Day 2 - Watercolor for Cardmakers

It looks like I will have to pick and choose the ideas I 'm most drawn to in order to keep up! Today featured more watercolor backgrounds, the first being a watercolor pencil effect demonstrated by Agnieszka Malyszek. Her background is more muted than mine; I didn't have a lot of luck with the pencils so I ended up touching it up with pan colors. The central image of a pear was placed on top of some multicolored fibers.

The next technique was demonstrated by Jennifer McGuire. She masked a stamped image and then painted vibrant colors around it.  I should have paid more attention to the video because after masking my images with rubber cement, I painted over it instead of painting close to the edges. As a result, I had some of the paint bleed through.

The last technique, also from Jennifer McGuire, was painting over embossed backgrounds (similar to one of yesterday's exercises). I didn't remove the embossing after painting it though.

At least I'm finally caught up and ready for tomorrow's lessons :)

Another Card for Mothers Day

I had a bit more success with Laura Bassen's distress ink applied via a spritzed acrylic block.  I made another Mothers Day card because I'm behind making mine.  I used my Cricut Mini to create the sentiment.

Here's a card that I made for my daughter-in-law and just popped in the mail. I hope it gets there in time because the USPS is VERY slow!

I also recently used a watercolor spritzed stamp to make this birthday card for a friend.  I've been in a flower-making mood so I used a tissue paper and lace flower cut from Tim Holtz's 'tattered florals.'

Day 1 - Watercolor for Cardmakers

There were three techniques shared in today's first class. The first by Jennifer Rzasa was using a stencil over wet watercolor to create a subtle pattern.  I had a difficult time getting my Tim Holtz layering stencil to lie flat in order for the pooled watercolors to dry in a pattern, even when I weighed it down overnight.  Don't try using a heat tool over the stencil itself -- OOPS -- because it will warp the stencil.

Another homework assignment was by Kristina Werner which was watercolor resist over a heat embossed background design. I had the best results with this technique and decided to make a birthday card since I have a thin die that says, "Happy Birthday".  I'm not a sequins kind of girl, but I was able to scrounge up a few to use on my card.

It's now Day 2 and I haven't even started the new assignments (although I have watched the videos!)  Wish me luck!!!

My Tim Holtz Christmas Goodies

I got a huge haul of Tim Holtz Idea-ology goodies for Christmas and combined some of them with miscellaneous watch parts to make the heart for this assemblage. I originally was going to use this as a card front, but I liked it so much that I decided to frame it instead :)

I found the perfect frame at our local Goodwill!

Watercolor for Cardmakers

Watercolor for Cardmakers is the first online class that I have ever signed up for.  The cost was reasonable and watercoloring is not a strength of mine, so I decided to give it a shot.

Although actual instruction doesn't begin until May 5, there are pre-class videos to view that go over supplies and suggest a few exercises. 

We were asked to make swatch cards using any watercolor media that we had. I already own two sets of traditional watercolors, watercolor pencils and crayons, plus Tim Holtz Distress inks and markers.

traditional watercolors and watercolor crayons

blurry photo of my watercolor pencils

Distress inks and markers

We were also asked to make a plaid design with very diluted watercolor that we could post to the pre-class members' gallery. 

I used blue, yellow, and green for my plaid.

I'm looking forward to the new activities!

October Cards

(This was posted in October 2013. Today I noticed a typo, went back and fixed it, then when I hit 'update' it was moved from the original posting date to this one 6 months later. OOPS! I don't know how to fix it now:)

My husband and grandson share the same birthday in October. We were lucky enough this year to celebrate together in Boston. My husband is a cowboy at heart, and last summer I bought him a cowboy history book and put it away for his birthday. I have accumulated some cute cowboy paper and rubber stamps and decided to use those to create this year's card.

These photos are of us in our younger days when Glenn was directing a play set in the old west. Who knew that they would come in handy thirty years later!

Our grandson is really into vehicles of all sorts, so I made him this card for his second birthday. The bed of the truck moves up and down.

Here's a Halloween card that I made for my good friend who loves the holiday. The images were cut using the Chic and Scary Cricut cartridge.

  

Easter Goodies!

I admit that I have a history of being negligent when it comes to sending greeting cards. Now that I have so much invested in craft supplies, I am a tad better at getting them out.

I love to make holiday cards (as evidenced by previous posts) and Easter cards are a favorite to make. Here are a few that I sent out this year.

This card was inspired by Jacqueline DeGroot using the large Hero Arts tulip stamp.

I just purchased a Stampin' Up embossing folder that made this CS frame 

                              look like fabric. It is a neat texture.

Postcard made for our grandson

A bright, cheerful card for my mom

Inspiration from Pinterest led me to stamp tissue paper and decoupage torn bits onto some paper mache eggs. After adding embellishments to the eggs, I placed them on moss in a glass container.

There appears to be a pink and white striped piece in the bowl,
but it's actually a reflection of my shirt when I snapped the picture :)

Here is yet another Pinterest inspiration - a candlestick glued to the 

bottom of a glass hurricane filled with moss and speckled eggs.

Easter wishes!