Watercolor Hello

     It's been a long cold winter, to much snow and temps. in the negatives. The only flowers I've seen in months are the ones on my cards. There have been signs of Spring, geese flying over head, honking their return, birds making lots of noise while they chase each other trying to find a nest mate; I just love listening to them. I haven't seen any Robins yet but I'm hopeful that I will soon. With Easter just a few weeks away I hope the weather gets warmer and the spring flowers in my gardens show themselves.

     My card today is one I made for my wonderful friend, Lynda Pleckan, for her birthday. Geraniums

are one of my favorite flowers, strong plants with beautiful blooms all spring and summer long. I took a little artistic license with the color, but  purple and green embossed in gold, just go so well together.                                                  

Supplies:

Bristol smooth surface paper

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pens

Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder
Altenew Flower Arrangement (hello)
Altenew Glitter Gold Washi tape
Stampendous Cling Geraniums
Kat Scrappiness Stitched rectangles die
Clarity Brushes
Ranger Distress ink ( Peeled Paint, Wilted Violet, Broken China)
Hero Arts Stamps (background)
Reflections 110lb. card stock for card
gold mirror paper MFBGOLD-1212-1

     I stamped and embossed the Geraniums on a piece of Bristol smooth, cut to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".
Using my Zig pens and a paint brush I colored the petals one at a time then went back with the same color to darken the centers. (Bristol smooth is my favorite paper to use with my Zigs because the color moves so well on it.) Next came the leaves and I did them the same.
     After the flower was completely dry I used my Clarity brushes and some Broken China Distress ink around the flower to accentuate it. I still thought it need something so I pulled out my stash of
hero arts background and edging stamps. These are my go to stamps whenever I'm creating a background. I chose colors that matched the ones I used for the flowers and stamped them off before bring them to my paper, for a lighter image.
     Using my Kat Scrappiness Die I cut the card. Then I cut out the word hello from my Gold mirror paper. I then decided to add the gold washi tape around the edges of the card, I didn't want to waste it so I placed it on my trimmer and cut my strips half. adhered it to my card and finished of the inside.
I will be entering this card in these challenges:
The Flower Challenge-Anything goes
Color Throwdown- Green, Purple, White

                                                 
     Well, that's it. Have a wonderful, crafty day!
God Bless,
Karen





               

                                 

    

Fur-ever Friends

     My husband and I have always loved having pets around the house. I don't remember a time in our 39 years of marriage when we haven't had a dog, cat, guinea pig, hamsters or fish. until the last few years. After so many different types of pets we found Zeke, a loveable mix of 4 different breeds, and adopted him. He was 8wks old at the time but we knew just by looking in his eyes he was special. He was such a smart, sweet and loving boy. Even as a Pup he would let us know if he needed something, like water, if his bowl was empty he would pick it up in his teeth and bring it to us. If he needed to go out he would hit at our feet and tilt his head and stare, then when we got up he would bounce all the way to the door. He was a special part of our live that we miss every day. He lived to be just over 17 years old and gave us so much joy.

     I'm sure we will get another dog someday but for now, memories of Zeke still fill our hearts,  I'm sure they will forever. For now we have a wonderful Grandpup named Bella, who loves us as much as we love her.

     My card today follows the theme Fur-ever Friends from Little Red Wagon, with a dog and kitten sharing a warm moment.



Products Used:   

Stampers Anonymous Crazy Dogs #CMS271

Stampers Anonymous Crazy Cats #CMS251

Hero Arts Kitten Stamp

Hero Arts Oval Frame

Ranger Distress Ink

Diamond background stamp

Penny Black #30-358 Happy Snippets 

Inkadinkado Masking paper

Canson watercolor paper 130lb.

Misti

     First I stamped and cut out all my masks and then began stamping the rest. I stamped the dog first in a very light Antique Linen distress ink, using the Misti. then I placed the kitten mask that I trimmed so that part of the dogs leg would show on the image and stamped with archival ink.

     To stamp the rug I placed left the kitten mask in place and masked the dog then I stamped all the other elements and masked them.

     For the floor I stamped over all the masks with my Diamond background stamp making sure to line up the diamonds with each stamp.  I removed all the masks and used my distress black marker to fill in where any of the diamonds were not stamped well near the masking.

     I water colored the dog and kitten and all the different elements and added the sentiment, which was stamped on watercolor paper and outlined with Festive Berries then I dragged a wet brush over it to smear the ink on the edges, attached with dimensional tape.

     It was a very time consuming card but I love the results. 

 

I will be entering this card in:

Little Red Wagon "Fur-ever Friends"

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Stamp It"

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Wonderfully Crafty Day!!

Karen

    

    

   

First Ever Shaker Card

     Lately I've  been trying as many new techniques as possible, this one gave me the most trouble when I thought it would be simple. Shaker boxes, Ugh!

     I started out with a plan and picked out all my stamps, inks and stencils, then straight to work. The end result is better than I thought but getting there was a nightmare, LOL! I had to replace the Acetate 3 times because of problems I was having with the sequins getting stuck in the background images. Finally I got  some micro beads and that did the trick.

 

    This is the end result. I just fell in love with these cute little guys and had to find a way to use them all.

Products Used:

Imaginisce Snag'em Stamps Blowfish, Crab, Dolphin and Octopus

Simon Says Wave Stencil #SSST121357

Deep Red (Water droplets background stamp)

Ranger/Dylusions # DYR37798 Ocean Backgrounds

Ranger/Dylusions Spray Inks (London Blue and Calypso Teal)

Ranger #12 DYR47308 mixed media tags

Ranger distress ink

ColorBox  Frost White pigment ink

Gelly Roll  glitter pens

Hero Arts gems

Beader's Paradise Micro Beads

Penny Black #30-358 Happy Snippets

Grumbacher Miskit

Martha Stewart punch

     First I started with the mixed media tag. I sprayed it with water, then  two different colors of ink, sopping up the excess ink with a roll of paper towels. I cut it down to 5x7 because I knew I would need a larger area for the stamped images and the background pieces.  I placed the wave stencil over the background and sprayed with water, let it sit for a few seconds then rolled the paper towels over it to pull some of the ink out. I did this twice to cover the entire background. With my water droplets stamp and the frost white ink pad I stamped bubbles onto the background, and a few fish from my ocean backgrounds. I set that aside.

     Using the Oceans backgrounds set I stamped coral and seaweed on another tag and colored them with my Dylusions inks. I have water brushes filled with every color ink. Then I fussy cut them out and added them to my background.

    I then stamped the Blowfish and others on 110lb card stock and used a paint brush to apply Miskit to the eyes, flowers, fins and spots on each of the images, and let it dry for 5 min; when the Miskit was dry I used Ranger distress inks and blender tool to color the images. I rubbed the Miskit off and used the Gelly Roll pens to color in the flowers, Fins and spots. I fussy cut them out and edged each with a black marker to make them pop.

    Two layers of dimensional adhesive, the acetate and some 110lb card stock around the edges, I used a Martha Stewart punch for the top and used Vintage Photo distress ink over the edges. I stamped the sentiment and added the gems. My fish tank shaker box card is finally done. It was a lot of work but well worth it. Not bad for a first try, I think.

I will be entering this card in these challenges:

    

Addicted to Stamps Challenge "Not a Square"

Simon Says Monday Challenge "Stamp It"

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge "Stamp It"

Virginia's View "Spray, Mist, Splatter"

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a Wonderfully Crafty Day!!

Karen