Splashes of Watercolor

...and a Little Dirt - Color Throwdown #135

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Welcome back!  It's time again for another Color Throwdown.  This week the lovely Barbara is our hostess and she chose a classic color combination.  It reminds me of a vintage kitchen color scheme.  You know the one…..with roosters and gingham, maybe even Harvest Gold appliances!  LOL!

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Pretty great, huh?

My first thought was this gorgeous image from the Sunflower Seeds stamp set from Our Craft Lounge.  One of my very favorites!  And designed by one of my favorite people - Kisa!  Great job, girlie!

So I went with that classic kitchen scheme.  How do you think I did?

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You can get all the details for the challenge at the Color Throwdown blog.  I hope you'll play along, 'cause I'd love to see what you come up with!  Be sure to check out all the awesomeness of these talented ladies:

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Barbara * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura * LeAnne * Tammy *  Keva Brown (March Guest Designer)

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And yeah, I know I tried to push Keva out the door last week!  It just seemed like it was the end of the month to me, I guess!  So sorry, Keva.  And I'm so glad you were able to join us this month!!

Thank you all so much for stopping by for a visit!  I hope you'll come back soon!

• Stamps: Sunflower Seeds (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: white, riding hood red, black, Kitschy Kitchen 6x6 paper pad (Melissa Frances) 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Ranger Distress - antique linen, Copic markers
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Lacey & circles Nestabilities, ribbon, pom-pom fringe (Darcie's), pinking shears, Pigma Micron 01 pen - black, ink blending tool, sewing machine, foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape, dyed seam binding, button, DMC floss - 310

Little Snail - MOJO183 & Copic Creations #46

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Hi there, folks!

It seems like forever since I actually got to play along in a challenge, other than the Color Throwdown, of course!  As I was browsing through my Google Reader, I came across several I thought I might like to try, but ended up choosing just 2 for this card.

The first is the MOJO183 sketch.  Julee comes up with some of the best sketches around!  Here it is:

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The second challenge I'm entering is the Copic Creations blog challenge #46  -  use blues.  Easy enough, right?  Well, there are certainly PLENTY of blue Copic markers to choose from!  Mine came from the BG family: BG10, BG11, BG13.

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This cute little scene was made using stamps from the new release set called Joy in Little Things, from Our Craft Lounge.  All the images are so fresh and cute and fun!

I had recently gotten some of this new Fine & Dandy True Blue paper from My Mind's Eye at my local scrapbooking store (Southern Scrapbooks), and I adore the color combination.  All BG colors are my favorites.  I've always said my favorite color is "water".  That pretty much encompasses all the blues, and some greens, right?!

Well, that's it for me today.  I'm so ready to start my weekend!  I'll bet you are too!  I hope you all have a great one!

• Stamps: Joy in Little Things (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: white, crushed curry, early espresso, Fine & Dandy True Blue (My Mind's Eye) 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Pigma Micron 05 artist pen - brown 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: rectangle Nestabilities, 1 3/8" circle punch, straight edge, ribbon, Caribbean twine (Twinery), Copic markers:

Orange You Sweet! - Color Throwdown #134

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Hello, everyone!  It's time for another round of the Color Throwdown!  Can you handle it?   Yeah, I thought so!

We have a sponsor this week -  Purple Onion Designs!  How fun is that?  We each got to choose a stamp set to use and boy, was it hard to narrow it down!!

So Danielle is our hostess and she chose an awesome color combo.  It works perfectly with my stamp set choice!

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I chose the Citrus Set from Purple Onion Designs to work with.  It's so quirky and cute, and with all the great sentiments/words, this is a truly versatile set!  And I adore the font!

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I had such a good time playing with the fruit, I just had to make a second card:

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The inside says:  You're the Best!

Fun, huh? 

I'm also entering both of these cards in the Tuesday Trigger Challenge at Moxie Fab World.  Here's this week's trigger photo:

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How fresh and bright and fun is that??!!

So you really need to play along in the Color Throwdown challenge this week.  You'll have a chance to win some goodies and you'll have loads of fun, of course!  Head over to the Color Throwdown blog to check out all the details and rules.  Then be sure to check out all the great designs by the DT:

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Barbara * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura * LeAnne * Tammy *  Keva Brown (March Guest Designer)

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I can't believe this is Keva's last week to be our Guest Designer!  Thank you for adding so much beauty to our posts each week, Keva!

And thanks to you all for stopping by today!

ORANGE YOU SWEET card

• Stamps: Citrus Set (Purple Onion Designs) 
• Paper: white, marina mist
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Versafine - onyx black
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Dot Matrix folder (Tim Holtz), oval Nestabilities, corner rounder punch, horizontal slot punch, Star Dust Stickles, piercing tool & mat, ribbon, foam mounting tape, Copic markers:

NO MATTER HOW card

• Stamps: Citrus Set (Purple Onion Designs) 
• Paper: marina mist, pumpkin pie, Recess & Pyrus 6x6 paper pads (Basic Grey)
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Versafine - onyx black
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Jumbo Scallop border die (MFT), scallop squares Nestabilities, Star dust Stickles, ribbon, Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape, Copic markers: YR21, YR12, YR18

Two for Tea

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Hey there!

Today I thought I'd show you a card I made to display at the Our Craft Lounge booth at CHA.  I love the sweet look of all the images in this new release set called Tea Time.

I took a white flower, colored it with a G0000 Copic marker and cut it apart to use for the leaves. 

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On a personal note, I've been working out in the yard this weekend!  I have lots of flower beds that need to be cleaned out and since it's been so pretty, I can't resist being out there.  I can't believe that even the dogwoods are already blooming!  And I've seen 2 butterflies today too!

Hooray for spring!!  I'm so glad the cold weather is gone!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

• Stamps: Tea Time (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: white, sage shadow, Brenda Walton Madeline (K & Company) 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Ranger Distress - tea dye, antique linen
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Labels Four Nestabilities, ink blending tool, Prima flowers, grosgrain ribbon (PTI), corner rounder punch, Ranger matte accents, foam mounting tape, pearls, Copic markers:

MTME Pretty Palette color challenge

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There's a new color challenge in town!  You can find it at the My Time Made Easy blog!  And I've decided to play along in their very first challenge!

Here's the color combo:

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Great, huh?

So I got this new image from Mo's Digital Pencil and just HAD to color her up.  These colors were just perfect!

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You should check out the challenge and play along if you get a chance!  The keyword is MTMEPPC01.

I'm sorry this is such a short post.  I've got taxes to do.  YUCK!

• Stamps: What's Cooking (Mo's Digital Pencil), Many Happy Returns (SU)
• Paper: white, real red, certainly celery, Sugar Rush 6x6 paper pad (Basic Grey) 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Ranger Distress - antique linen
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Circles & Lacey Circles Nestabilities, word window punch, corner rounder punch, ink blending tool, ribbon, button & twine (PTI), Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape, Copic markers:

Shabby Chic eP & Crafty Secrets blog hop!!

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How exciting, you guys!!  the E-Team is joining forces with the Crafty Secrets design team to present a Shabby Chic blog hop!   Now you have to know this is not my normal style, so I did struggle a little.  But secretly (don't tell anyone!) I studied the blogs of each of the Crafty Secrets design team members and learned loads (I think) about the Shabby Chic style.

You'll have a blast visiting each of the participating blogs and hopefully you'll come away having learned something and inspired to create your own Shabby Chic project!

Along the way, leave comments at each blog, because rumor has it that there will be 6 winners chosen randomly from all the comments to receive some very special prizes!  You'll have through the weekend to leave your comments.  The winners will be chosen and announced on Monday.

I think that's all the "small talk", so now on to my project!

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I chose the fabulous Bathing Beauties stamp set from Crafty Secrets to work with.  You know me, I LOVE the beach, so I was super excited with these gorgeous seaside images!!  Now in my recent studies of the "SC style", I found that loads of layering was a must, so I started with my image.  I stamped it twice and colored both with my Copic markers, then trimmed the background scene from one of the images using a craft knife.

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I colored the people on the base image in T1 only and outlined them too, to give a deeper shadowed effect.  I liked the look so much that I went over the entire top layer lightly with the same T1 marker to get that vintage faded look.  (You can click on the photo to see it better.)

To get a "worn" look on the beaded oval layer and the die cut scallops, I used some watered down Claudine Hellmuth Studio paint in Blank Canvas and lightly brushed in from the edges using a paint brush.

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Then these and all the other layers were aged and distressed a little by sponging the edges with Ranger Distress ink in Antique Linen and an ink blending tool.

Next I decided to use some of my crocheted flowers (yes, I made them!), and to make them look a little more real I inserted some stamens from the floral department at a local craft shop.

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The final and most fun part was putting all the pieces together.  I used a lot of Scor-Tape and foam mounting tape!

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Here's the finished Shabby Chic (my version, of course) card again.

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Now, I just couldn't stop there!  Sandy (Ms. Crafty Secrets, herself) also sent us some of her fantastic Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps.  As soon as I saw this little Sweet Pea from the Farm Fresh set I knew I had to make a card for my sweet 2-year old granddaughter, Molly, with it!

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Isn't this the sweetest image ever???  I distressed and layered a lot on this card too.  The crocheted lace you see was made by my Grandma, who is the darling lady that taught me how to crochet when I was very young.  I'm so thankful that I was interested enough at that time to learn!

I've also got some of the Wonderland Tea Creative Scraps too.  I can't wait to try them out!

So that's it for my entry in this blog hop.  I hope you enjoyed your stay, but now it's time to move on.  Here are the links to all the blogs of both teams:

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E-TEAM

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke (she's on both teams!)

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

Daisy Sparks (eP blog)

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CRAFTY SECRETS TEAM

Vicki Chrisman Team Leader

Pam Hooten

Linda Duke

Michele Kovack

Melissa Phillips

Flo Teixeira from France

Julie Campbell

Mary Hamer

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Don't forget to leave your comments for a chance to win one of six great prizes!

Thanks so much for stopping here.  I appreciate each and every one of your visits and comments!

BEACH TIME CARD

• Stamps: Bathing Beauties (Crafty Secrets) 
• Paper: vintage cream (PTI), tangerine tango, watercolor paper, Mocha Chica paper (CHF-retired), old book page 
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Ranger Distress - antique linen, Claudine Hellmuth Studio paint - blank canvas 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Beaded Ovals & Petite Oval Nestabilities , Jumbo Scallop border die (My Favorite Things), corner rounder punch, paint brush, craft knife, ink blending tool, handmade crocheted flowers, flower stamens, lace, ribbon, pearl stickers, vintage resin embellishment (Melissa Frances), Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape, Copic markers: 

SWEET PEA CARD

• Stamps: none
• Paper: kraft, vintage cream (PTI), riding hood red, glitter paper (K & Company), book page, Lullaby Girl swatches (Daisy D)
• Ink: Ranger Distress - frayed burlap 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Floral Doily Motifs Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities, handmade crocheted lace, seam binding, ink blending tool, buttons & twine (PTI), Ranger Distress Stickles - fired brick, Scor-Tape, foam mounting tape 

Are you Irish?

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Even if you aren't, you should be celebrating today!  It's St. Patrick's Day!  And who couldn't use a little more good luck, huh?

I'm about 1/4th Irish AND I was raised Catholic, so I've always loved and celebrated the holiday.  And since I now work for a company that tints it's "beverages" green for this occasion, there's even more reason to celebrate!!  Bring on the brew!!

Here's a little card I whipped up to celebrate today using the Shamrock Blessings stamp set from Our Craft Lounge:

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Even if your not Irish, find a reason to celebrate today!

Thanks for taking time to visit!  Please check back in tomorrow.  We've got a new E-Team blog hop for you!

• Stamps: Shamrock Blessings (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: white, green patterned paper 
• Ink: Versafine - onyx black, Jenni Bowlin - stick candy, SU markers: orchid opulence, elegant eggplant, Copic markers: YG17 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Threading water border punch (Fiskars), 1/2" circle punch, twine & buttons (PTI), foam mounting tape, Scor-Tape  

The Real Easter Bunny - Color Throwdown #133

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Yay, it's Wednesday and time for another Color Throwdown!  Today, Kristin is our hostess and she's chosen her color combo based on a Kleenex box!  I sure hope she shows a photo of it, 'cause I thought this was really an unusual combination!

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Do you remember this Easter Bunny card?  Well, I'm here to tell you that Pea-Nut, as adorable as he is, is not the real Easter Bunny.  Shocking, I know!

But I believe I have found the real Easter Bunny.  This gorgeous image that I've used today is from a new set from Angel's Landing called Nature Bunny & Violets.  This is exactly how I picture the Easter Bunny should look.  Judi, you are SO talented!

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Isn't this image wonderful?  So detailed and so beautiful.  The sentiment is from the set as well.

So now you should really head over to the Color Throwdown blog to check out the details of the challenge, and to see what all the other ladies on the design team have created for your viewing pleasure, visit these links:

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Barbara * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura * LeAnne * Tammy *  Keva Brown (March Guest Designer)

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Thanks so much for stopping by!

• Stamps: Nature Bunny & Violets  (Angel's Landing) 
• Paper: white, lavender lace, early espresso, Kioshi 6x6 paper pad (Basic Grey) 
• Ink: computer
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: Labels Ten Nestabilities, paper doily, computer/printer, foam mounting tape, rhinestone stickers, Copic markers: 

Spring Bouquet

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Happy weekend!  Ok, so maybe it starts tomorrow, but I'm off today so I'm celebrating!

Have you played along with the OCL blog Friday challenges?  They're so much fun!  This week is a supply challenge - USE BLING!  No problem, right?

I had the most fun making this card using the new release Build a Bouquet from Our Craft Lounge.  Stamping all the flowers for the background and then cutting some out to pop up made me happy!  And I love the color combo and all the bling too!

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I hope you all have a great weekend!

• Stamps: Build a Bouquet (Our Craft Lounge) 
• Paper: vanilla, peach parfait, Fine and Dandy True Blue (My Mind's Eye)
• Ink: Ranger archival - coffee; soft suede, peach parfait, so saffron, baja breeze; Copic markers: E40, E42, E57 
• Tools used on every card: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: big scalloped ovals Nestabilities, Fine and Dandy True Blue Bling (My Mind's Eye) 

Hello, Spring! - Color Throwdown #132

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Hey, you guys!  I'm hosting the Color Throwdown this week and I've chosen colors that reminded me of summer and the beach.  The only problem with that is….I made a springtime card!  I really did intend to project forward to summer, but I guess the cool rainy day I had on Sunday (when I actually made the card) changed my mood and resulted in me wishing for spring to be here.

Anyway, here are the colors for the week:

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Very pretty combo, don't you think?  I used my new, but yet uninked, Nature Walk from SU.  I had seen THIS CARD by the brilliant LeAnne and just couldn't resist purchasing the set from her.  This is really the first chance I've had to actually get it inky.

I've made it happy and bright!

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Now it's time for you to play along with us!  What does this color combo say to you?  Visit the Color Throwdown blog for all the details of the challenge.  Then check out all the beautiful inspiration from the design team:

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Barbara * Cathy * Danielle * Kristin

Laura * LeAnne * Tammy *  Keva Brown (March Guest Designer)

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I'm so glad you decided to come by for a visit. I also have a post at the OCL blog today.  Please stop by!

• Stamps: Nature Walk (SU), hello from Friends 'Til the End (PTI)
• Paper: daffodil delight, baja breeze, soft sky, kraft, Fine and Dandy True Blue "Daydream" (My Mind's Eye) 
• Ink: Ranger Archival - coffee, Ranger Distress - walnut stain
• Tools used: Fiskars 9" trimmer, Scor-Buddy, Tim Holtz scissors, Ranger non-stick craft sheet, Rock-a-blocks
• Other: clear embossing powder, Ranger Heat-It craft tool, corner rounder punch, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, inverted scallop circles Nestabilities, grosgrain ribbon, lace, Fabric Tape - Lemon Bar (Taylored Expressions)