Splashes of Watercolor

SSSC168 Enjoy the Ride

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Guess what, y'all!

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That's right!  Can you believe it?  I was so thrilled when THIS CARD won the SSSC166 challenge at Karen Giron's The Sweetest Thing blog.   That means I have the honor of being the guest designer for SSSC168!  Yay!

This is the fantastic sketch that Karen has given us to play with this week:

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I chose to use a new set- Adventure Land - that I picked up from Taylored Expressions.  It's so perfect for cards for my grandkids…or for any kid at heart really!

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I took a little leeway with the sketch and moved the image panel up so that I could fit in that perfect sentiment!  My little people in the roller coaster cars are colored with Copic markers.  I coated the little cars with Glossy Accents  and then popped them up on foam mounting tape.

I used my Copic air brush system to spray the sentiment oval, and each of the O's with the stars in them are also coated with Glossy Accents.

This was a fun card to make.  I love the combination of the Jumbo Ric Rac die cut with the piece of ribbon and the Star Border die cut, don't you?  I think my grandson, Will, will like it!  This card is for his 10th birthday, which is coming up this week!

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by today!  I'd like to thank Karen so much for the opportunity of showcasing another one of her fabulous sketches….this time as a guest designer!  I hope you all have a great week!

 

Walk on the Beach

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You already know with that title that I LOVE the image I'm using today from A Day For Daisies.  We're featuring some of Tammy Thompson's fabulous beach images and I chose one of a Mom and her two sons walking on the beach.  This could definitely be my daughter Gretchen with her sons, Hunter and Will.

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There's also a new challenge starting today on the ADFD blog….Use Texture.  That was an easy one for me on this card!

I started by using this week's CPS sketch #270:

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This was perfect to show off the fabulous image!  I colored up the sweet family and kept the background and card base colors neutral.  The fantastic fibers are from May Arts and add the perfect texture.  But I just HAD to add some sand too!  I used Ranger Glossy Accents to add it to the beach.  This is actually some sand I brought back from my trip last year to Key West. 

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(Here's a bit of trivia for you.  Did you know that the beach sand in Key West is not actually from Key West?  There's so much coral there and the reef which is 6 miles off shore breaks most of the waves before they get to shore.  This means the waves can't bring in more sand.  So they've brought in sand from the Bahamas using barges!)

It would be wonderful if you decided to play along with us in the "Texture" challenge!!  And please be sure check out the gorgeous creations of the other design team members on the ADFD blog or here:

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Alice Wertz
Arielle Gordon
Lori Boyd
Shelly Mercado
Tracy MacDonald

 

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Thank you so much for dropping in for a visit today!  It's the weekend….go forth and celebrate!!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

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Happy Mother's Day to all you beautiful, nurturing, selfless mothers in blog land!

This is the card I made for my Mom.  I also made one for each of my daughters, who are mothers as well.

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I used the Wrinkle-free Distress technique on water color paper using 2 of the new Spring Ranger Distress inks - Shaded Lilac and Peacock Feathers.  I used the same technique on my eggshell seam binding so that it would match the background.

The image is from the retired Stampin' Up! set Easy Elegance.  It's stamped in Shaded Lilac.

I'm going to spend some time with my Mom today and then with my sister at Artisphere in Greenville, SC.  Should be a fun day!

I hope you all have a happy and festive Mother's Day!

 

Birthday Banner

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Good Monday morning, everyone!

Did you watch the Super Bowl yesterday?  I did, and I really enjoyed it!

Today, I've got a quick birthday card for a guy using some scrap patterned paper.  4 little pieces of some June Bug 6x6 paper and some Maraschino twine from the Twinery, was all I needed to make this cool birthday banner using the Mix & Match Banner Die-namics from MFT.  I also used the Wonderful Words dies and Wonderful Words Additions stamp set from PTI.

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Thanks for stopping by to take a look!  I hope you have a great week!

Hot Cocoa - Color Throwdown #174

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Good Wednesday morning, everyone!  I'm hosting the Color Throwdown challenge this week!

Since we've chosen to use inspiration photos for our color schemes this year, I decided to browse the internet for ideas. I'm quite sure it's no surprise that I chose a "beachy" color scheme this week! This artwork's colors immediately caught my eye, but I also love the fascinating watercolor ethereal beauty of it.

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So did I do a watercolor or even a beach scene?  NO!  I chose to use my new Hot Cocoa Cutie a la modes image from My Favorite Things.  LOVE HER!!!  And doesn't this color scheme work well with the cocoa theme?  I thought so!

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The base of my snowflake was die cut from a piece of corrugated cardboard and after it was all assembled I coated it with Twinklets Diamond Dust (FloraCraft).  I used the my tape method to separate the sentiment in order to put part of it on the inside of the card.

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This card is going to a very special lady who will soon be celebrating one of those "milestone" birthdays.  Hope she likes it!

Please be sure to visit all the blogs of the design team for some awesome inspiration:

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Thanks so much for stopping by, y'all!  I hope you'll decide to play along with us at the Color Throwdown!  You can get all the deets at the CTD blog.

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Welcome, New Year! - Color Throwdown #173

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Welcome back, everybody, to a new year of Color Throwdown challenges!

I hope you are all refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to begin anew!  I know I am!

Barbara is starting us off this year with her color choices:

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She also designed our new graphics that we'll be using this year!  Pretty cool, huh?

I pretty much took the inspiration photo literally and decided to make a "Welcome, New Year!" card.  I pulled out my glitter paper for the starry night behind the Skyline Border Die-namics die cut and used the By the Numbers die collection for the 2012. Behind the numbers I used my Crafter's Workshop mini Punchinella template and my N7 Copic marker to airbrush the stars.  I tied on a ribbon and that was it!

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I hope you'll decide to join us this week for the CTD challenge!  Let's start the New Year off with a bang!  You can get all the challenge details on the Color Throwdown blog.

And be sure to check out the gorgeous creations of our oh-so-talented design team:

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Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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From the Heart

 

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Well, I had to get in just one more Halloween (sort of) card!  This one uses the cute little witch from the Swept Up Crafty Cling Single set from Our Craft Lounge. 

You may notice that I'm using non-traditional colors.  That's because I'm playing along in the OCL blog challenge this week: 

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I'm also using last week's MOJO212 sketch:

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And here's my card combining those challenges AND Halloween!

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Thanks for stopping by!  I hope your Halloween is a great one!

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Better with Color - Part 6!

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Time for another E-Team blog hop, y'all!!  And this time we're using Claudine Hellmuth Studio sticky-back canvas, paints, and supplies!  These products are my absolute favorites and my definite go-to's when I want to paint something.  The canvas is tightly woven (so much easier to work with) and the paints are so smooth…almost silky…like "buttah"!  Perfect, in my opinion!  If you follow my blog, you probably already know how much I love them!

I've used them as a white wash on wood (LOVE this!), to make snow on a roof, on grungeboard, to white wash book pages and to paint on wood and canvas.

Here are links to a few samples of my projects using Claudine Hellmuth canvas and/or Studio paints:

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But for today, I've created 2 new projects.  I had it in my head that I wanted to paint a canvas bag, so I picked up a small canvas shoulder bag at Hobby Lobby and started playing around.  Now I knew I wanted soft colors so I decided to mix the Classic Teal and Blank Canvas paints to come up with a soft aqua color.  There are all kinds of colors you can get when you mix the paints.  Claudine has a helpful video and chart on her website here: Studio Paints Color Chart.

I started by mixing the colors I wanted on my craft sheet.  Then I spritzed the mixture a lot with water to thin it out.  After stamping a sentiment from Own Your Story (My Favorite Things), I painted on my canvas, using a die cut circle to cover the sentiment.

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I wanted some green too, so I decided to dab some watered down Landscape Green onto the canvas using a scrap of bubble wrap.

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Next, I used a toilet paper tube to "stamp" some Charcoal Black on randomly.  Then I drew circles around the sentiment with a Faber Castell artist pen and stamped a branch from the same stamp set.  Then I decided to stamp the Be Brave sentiment using the black paint.

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For my Ranger Fragment Charm, I painted on some of the watered down green, then using the small tube of the Landscape Green drew a little squiggle down the edge.

I stamped a small butterfly image onto the sticky side of some Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas…yes, the sticky side.  It worked great!  Then I cut it out and adhered it to the charm.  I painted the sides and back with some of the previously mixed teal & white paint.

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The finished bag.

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I also created almost an identical painting on a piece of Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas.  I took the top layer off of a piece of corrugated cardboard, sized it to fit my canvas and painted it with  some watered down Charcoal Black Studio paint.

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I used the Tim Holtz Small Easel Bigz Die to cut another piece of corrugated cardboard.

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I backed the canvas with a piece of cardboard and swiped some black paint on the edges.  Then I assembled all my pieces.

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Here are the blog hop details:

• Daisy is going to choose 3 random winners from the E-Team blogs. 3 winners will each win a Claudine Hellmuth Mini Acrylic Paint Set along with some other eP goodies.
• You can also visit the eP blog to leave a comment and have a chance to win a $25 eclectic Paperie voucher.
• You have until Thursday, Sept 1st to leave comments.  Winners will be announced on the eP blog on Friday, Sept 2nd.

So now it's time for you to move along to see what the rest of the E-Team has created!  Don't forget to leave comments all along the way.

E-TEAM

Latrice Murphy 

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

Daisy Sparks (eP blog)

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Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

• Stamps: Own Your Story (My Favorite Things), office supply date stamp, butterfly square 
• Paper: aqua & teal cardstock, corrugated cardboard, other cardboard scraps 
• Ink/Paint: Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints: Classic Teal, Sky Blue, Landscape Green, Blank Canvas, Charcoal Black; Ranger Archival - jet black, Faber Castell Pitt artist pen, Copic marker 100, Sharpie white paint pen
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Canvas tote bag, Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas, Claudine Hellmuth paintbrush, toilet paper tube, bubble wrap, Ranger Fragment Charm, Scor-Tape, Tim Holtz Trinket Pin & Tiny Safety Pin, Ranger mini-mister, Cosmo Cricket chipboard letter, old zipper pull, May Arts ribbon, craft knife, Tim Holtz ruler, Alterations Small Easel Bigz Die, Alterations Brackets On the Edge Die, black ribbon, Charcoal, Peapod  & Caribbean twine (Twinery), foam mounting tape   

Another birthday!

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Today's my birthday!  And I'm so glad I've made it this far.  I still can't believe I'm so old!!  ;<]

This card was for a friend whose birthday was last Friday.  I know.  Another beach card!  Sorry, I can't help it!  And besides, he loves the beach too!

Speaking of the beach, this fabulous image is from Wax Fruit Company.  So is the sentiment inside.  Love, love, love!!

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Thanks so much for stopping by to see me!  I love and appreciate you all!

• Stamps: At the Beach, inside sentiment - Big Little Words (Wax Fruit Company)
• Paper: Neenah white, kraft, espresso, red; Webster's Pages petite papers
• Ink: computer
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Star Border die (My Favorite Things), Cuttlebug die, Inkssentials white gel pen, straight edge, foam mounting tape 

The Future

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Hey, it's Wednesday!  Can you guess what that means?  Of course you can!  It's time for another Color Throwdown challenge and this week Carole chose our colors!  I LOVE the combo she picked out for us!  She's currently out of town and not able to hostess so the lovely and talented Laura has agreed to step in for her.

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I needed a couple of graduation cards, so I decided to use Carole's sweet color combo for the one for a dear friend's daughter.  I pulled out my new (to me) Own Your Story stamp set from My Favorite Things to use.  I LOVE all of the encouraging sentiments it contains.  Add a matching Die-namics die and you have the perfect set to create cards for young people transitioning into their adult lives.

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Don't you think it makes the perfect graduation card for a young woman?

You should check out the beautiful designs that my CTD sisters have come up with.  Here are the links:

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Barbara * Carole * Danielle * Kristin * Laura * LeAnne

 Tammy (not playing this week)* Betty Wright  (June Guest Designer)

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It would be great if you'd play along with us this week.  The colors are drawing you in, aren't they?  Look at them one more time.  Scrumptious, I tell ya!  Check out the details at the Color Throwdown blog.

Thanks, y'all, for stopping by.  You're the best!

• Stamps: Own Your Story (My Favorite Things) 
• Paper: so saffron, pear pizzazz, baja breeze, Flip 'n' Flirt "Summertime Girl" Sandy Shores paper (My Mind's Eye) 
• Ink: Versafine onyx black, baja breeze, pear pizzazz, so saffron
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: ink blending tool, sewing machine, seam binding, Prima flower, buttons, foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape