Watercolor fun with a sketch

Hi friends!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. We've been busy here with end-of-the year activities and testing. So looking forward to a break from homeschooling. For now, I squeezed in some time for crafting on Sunday and am sharing the card I made for 2 challenges. The first is retro sketches. I LOVE their site! And the 2nd challenge is for Moxie Fab World and we were to have fun with watercolors. So, here's my card and the sketch.

There are times I tweak the sketch a bit but this time, I left it "as is". I started out with my main image which is from the dollar bin from a local craft store. I stamped it using Staz On ink on watercolor paper. Using my inktense watercolor pencils, I colored them in and also added a light blue background (hard to see in the picture). I used dimensional tape to mount it and think the presents look so cute--perfect for a child's b-day! The background paper is from My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is from Hampton Arts. I added some ribbon behind the main image, faux stitching and some gems to the centers of the bows and the card was done!

There's still time to play in both challenges so I hope you play along! Have a great rest of the week and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Fun with Watercolors and a sketch

Hi again!

I hope everyone had a good day! I was able to enjoy a day to myself today as my husband took our sons to his work place for "Take your son to work" day. Although I had tons of errands to run in the morning, I had some time to craft later in the day.

The card I worked on incorporated two challenges. The first is the Moxie Fab World challenge that asked us to use watercolors in some way. The second is from the retro sketches site that gave a great sketch this week. Here's the sketch and my card.
Isn't this sketch adorable! I had so many different ideas for it! I'll be using it again, for sure! :) I wanted to use an adorable house made out of wood that I bought today at Michaels (Recollections brand). I used scraps of paper that I've had FOREVER and added some white stitching on the seam of the green and blue cardstock. To color the wood, I used my inktense watercolor pencils. I LOVE how they worked on wood! I used the bark color on the bottom part of the house and then used apple green and mustard on the roof. It's so nice to be able to mix colors with the pencils. I adhered the house using glossy accents so that I was assured it wouldn't fall off. I wanted to ground the image a bit, though, so I took my peeled paint distress marker and added some grass around the house with my water brush. The sentiment is from the dollar bin from a local craft store. Finally, a ribbon to go across the main panel and the card was done. Love how it turned out! So happy with my inktense pencils...totally worth the investment! (Granted, I had a 50% off coupon so the investment was even better!)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Pat

Color time!

Hi friends!

It's been a busy week but I'm here to share a card that I worked on over several days and finally completed this morning. I'm entering it in two different challenges. The first is Simon Says Stamp and Show where the challenge is to use color on your cards. And lastly, Simon Says Stamp's blog that has an "anything goes" challenge. LOVE those! :) Here's the sketch and my card:




I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folder called Perfect Perennials and then inked the embossed areas using Salty Ocean distress ink. Love that vibrant blue color! I also added a few gems to the centers of the flowers to give them a bit more dimension. Then, I took some strips of cardstock and inked those with the salty ocean color also. The butterfly is from Stampin' Up and I used my inktense watercolor pencils to color in the wings. I then added some glossy accents to those and love the look of it! I then realized I had forgotten to color in the butterfly's body so I used my vintage photo distress marker and used it as a watercolor to color in the body. I free handed the antennae and the swirly flight pattern. Then, I added some orange stickles next to one strip of the blue paper and added some dots of orange around the butterfly. I really like that color combination and the pop of orange was perfect! For the sentiment, I inked up some white cardstock with the same distress ink and then heat set it. After it was dry, I used versamark for the greeting and then embossed it. That way, the whole card has colors that match. The card took me several days to complete but mostly because of lack of time--not b/c it's too complicated...

Hope you all can play along and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Runway Inspired!

Hi all!

I've been gone for a bit--enjoying a wonderful vacation with my family--but I'm back home and took the day to craft. I saw the latest challenge at the Runway Inspired site. If you know me, you know I LOVE the classic look of black and white. LOVE it! So, I knew I'd be playing along for this CAS challenge. Here's the photo inspiration and my card:

If you need to make a quick yet elegant card, this is the way to do it! I used Hero Arts Classic Fabric Design stamp and stamped it in black. Then, I scored 3 lines (which I know are hard to see on the picture) and then added the sentiment which is also from Hero Arts. Mounted the panel on a black cardstock base and the card was finished...may have finished it within 10 minutes! I love the bold, classic look of it, though.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Lifting you up in Prayer Card

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a great week. Mine was insanely busy because we start our vacation tomorrow! Yay! So I've been a busy little bee packing and cleaning and getting ready for our week of fun!

Tonight I wanted to share a card I made for a couple of different challenges. The first site is Unscripted Sketches. I saw their sketch for the week and IMMEDIATELY knew I was going to play! And then, the always fun site at Simon Says Stamp and Show. Their challenge for the week was entitled, "fly". I'll be honest, what I had originally envisioned is not AT ALL what I ended up with. So, here's the sketch and my card: Well, I took some artistic liberties with the sketch this week. I had thought of using the chevrons but, for some reason, the thought of clouds popped into my head and I chose to go with clouds and a hot air air balloon. All stamps are from Skipping Stones. I heat embossed the clouds and the sentiment and then paper pieced the hot air balloon. I added some faux stitching and the card was done. Easy yet sure to lift someone's spirits.

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!
Pat

Have a super fun b-day! card

Hi all!

I hope everyone had a good week and you're all as excited as I am for the weekend! I hadn't had time to craft til today so I'm super excited to share the card I made this afternoon. I'm combining three challenges--each of which has a GREAT prize and are a lot of fun! First up is the incredible Simon Says Stamp blog. They're celebrating their 4 year birthday and they're offering some AMAZING prizes! Second, is the Lawnscaping Challenge site that challenged us to emboss something...a technique that looks fabulous on cards! And last, but certainly not least, is the fun V's Sweet Ideas site. I've played along before in their challenges and have purchased things from the store--GREAT customer service and GREAT products, too! Their challenge was simple--anything goes! You can't beat that! :)

Below you'll find the challenge badge and my card: I wanted to use one of the Simon Says Stamp products that I love. I used the Fresh Daisies die as the main image on the card. I also used Memory Box's Piestra Tile die--isn't it lovely? I layered that on some red pattern paper and love how elegant it looks! Then I embossed the brown card base with the cuttlebug's Musical Flourish embossing folder. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and I cut out a banner and added some inking around the edges and some red gems to finish off the card. It's a simple yet elegant card...just how I like it! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Pat