitty, Power Poppy Under Glass sentiment  Paper:  Neenah Classic white, Mintay Springtime designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Garden Green  Coloring:  Copic markers  Accessories:  Rhinestone, Wink of Stella on the butterfly, Scotch brand foam mounting tape to pop up sentiment circle  Dies:  Tutti Designs Butterfly Oval, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets, Lawn Fawn Outside In Stitched Scalloped Stackables

Never Regret Anything that Made You Smile

Words to live by on one of the anniversary cards I made for the 20 card order I've mentioned a time or two recently.  This one is all die cuts and designer paper with the focus on the sentiment.

The stamp is from Rubbernecker, called "Never Regret".  I like it for an anniversary, but it could also be used for wedding or birthday.   Have you looked at Rubbernecker Stamps?  Best place for sentiments, I think, but lots of other great stuff, too.  Just sayin', not sellin'.  You can never have too many sentiment stamps.

Pretty Mintay "Lovely Day" designer paper and Tutti Designs Butterfly Oval are the primary supporting elements.  I cut the Butterfly Oval in half and used it as a sweeping edge on the large circle.  The other half was used on a card I'll share later.  The die is layered for dimension and then just the butterfly area cut again from the Mintay paper, trimmed and glued on top.  Rhinestones added.

That's all for today, friends!   More coming soon.  Bad weather makes for good times stamping!  Wishing you a very happy Valentine's Day!

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Never Regret  Paper:  Neenah Classic white, Mintay Lovely Day designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black  Accessories:  Rhinestones  Dies:  Tutti Designs Butterfly Oval, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Spellbinders Grand Squares and Classic Square Large (nested to make frame)

Watercolored Vital Rose

Why, yes, I was just here yesterday, but I do want to pop in to help introduce Marcella's latest digital stamp set at Power Poppy.  It's called Vital Rose, and a beautiful thing it is!

It's been a while since I sat down to any kind of serious coloring.  I've been hurrying to get ahead with certain things and making more cards than usual.  I always think I need to keep them simple in order to move things along, but I'm wrong about that.  As much as I love the look of it, CAS is a struggle for me.  Much quicker to color and forget about the white space.  However, a card with a large colored image can still be a simple design, so that's what I've done.  It's simply a painting on a card.

The stamp set is pictured below.  It can be printed in black, or no line, with or without the poetry.  There was no question that I'd use it with the poetry as I find it as beautiful as the rose.

Quick version of what I did before printing:

• Opened no line image in Photoshop Elements 7 and used magic eraser to remove white space from around the image.  I believe it was just one click.
• Opened black line image and then superimposed no line image over top.
• Decided it looked kind of cool, so I printed it.

I know you probably won't want to goof around with it like that, and it's totally not necessary, but it's something I enjoy.  Sometimes it turns out, sometimes not.

The watercolor...  I used my old Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Scribble on a palette, pick up with a wet brush, voila!  That's how I use them.  You could scribble on the paper for a large background, but for this type of image I use them like a pan watercolor.

Closer...  loose watercoloring means if you get some paint in approximately the right spot it will look good.  Ha!  Okay, not really, but almost.  I colored the larger words with Prismacolor pencils and smoothed with odorless mineral spirits.  Finally, splattered white Gansai Tambi paint and Rose Red watercolor crayon paint.

No embellishment, but I popped up the painted panel on a mat of Pale Plum and a natural-ish white card base.

Are you still with me?  Well, if so, I want to wish you a happy week, and if you love crafting I hope you'll find plenty of time for it.  Be well!

Twofer Challenge #13: Stars

It's Twofer time again!  This month we're doing Stars.  Make two cards for two different occasions, each with a different layout, but use the same stamp, stencil, or die.  Take at least one photo of the two cards together and use that photo in the link up.  That's the rules in a nutshell, but if you still have questions, Darnell explains thoroughly on the Rules page and on the Definitions/Examples page.

This one stumped me for a while as I don't have many star stamps.  Dies yes, stamps no, but I was determined to meet this challenge with a stamp.  Just got that stuck in my head and wouldn't let it go.  Finally, I reached far back into the distant past and pulled out a small Stampin' Up! stamp from a set called "Background Basics".  It's perhaps not the "star" of the show, but by stamping repeatedly it makes a pretty good back up player.

I have a Christmas card (yay!) and a thank you card:

If I'd known the Christmas card was going to be so easy I might have made more.  I do like it in its clean and simple way.  Maybe try different colors.  I sprinkled the stars across the foreground and background panels then stamped another oldie -- Uptown Rubber Stamps "Merry Little Christmas".  Copic colored and sparkled with Stickles.

The thank you card uses yet another oldie sentiment, this one by Stampendous -- "You've Got Style".  I've used it lots and today I'm loving it with the Sue Wilson Retro Cats 2 die.  She has white dots on her bottom and a square rhinestone collar accent 'cause she loves bling.  I added an embossed layer that looks a little art deco (maybe?).

Hop over to the Twofer Blog for all kinds of inspiring samples, including those of our two lovely guest designers.  Enjoy!

Snow

On Goldens and Garden today:

Thank you!

Birthday Birds

I'm back!  Remember I told you I made 20 cards for an order?  Well, this isn't one of them.  I took a break from sympathy and anniversary cards long enough to make a birthday card before I run out.  These are Magenta birds.  No name on the stamp, just a number (C95.193.J) which I searched, but couldn't come up with anything to link.  So very sweet, though, especially the two lovey birds on the end.

Edited to add:  Found it with the help of a friend -- Four Pretty Birds at Frantic Stamper for US shoppers.  UK shoppers can find it here.

I had a lot of help from the Mintay Bird Song designer paper for this one.  Ohhhh, those Mintay papers, sigh...  Covered the card base and made the flowers and banner with it.  Cut a frame from coral card stock and stamped the birds in a teal blue ink.  Just some light coloring with Copics, coordinating with the paper.

Dies:
Memory Box Wrapped Stitched Frames
MB Banner Parade
Elizabeth Craft Bunch of Flowers 4

I'm happy for this first time use of a stamp I received for my birthday in October.  That's pretty quick for me!

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit.  Enjoy the rest of your day!

Love & Light

Hello, and happy February, the month of love.  That should be every month, shouldn't it?  I've made a card that will send love, but it's not a Valentine.  It's part of the card order I've been working on almost exclusively.  Actually, I finished up the last of 20 cards over the weekend and then I did a happy dance.

This card started with the background.  You can smoosh, splash, splatter or swipe just about anything on a background and it will look good when die cut.  I made a mint green watercolor wash and then plopped Ken Oliver Liquid Metal - Yellow Gold - onto a few areas.  Swiped it around with an inexpensive synthetic paint brush, and it didn't look so great.  Not to worry.  The die cut makes it appear as though I'd planned it that way all along.

The stamps are Power Poppy's Peony Muse, embossed in light gold and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os.  I added gold die cut grassy elements and an abundance of sequins.  The sequins down there by the stem are a cover up.  The grass die cuts and the sequins near the sentiment were added as filler because I felt the placement of the sentiment was somewhat awkward.  Some cards are just full of cover ups and fix 'er ups, aren't they?

Have you tried any of the Ken Oliver Liquid Metals?  I've had this little bottle for ??? years and have never used it till now.  I was very impressed with how pretty this Yellow Gold is.

Well, that's it till next time.  I have enough cards photographed to keep me busy on the blog for a while... as soon as I write them up.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Peony Muse  Paper:  Neenah Classic White, Arches 140 lb hot pressed watercolor, gold mirror card stock  Ink:  Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, mint green (remember SU Mint Melody?)  Coloring:  Watercolor background for die cut, Twinkling H2Os watercolor for flowers  Accessories:  Sequins, Ken Oliver Yellow Gold Liquid Metal, Stamp 'n Stuff Sahara Pearls embossing powder (old)  Dies:  Poppystamps Thicket Frame, Impression Obsession Grass Border