Splashes of Watercolor

FTTC216 - Frame It!

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Hello everyone!  I hope you all had a great weekend!

It's time for our latest edition of the Timeless Tuesday challenge!  Cindy is our hostess this week and her challenge is simple and fun…..Frame it!

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I needed a card for my only nephew's college graduation that is coming up this weekend.  I wanted it to be somewhat reserved and sophisticated, but I also wanted it to have at least a touch of whimsy.

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I first embossed a layer of kraft cardstock, sponged the edges with some Frayed Burlap ink. and added it to the kraft card base.  I die cut another kraft layer using my Perfectly Pierced Victorian Oval die and sponged the edges of that too.  Another oval layer was cut from Flourishes classic ivory cardstock and I stamped my sentiment from the Inside & Out Congrats stamp set in Memento Teal Zeal and Love Letter.  I also stamped the frame from the Flowers and Frames set and colored it with markers from these Copic collections:

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I cut 3 fishtail banners from some Collectable Unforgettable 6x6 patterned paper and added them using some foam mounting tape, after adding a few red brads for the touch of whimsy and pizazz!  That completed my card!

I had a little fun finishing the inside too.

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The layout I used is from this week's retrosketches #59:

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Please take some time now to check out what the other Timeless Tuesday gals have created for you:

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• Allison Cope Israels
• Broni Holcombe - you are here!
• Cindy Haffner
• Deborah Anton
• Denise Marzec
• Debbie Marcinkiewicz - April Guest Designer

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I hope you'll play along!  Let's see what you want FRAMED this week!

 

It's Your Party - Color Throwdown #237

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Hello, everyone!  It's time for this week's Color Throwdown challenge.  Tammy is our hostess and she's chosen a unique and beautiful color combo based on the Fancy Pants Trend Setter paper collection.

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I love this combo!

I chose to use a cute new embellishment I picked up at a local craft store to create a masculine celebratory card.

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I also based the layout on the MOJO 288 sketch from this week:

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I hope you get to play along this week!  Please check out the great variety of awesome creations from the Color Throwdown designers:

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That's it for me!  Thanks so much for dropping in today!

Enjoy the Little Things - Color Throwdown #223

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Can you believe we've already started a new year?  Time sure does fly these days!  I hope you all have a wonderful and prosperous New Year!!

Today marks the very first Color Throwdown challenge of 2013 and Joan is our super-sweet and talented host!  Here are the awesome colors she's asked us to play with:

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My first thought about this combo was that it was very earthly and masculine, so I decided to play off that thought for my card.

I also chose to use this fantastic sketch from retrosketches:

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And here's my card:

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I used The Right Words stamp set from Dylusions for my sentiment.  It's stamped in Gathered Twigs Distress ink and cut out.  I stenciled the bamboo background panel using the Mini Bamboo 6x6 template and some Shabby Shutters Distress ink along with my large sponge dauber.  The corners were rounded and I also sponged the Gathered Twigs ink around the edges.  The Symphony Tissue Tape is peeking out from behind the panels and some Buttons Galore (Latte) buttons are adhered on top.

These are great colors and I hope you'll decided to play along with us.  Let's get this crafty new year started right!  Here's some fabulous inspiration from the Color Throwdown design team:

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Thanks so much for starting your year by visiting with me!  I appreciate it so very much!

 

#1 Sports Fan ... another Our Craft Lounge sneak peek!

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Here we are back for our second day of peeks at the new Our Craft Lounge stamp release.  Today I'm here to show you the new #1 Sports Fan crafty cling rubber single.

But first, here's the list of participating blogs that you'll want to visit:

OCL blog

Kendra Wietstock

Lori Tecler

Tammie Edgerton

Broni Holcombe (you are here!)

Debbie Fisher

Carolyn King

Lori Barnett

Debbie Corbari

Lisa Eisner

Stephanie Serrano

Amber Hillman

Meredith Winston

Joy Stagg

Michelle Pearson

Dawn Barrett

Melissa Cash

Latrice Murphy

Deb Felts

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As you hop along, you'll want to leave comments on all the blogs and on Facebook on Thursday & Friday to enter for a chance to win 1 of 4 blog candy prize bundles.  Commenting will end at midnight on Friday and winners will be announced on the OCL blog and on the OCL Facebook page by Monday.

And if you go shopping today, be sure to enter the code "checkusout" to receive 20% off your entire purchase at Memories of Time.

Here's my card for today:

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I decided to watercolor him using Ranger Distress inks instead of using my usual coloring method - Copics.  I also wanted a little more shading so I added some dots with a Pigma Micron pen.

Photos of the "Fan" stamped on white cardstock and then on watercolor paper and shaded with the pen:

(You can click on them to see them larger.)

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It's simple to do, and you can add a little more depth to the photo without a lot of color shading, although I did that as well on this image.

I also used the SFYTT sketch for December.  (Great sketch, Jen!)

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I hope you're enjoying your travels along the OCL blog hop.  Have fun and good luck on winning one of those prizes!

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Peace on Earth tag - Color Throwdown #171

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Hello!  Can you believe we're only a little over 2 weeks away from Christmas?  Where, oh where did this year go??

Before I panic even more so than I am now about not being ready for the holidays, let's get to the business at hand…..this week's Color Throwdown color combo (chosen by our sweet new DT member, Wanda):

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Isn't that a wonderful combo to use for an elegant Christmas card?  Well, I went for a little elegance but I didn't make a card.  Inspired by T!m, I chose to use these colors to make a tag - a very glittery, shimmery tag!

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It's sort of the toned-down, masculine version of my sweet, sugary Christmas tag!

The manila tag was sponged with several different Ranger Distress inks - bundled sage, tea dye, gathered twigs and tumbled glass.  I also added a little Adirondack Cranberry ink to the mix.  I brushed Perfect Pearls over the tag as well while it was still damp from the ink.  The edges of the tag were coated with Claudine Hellmuth Studio gesso and the sheet music paper was covered with rock candy Ranger Distress Stickles.  I also used burgundy stickles for the tree decorations and the bottom scallop.  You can probably see that I doused almost everything with Martha Stewart crystal coarse glitter!  Oh yeah, the seam binding was colored with Adirondack lettuce ink.

I wanted you to see a little of the shimmer up close…and check out the bokeh effect created by the glitter!

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Whew!  Now it's time for you to try your hand at using these great colors!  I hope to see lots of entries this week!  If you need some more inspiration, please visit with our super-fabulous design team:

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Thanks so much for stopping by!  Gotta run and get some more done….more shopping, more decorating, more card making, more gift wrapping…..

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E-Team Blog Hop - Be Merry (Tag Series #3)

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Hi everyone!

Daisy's issued a brand new challenge to the E-Team:

Make an ATC or Tag (ie., ornaments, gifts, packing) using any of your favorite holiday stamps and/or papers.

Hmm.  It took me only a few moments to decide to use the Tim Holtz Mini Holidays stamp set.  I love every image in it!  And they're the perfect size for tags and ATCs!

Here are few more details about the blog hop before I get started telling you about my projects:

* Going to randomly give away 3 Be Merry Goody boxes
* Comments can be left Nov 15 - Nov 17 on all participating blogs
* Winners will be chosen and posted on eP Blog, Fri Nov 18th
* Also going to give away two $20 eP gift vouchers on the eP blog.  Commenters should leave comments about what their favorite Thanksgiving dessert is.

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For my projects I decided to go for 2 completely different looks.  The tag is pretty & feminine, and soft & sugary sweet.

{Be sure to click on all the images to see them larger and in more detail.}

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I started with a manila tag, of course, and used an old index card to draw out a pattern for a little house and roof.  After I was happy with the size of the house, I cut it out, scored along the lines.

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I embossed the tag with the Sizzix Snowflakes folder, painted it with Gesso, then sponged on some Ranger Distress ink in Tumbled Glass.  I decided to keep the seam binding the original ivory color, but still spritzed it with some water using a Ranger mini-mister, then scrunched it up to get the wrinkled look.

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I used a paper dessert doily (from Olive Garden), some old eyelet lace, gesso and glitter for the background of the house and tree.  The tree was cut with a Quickutz die 3 times and all 3 pieces were layered on top of each other. Star Dust Stickles were dotted onto the top layer.  And don't you just love those beautiful Maya Road decorative pins?

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The tag was cut using a Spellbinders Fancy Tags die and sponged with Ranger Distress ink in Spun Sugar while still in the die.  I guess you've noticed that EVERYTHING has been covered with some Martha Stewart Crystal Coarse Glitter!

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I added a double bow using the scrunched seam binding and topped it with a bow using Caribbean, Blossom, and Honeydew twine from the Twinery.  I also added a small jingle bell, flanked by 2 tiny ones.

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For my ATC, I went with a more masculine, rustic look.  I used a sticky-back canvas ATC and attached it to a piece of soft suede cardstock.  I stamped the snowflakes from the same Mini Holidays stamp set in Versamark and heat embossed it with my Heat-It craft tool.  Then I stamped them again  and embossed them with white detail embossing powder.  I stamped the evergreen bough a couple of times using Ranger Distress ink in Bundled Sage.

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I added some seam binding and the mini calendar from the same stamp set (which was stamped on some soft patterned paper).  The corrugated numbers are from Jillibean Soup.

The reindeer was stamped in Versamark and clear embossed onto soft suede cardstock.  I cut it out by hand.  Everything was adhered using Scor-Tape and foam mounting tape.

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Ok, now it's time for you to visit the rest of the awesome E-Team and see the fabulous creations they've come up with for your viewing pleasure!

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Thanks so much for visiting with me today!

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Celebrate today!

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Hey there!  I hope y'all enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!  I had a really busy one the first 2 days.  After lifting and carrying kayaks and paddling most of the day Sunday, I was pretty sore and tired by Monday, so I chose to rest.  Besides, our weather was pretty gloomy and rainy after the 2 previous sunny days.

Today I wanted to share a card I made for a male friend's birthday.  It's pretty simple…I let the paper do most of the work!

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It makes me kind of sad, really.  I always hate the end of summer.  I hope our warmer weather stretches out just a little longer.  I AM NOT a cold weather person!

Thanks so much for dropping by today.  Have a great week!

• Stamps: Happy Trails (PTI) 
• Paper: cool caribbean,basics manila paper pad (Basic Grey), Webster's Pages petite papers  
• Ink: real red 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Clouds die (PTI), Maraschino twine (Twinery) 

Star Rocker

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Hey, everybody!  I hope your week is going well and that you have fun plans for the weekend.  I'll be doing some gardening, visiting with my Mom, and hopefully getting in a little crafting time along the way too!

Recently I needed a couple of birthday cards for some special guys that I know and I thought I'd show you one of them today.

I used the rocking chair image and coordinating sentiment from the July KOTM Better Together by Unity.

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Masculine with a little funky flair, wouldn't you say?  I like it and I hope the recipient did too!  We're always joking about our age, so how could I resist using this image?

Next week, the Our Craft Lounge team will be joining forces with the incomparable May Arts design team for a very special week long blog hop!  I can't wait!  I hope you'll make plans to join us!

In the meantime, have a very happy loooooong weekend!

• Stamps: Better Together (July KOTM) (Unity Stamp Co.) 
• Paper: vanilla, kraft, chocolate chip, Sweet Threads 6x6 (Basic Grey) 
• Ink: Ranger Archival - coffee
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: craft knife, ruler, Woodgrain Impression Plate & Mat Stack 4 die (PTI), circle Nestabilities, Concentric Star die (CB), button & vintage twine (PTI), Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape 

Any Day Fishin'

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How's this for a summer birthday card for a male?  It's going to a guy I work with who is definitely an outdoorsman.  Hope he likes it!

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I've used the great Our Craft Lounge set, Bear-ly Fishin'.  Just how cute is that?!!  I love this bear and all the great accessories that come with him.  There's even a larger bear…Daddy Bear, maybe?!  Cute, cute, cute!

The patch of grass is an image from the set.  I just drew the bottom of it and the cliff edge so that he'd have somewhere to sit while he's fishin'!  The sentiment is a long single line, but I broke it up so that it would fit on my Sentiment Flag.

I hope you all have a great day!

• Stamps: Bear-ly Fishin' (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: Neenah white; kraft, ocean tides (PTI); soft sky 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, soft sky, Ranger Distress frayed burlap, Versafine onyx black, Copic makers 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Copic multiliner SP 0.2 pen, Large Deckled Rectangles (Spellbinders), ink blending tools, Sentiment Flag Die (Lil' Inker Designs with ag designs), piercing tool & mat, copper brad, twine, ocean tides ribbon (PTI), foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape
  

Happy Father's Day!

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It's Father's Day!  Time to celebrate all those great Dads out there!

I lost my Dad 15 years ago, but still think about him and recall beautiful memories every day.

This one is for all of you men who take on and excel at the ginormous task of being "Dad"!

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I hope you all have a beautiful day!

• Stamps: This Year's Tie (Wax Fruit Company) 
• Paper: white, riding hood red, pacific point, basic gray
• Ink: computer, Copic markers: W1, W3, R30, R32, R35, R46 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Labels Eight (Spellbinders), mini buttons, foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape