Lilies for April

April 15th 2024 - not only tax time, but also time for a new Beautiful Blossoms Challenge - where anything goes as long as a floral is the focal image. Here is our gorgeous inspiration board:

When I saw the lilies I knew I wanted to use the new Clear Stamp and Die of the Month Feb. 2024 from Spellbinders called Lily Arch. It is a really pretty set and I love when a die cuts out all the "in-between" bits of the image. 

The teal set was stamped with Altenew's Obsidian Black Pigment Ink onto Ranger's Tim Holtz Watercolor Card Stock. I used Altenew's Crystal Clear Embossing Powder over it while it was still wet and heat set. The image below was stamped on the same paper with Versamark Ink and set with Ranger Ink's Princess Gold Embossing Powder.

Both floral images were water colored with Mungyo's Professional 48 Pan Watercolors and Silver Black Velvet #8 and #6 watercolor brushes. 

Both cards have an ink blended background over a stencil I found in my stash. Unfortunately it has no name etched in it. I do love a good circle stencil for a subtle background! I ink blended Ranger Ink's Distress Ink Tumbled Glass on the teal card and The Stamp Market Cactus on the gold/green card.

I almost always use a die with some sort of design texture around the edge...for 2 reasons: 1) I get a nice straight edges and 2) it brings interest and movement to the card. For these cards I used Penny Black's Creative Dies #51-706 semi-circle stackers. 

Thank you for stopping by and visiting my blog today. Come join us...we'd love to see your florals!

I will also be submitting to: NBUS

for this is the first time I've used the Lily Arch set.

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Purple February Flowers

Welcome to The Beautiful Blossoms Challenge for Feb. 2024! For me, this challenge was all about the purple. I saw the image below, 2nd down from the right, and I knew I had the perfect digital stamp to watercolor!

I watercolored the Varada Sharma Flower Arrangement 2 digital stamp that I have used many times before. Here is a blog I did from June 2022 with the same digital stamp, but with text in the background and another card has it on top with gold for a different look.

The color is not coming out quite right in the photos. The card is a true purple but translating into a more lilac color in these shots.

What did I use to make this card?

1) Distress Ink Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper;

2) Brother Laser Printer;

3) Silver Black Velvet #8 Watercolor Brush;

4) Mungyo 48 Pan Watercolors;

5) Spellbinders Small Die of the Month May 2020 -discontinued (die cut at bottom);

6) Altenew Enchanted Garden Enamel Dots;

7) Honey Bee Stamps Snarky Sentiments;

8) Honey Bee Stamps Snarky Sentiments Honey Cut.

I love a Clean and Simple "ish" card and this one is perfect for purple lovers. Remember to "Always Leave White" in your coloring for movement and sparkle. Thanks for joining me today and I hope to see your "Beautiful Blossoms" at the Challenge!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Happy 5th Birthday Paper Funday

Happy 5th Birthday to The Paper Funday Challenge!

We are celebrating with giveaways....

I created this card with a stenciled/watercolor project gone bad. Never throw out your mistakes for they can be die cut and turned into something good! I used MFT Stamps Big Birthday Wishes Die-namic for this card. The great thing about a die like this is that you can make 2 cards using the positive and negative. Today I only made one. Shocking, I know!

The balloon die also comes from a retired MFT set called Balloon Besties.

The background is from Concord & 9th - Stitched Stripe Card Front Die.

I love the blues with silver stars!

Happy 5th Birthday Paper Funday and I hope you have many more!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Pawsome Birthday

It's October and one of our sponsors for The Paper Funday Challenge this month is All Dressed Up Stamps! I choose this image Dogs in Shades (digital images) from my stash of All Dressed Up Stamps designs for I just love a card with dogs!

I started with Rolling Road Stencil from A Colorful Life Designs for the background. I ink blended a sweet pink with a blending sponge for a cohesive color behind the sweet dogs.

As is my usual, I printed 3 designs onto Ranger Ink's Tim Holtz's Distress Watercolor Paper with a laser printer. Then I watercolored the images with my Altenew 36 Pan Watercolor set. The touches of gold are from Altenew's Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan Set. Love the gold.

Here I painted all 3 in one scene and here is the inside sentiment from Waffle Flower's Pawfect Sentiments Stamp set. This set is a keeper!

Both cards together:

Thanks for joining me today and come play along with us at The Paper Funday Challenge! Anything Goes!!!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Tattered Butterfly

Happy Easter my friends! Easter is pretty quiet here in our household, but the day is sunny and cool, so our spirits are much better. I follow the Color Throwdown Challenge and try to play along when the colors inspire me. This week the colors are green, rust and pink and I was thinking a mixed media type card:

I am also submitting to NBUS for the Unity Stamp Imagine It in the background is new to me.

What did I use to make this birthday card?

1) Bristol Smooth Paper - Unity Stamps Imagine it Scroll Stamp - stamped with "Rusty" ink by The Stamp Market and sprinkled with Nuvo Crystal Clear Embossing Powder and heat set.

2) Gentle spray with The Stamp Market's Melon color.

3) Sizzix BigZ - Tattered Butterfly and ink smooshed with The Stamp Market's Leafy and Greenery inks.

4) Altenew pink enamel dots.

You never know what you can make when you are given a challenge. I was thinking more of a masculine card, but the pink enamel dots may have push it to the feminine side.

Thanks so stopping by and see you in the next one!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Momo

Welcome back to The Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge! We have been on a short break, but back for March 2023!

I started with this cute cute image from Mo's Digital Pencil called MOMO. How darling is he?

I love stencils and this one in particular! It is called Big Top and is created by the genius of  Mary Kay DelaFuente the owner of A Colorful Life Designs. I felt these 2 were a match made in heaven...do you agree?

I resized the image and printed on regular copy paper until I knew it fit into the Big Top. Then I printed the image onto Distress Ink Tim Holtz Watercolor Card Stock with a laser printer. To color this cutie, I used Daniel Smith 238 Dot Watercolor Set. For the flesh color I always use my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker in Flesh Colour and Pale Pink.

Here is the image (above) of the Big Top Stencil which is a 2 part stencil. The center part is a separate piece and I used it to mask MOMO while I ink blended. 

A light spray of Pixie Spray, was necessary so that the stencil would adhere well to the paper. For ink blending I used Distress Ink Candied Apple and a touch of Aged Mahogany around the edges.

The sentiment is from Spellbinders' It's Party Time stamp set. I've used this so many times lately and I thought it just fit the bill for this card. 

Thanks for joining me today. We'd love to see you at The Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge. Come join in!

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.

Birthday Trike

Happy Weekend, all. I always like to try and do at least one blog post every week and for this week I choose this cutie from Mo's Digital Pencil called Birthday Trike. Did you ever see such a cute face?

She reminded me of my sister with the sassy look and straight hair. Just love her!

These 2 cards were made the same until I choose the finishing stencil and sentiments. Here is what I used on both cards:

1) The image was printed with a laser printer onto Taylored Expressions 118 lb. Watercolor Card Stock on the smooth side - goes through the printer like a dream!

2) Watercolored with Daniel Smith's 238 Dot Card - great for travelling and I color at lunchtime at work so I need light and flat;

3) Used Silver Brushes Black Velvet Size 8 - It has a great point and I use it for all my watercoloring - no matter the size;

Then I added 2 different stencils from A Colorful Life Designs:

I used the Diminishing Lines Stencil with Sizzix's Prism Paste for the card shown above. This is a 6" X 6" Stencil:

I used a 3" X 6" stencil called Numbers with Distress Ink Kitsch Flamingo and Picked Raspberry to have a cool something something in the background on the other card.

I've got to say this one is my favorite! Which one do you like?

Thank you to Mo's Digital Stamp for her wonderful designs and to A Colorful Life Designs for always inspiring me. If you want to shop and pick up some stencils at A Colorful Life Designs use AnitaFan10 for 10% off your order (excluding bundles)! There are hundreds of really unique stencils  - made in the USA by a woman-owned small business!

I will submit to the following:

1) NBUS

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.