Splashes of Watercolor

A Marbled Easter Egg - A new E-Team blog hop!

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Hello again!  I usually don't have 2 posts in one day, but today is special because we've got a new E-Team blog hop for you!

We decided to celebrate this leap year with a technique hop!  Today we're showing you how we create faux marble.  Our fearless leader, Daisy, gave us no specific instructions, so it should be really interesting to see what each E-Team member comes up with!

Let's do the business details first:

• Leave comments on each E-Team member's blog post.  You have from today, February 29th, through Friday, March 2nd.
• 2 winners will be chosen to receive $25 eclectic Paperie gift certificates, and will be announced on the eP blog on Saturday, March 3rd.

Now that wasn't so bad, was it?  Short and sweet!

On to the project!

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I decided to use a tried and true method to create my Faux Marble, using alcohol inks on glossy cardstock.  I love this look and usually I'll do it with deep, rich colors, but today I decided to go soft and spring-like with the colors.  I chose Adirondack Alcohol inks in Shell Pink, Willow and Cloudy Blue.  Here are the supplies I started with:

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I used a felt applicator to apply the inks to the paper, dabbing over the entire piece several times until I got the effect I liked.  I did this on 2 separate pieces of cardstock and then on one of them, I applied some pearl metallic mixative to see what the colors would look like in softer shades.

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Since I had wanted a fresh spring color palette I decided to use the piece that had the brighter colors to create a marbled Easter egg.  (I'll save the pearlized one for another project.)

I brought out my Fancy Fringe stamp set from Our Craft Lounge and my Adirondack acrylic paint dabber in snow cap and used them to stamp a border "around" my Easter egg.

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I printed an egg template from the internet, cut it out, traced around it onto my marbled paper with a pencil, and then cut my egg out.

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I sponged around the egg with some Ranger Distress ink in frayed burlap and added some beautiful May Arts lacy trim and some rhinestone stickers to the egg.

My card base is white; then there's another die cut layer of white topped with a piece of patterned paper.  I backed my egg with a paper doily, tied a piece of dyed seam binding around the card front, then added the egg using foam mounting tape.

My felt rose was die cut using the MFT Rolled Rose Die-namics die, and the leaves were cut using the Spellbinders Foliage die set.

And FINALLY, here is my Marbled Easter Egg:

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I'm seriously thinking of doing this marbled look on my REAL Easter eggs this year!  I love the way these colors look together!

Well, it's time to move on to the other E-Team members' blogs to see what they came up with using a Faux Marble technique.  I can't wait!!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to drop in (again) today.  I hope you liked my project and I hope you'll try this Faux Marble technique too!  I'd love to see it if you do!

Happy crafting!

Say It Big Birthday - Color Throwdown #181

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Hey, y'all!  It's time again for another Color Throwdown challenge!  The Oh-So-Talented Lynn is our hostess this week and here is the great color combo that she chose for us to play with:

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I needed another birthday card, and this time I opted for a round card using my Grand Calibur and the Grand Scalloped Circles dies.

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The sentiment is definitely featured here.  It's really BIG!  I love it!  I decided to get a little playful and add the birthday candle with 2 decorative pins too.  I think it all looks great on some of Kristin's Trendy Forest patterned paper and tied up with some Twinery Blossom and Honeydew twine.

We hope you'll join us in the challenge this week!  Here's some great inspiration for you from the design team:

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Thanks for stopping in.  Please check back in a little while for another E-Team blog hop!

I Made You a Kite...

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What a sweet and encouraging quote!  And Arielle (Wax Fruit Company) has drawn the sweetest image to compliment it perfectly!  In fact all of the Playground Series images are wonderful!  Yes, I just had to buy them all!!

I decided to overlay the sentiment onto the image for this card.  It's actually a birthday card for a friend, but I felt like an encouraging word is always a good thing, no matter what the occasion!

The clouds and the kite were colored a second time, cut out and popped up for more dimension.

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That's it for today!  Short and sweet!

I'll be back tomorrow with my Color Throwdown card and also for another E-Team blog hop….this time we're playing around with the Faux Marble technique!  What fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Do Coffee

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Hey there, everyone!  How's your weekend going?

I went to see The Jersey Boys for the second time last night!  I went last year and had SO much fun, I just had to do it again!  It was just as fun this time too!  Yes, I was standing in the aisles, singing along with every song!!

Today I have a card to show you that I made for a dear friend's birthday and also for the OCL106 challenge which is a sketch:~

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I used a few of my new Copic coloring skills, learned from the mega-talented Debbie Olson last weekend, to create a little table top scene, complete with cast shadows!  It's still a learning process, and I intend to keep practicing!

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So why don't you try to play along in the OCL106 challenge with us?!  It'll be fun and you have a chance to win prizes too!!  Check it out!

Blessing a Flower

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I'm so excited to show you my card today!  This week's beautiful new release from A Day For Daisies is called Fairy Work Fairy Play  and all the images are so incredibly beautiful and sweet! 

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I was so inspired by the images that the first thing I did when I got home from my Intermediate Copic Certification class in Virginia was to sit down and practice on this Blessing a Flower image.  I'm really, really pleased with the results too!

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What do you think? 

I also used the CPS253 sketch which was a perfect match for this image!

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You can see all the images on the ADFD blog and also see samples from all the design team members.  And, believe me, they are absolutely gorgeous!!  All the images are available at the ADFD shop!

There's also a color challenge going on right now and we'd just love it if you played along.  Check it out!

Thanks so much for stopping in for a visit today.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Easter Chicks - Color Throwdown #180

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Hi, guys!!  Today's the day for a new Color Throwdown challenge!  The fabulous Lori is our hostess this week.  The colors she chose threw me a little to begin with, but as soon as I saw my new Nature Babies 1 chicks from Angels Landing I knew what I was going to do!  (Thanks so much, Judi!)

Here are Lori's colors:

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I paired the MOJO229 sketch with our color combo.  What a great combination this was!

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Now here's my sweet little Easter Chicks card:

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Isn't that just the sweetest image?  The sentiment is from another Angel's Landing digital stamp set Nature Bunny & Violets 1.  (It's the set with the REAL Easter bunny!!)

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  As always, if you don't have the exact colors, a close substitute will work just fine.  Link your creation at the Color Throwdown blog, and we'll stop by your blog to take a look! 

Now how about some beautiful inspiration for you from our fabulous team?

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Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I'd like to leave you with a couple of photos from this past weekend.  I was in Richmond, VA, with several of my CTD sisters for an Intermediate Copic Certification class, taught by the fabulous Debbie Olson!  It was a blast and we all learned so much! 

I LOVED meeting Wanda, Teresa, Danielle, Kristin and Michele in person for the very first time, even though I felt like I'd already known them forever!  And it was fabulous to get to spend some more time with Lori, Barbara and Debbie!  A couple of these shots were lifted from Wanda Cullen's blog and a couple are from Danielle Kennedy.  Thanks, ladies, for sharing!

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Lori Tecler, Barbara Anders, me, Teresa Kline, Wanda Cullen

Michele Boyer (who assisted Debbie) and Debbie Olson

Kristin Eberline, Lori Tecler, me, Danielle Kennedy, Barbara Anders

Lori, me, Barbara, Debbie, Danielle

Kristin and Danielle (are they too cute?)

I had a great time and can't wait until we all can get together again (but with the rest of the crew next time, right, Tammy?)!!

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Hanging the Sleeping Basket

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Good Friday morning to you!!  It's time for a new A Day For Daisies release!!  This one is just as wonderful as the last !  You're going to love all the beautiful new images.  You can see them all today on the ADFD blog or at the ADFD shop.

I chose to use Hanging the Sleeping Basket today.  I've always loved fairies and tales of "the wood".   This one is especially sweet!

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The image is watercolored using Ranger Distress inks in Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw and Pumice Stone.   There's a second layer of the fairy wings and one of the cherry blossoms popped up on foam mounting tape.  And the wings, baby basket, and the flower centers are all sparkling with Star Dust Stickles (my favorite bling)!

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I died the seam binding with some Distress Tumbled Glass ink using Sherry's tutorial.

Thanks so much for stopping by!   I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Spring Sketches - Color Throwdown #179

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Yay!  It's springtime! 

Ok.  Not really.  But it is here on my blog today!  I'm popping out the springtime flowers for my Color Throwdown card this week!

Kristin is our super sweet and talented host, and here are the colors she chose:

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Since I'm REALLY burned out on making Valentine cards, I decided to go with a spring theme.

I pulled out Spring Sketches from Our Craft Lounge and Kristin's beautiful Candy Kisses patterned paper (I TOLD you she's super talented!).

My sketched tulip was stamped on the Krafty paper and then again on white cardstock.  I used my Copics to color up the tulip twice and popped it up on foam tape.

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The background layers were cut with the Grand Scalloped Square Nestabilities.  The Krafty and Blushing papers were sanded around the edges to let the white cardstock that they were printed on show through.

How about heading over to see what my  CTD sisters have come up with for you?  I can guarantee you'll be inspired!

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I hope you'll join us in this week's challenge!  You can check out all the details at the Color Throwdown blog. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Don't forget Friday brings another new release of those precious A Day For Daisies digital images!  I can't wait for you to see what I got to color up this week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Well, it's finally here!  My big plans for today include working and going to my grandson's basketball game.  They're in the semi-finals, so it should prove to be very exciting.  Besides, it gives me the opportunity to see the boys on Valentine's Day!

This is probably the last year I'll be able to get away with giving the boys "cutesy" Valentines.  They're getting a little old for that!  Hopefully, they'll indulge Nana this year!

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For these cards I used 2 adorable digital images from A Day For Daisies - Bringing You Love from this month's Club Kit and Bunny Loves You, which is a freebie if you hurry!

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These precious little guys are colored with Copic markers and the large heart is paper-pieced.  The silver hearts are mini cookie cutter decorations that I picked up at Christmas from Hobby Lobby.

Now, here's the card I made for my honey, George, using Heart and Soul, which is the Unity January 2012 KOTM. 

The larger scalloped heart was die cut and then sponged with Ranger Distress inks - worn lipstick and fired brick.  Gotta love those coupon images!  I scored between them using a rotary scorer I had in my sewing stash.

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That's it for today!  I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and get lots of yummy chocolate!!!

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Airbrushed Desert Sky Valentine

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I know.  What an odd post title.  But it really does describe my card today.

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I used the Wanted stamp set from Our Craft Lounge to make this card for one of our grandsons.  I wanted a "different" look for the background, so I decided to use my Mini Punchinella mask and airbrush a desert sunset.

He'll think it's cool!

I hope you're having a great Monday!