A Mini Pair...and a Spare...

Hello, again! With all the "fully loaded" cards I've made lately, I felt it was time to get back to some clean and simple (or my version of it, anyway) cards. I wanted a reasonably "flat" note card to send off, and decided to pull out one of my newer stamps and my watercolors and have a go.

When it was done, I realized the design would be fun on a "mini pair" - the 3-1/2" x 5" size note cards, so I made a pair of those, too!

It all started with this A2 size card...

I added several layers of color to these flowers, and although I wanted the layers to show imperfectly, they did turn out a bit more "splotchy" than I had hoped - because I didn't wait long enough for the layers to dry between applications...ah, well...lesson learned...I still like them!...

I couldn't resist adding a bit of sparkle with Crystal Stickles...

I was determined to find a way to add the gold spiral clip to the center of the twine bows. I ended up simply gluing it using Tombow Mono Aqua clear glue - it's solid as a rock...

Supplies:

Stamps:  Penny Black "demure";   Simon Says Stamp "Friendship Messages"

Color Medium:   Sakura Koi watercolors

Miscellaneous:   colored crystals, "Crystal" Stickles,  twine,  spiral clip

And here's the mini pair inspired by the A2 card. I started first by using the same stamp, but off the side a bit on the smaller size...

 

Once again, I used some of the Crystal Stickles for fun...

And I was a bit more patient this time and let the layers of watercolor dry before adding more  :) ...

Supplies:

Stamps:   Penny Black "demure";   Simon Says Stamp "Friendship Messages"

Color Medium:   Sakura Koi watercolors

Miscellaneous:   colored crystals,  "Crystal" Stickles

And for the second in the pair, a different poppy stamp...

And a much simpler background of just a light shadow effect...

Supplies:

Stamps:   Penny Black "divine";   Simon Says Stamp "Friendship Messages"

Color Medium:   Sakura koi watercolors

Miscellaneous:   colored crystals

Thank you for stopping by for a visit today!

Art Journal - Poppies...

Welcome to another Mixed Media Monday here in the Korner!

This layout began as a "catch-all" page in my small Dylusions art journal. I was playing with a few different stencils and color mediums, but as I went along, I got more ideas, and somehow found a way to blend them all together...

I began by adding my background colors first, using Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays, a speckle stencil and modeling paste, and stamping around the outside edges.

The butterflies and corner elements were made with modeling paste through the "Mini Specimens" stencil by The Crafters Workshop. I shadowed and traced the butterflies with Crystal Stickles and added some tiny pearls through the centers...

I used the Penny Black "Sun Catcher" stencil to gesso onto the pages, and copied the details from the matching "Poppy Time" stamp to hand draw in the details, then colored with watercolor pencils and acrylic craft paints. I decided I wanted some dimension to the poppies, so I stamped the matching stamp onto mixed media paper, colored it in, then cut out the center pieces of the stamped flowers and attached them to the center of the poppies on the pages using foam tape...

The final step was adding some of my favorite Unity Stamp quotes here and there...

Supplies:

Color Mediums:   Lindys Stamp Gang - Alpine Ice Rose,  Aloha Avocado,  Cowabunga Copper,  Hydrangea Blue

Stencils:   The Crafters Workshop "Mini Specimens";   Tim Holtz "Speckles";  Penny Black "Sun Catcher"

Stamps:   Penny Black "Poppy Time";   Unity Stamp Co. "empowered words";   

Fiskars/Teresa Collins "Music";   Stampin' Up! "Gorgeous Grunge"

Art Mediums:   Golden white gesso and modeling paste;   Plaid Folk Art acrylic paints

Miscellaneous:   Stabilo All Pencils (black and brown),  "Crystal" Stickles,  Black Archival ink, 

 Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens (black),  Kaisercraft mini pearls

Thanks for coming by for a visit...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Color Challenge All Occasion...

It's been too long since I participated in a blog challenge, and when I saw this month's color challenge at Lindy's Stamp Gang I knew it was the perfect one to break me out of the "pastel" streak that I've been on with cards lately.

So put on your sunglasses, 'cause today's card is a fully-loaded explosion of color! :)

Here's the beautiful colorboard that got me inspired and ready to break out of my pastel mood...

I was in the mood to play and create my own background paper, so I began with a piece of mixed media paper, and pulled out my LSG Magicals. I used Pink Ladies Pink and Summer Lovin' Sun from the Beauty School Dropout set, and Tilt-a-Wheel Teal from the Under the Boardwalk set to watercolor the three colors onto the paper (you can see I played with adding sea salt to the paints while they were wet for a fun texture, but it was covered with stenciled modeling paste in the end)...

Then I added some modeling paste through a stencil for a pretty overall pattern...

And that's when I thought it was still too pastel-y (a made-up word, I know, but you know what I mean, right?), so I went back with more of the Magicals and deepened the colors to the intensity I was looking for...

I backed this piece with cream, purple and blue solid papers before adding them to the card base...I wanted to play with shabby-ing up the edges and wanted color there, too. Then it was time to add embellishments, and I decided to keep all the embellishments neutral except for a center flower and a few tiny touches of dyed cheesecloth peeking out here and there.

Here are some detail photos...

This center flower is made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies, cut from white cardstock colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays - Sweet Violet Purple Teal and Tea Pot Purple.  I had a couple pretty aqua Prima leaves in my stash, so I dipped the edges in some of the Sweet Violet Purple Teal sprayed onto my craft sheet...you can really see both the teal and purple on these leaf edges!

The frame nestled down under the flowers is made with white air-dry clay and a Martha Stewart silicone mold. Once the clay dried and cured (overnight), it was colored with Hematite and Old Silver Inka Gold metal paints...

Supplies:

Color Mediums:  Lindys Stamp Gang Magicals:  Pink Ladies Pink,  Summer Lovin' Sun,  Tilt-a-Wheel Teal

Lindys Stamp Gang sprays:  Tea Pot Purple,  Sweet Violet Purple Teal

Dies:   Spellbinders "Rose Creations";  Sizzix "Flowers Branches & Leaves";   Cottage Cutz  "Tea Time Doily"

Stencil:   Prima "Flourish"            Frame:   Martha Stewart (silicone mold)            Leaves:   Prima

Small Cream Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy            

Pearls:   Recollections            Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com            

Miscellaneous:   air dry clay,   Viva Inka Gold metal paints,   twine,   cheesecloth,   Golden modeling paste

Thanks for visiting today!

Art Journal - Play...

Good day, everyone! I'm getting caught up on my postings with another Mixed Media Monday share of a project in my small (5-1/2" x 8-1/2") Strathmore watercolor journal.

The first week of April, Tracy Scott posted about her limited supplies while on vacation. One of the supplies she did tote with her on vacation was her collection of Neocolor II watercolor crayons...and that got me realizing that I hadn't played with mine since I made this art journal spread and ended up muting and covering the crayons to get the pastel look I wanted that day!

So, out came my Neocolor II crayons, and off I went with a seldom-made freehand layout again inspired by Tracy's style.  I guess I still had Easter eggs on my mind while I drew, and this page ended up being named the "Easter Egg House" when it was all done...LOL...

I did the initial sketching using a medium black Faber Castell Pitt artist pen, then started coloring with my crayons and blending with water using various sizes of brushes, depending on the area and depth of color I was aiming for.(Because I was using watercolor paper this time, I didn't gesso the base page first.) Some of the circles and egg-shaped ovals on the side are freehand cut pieces of patterned papers collaged first, then edged with black pen, and finally painted with the crayons.

The next step was to go over some of the black outlines with a white Uni Posca paint pen. Then little polka dots were added here and there with both the black Pitt pen and a white UniBall Signo pen.

I reached into my tool box and used the end of one of my palette knives to make the larger white circles using some lightly thinned gesso, then scribbled around them with the UniPosca pen.

The words are scribbled here and there with the UniPosca pen...

Supplies:

Color Medium:  Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watercolor pastels - Golden Yellow,  Lemon Yellow,  Orange,  Flame Red, 

Purple Violet,  Ultramarine, Purple,  Cobalt Blue,  Periwinkle Blue,  Malachite Green,  Light Olive, 

Emerald Green, Salmon,  Black

Miscellaneous:   Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen (black medium),  Uni Posca white paint pen, Uniball Signo white gel pen, white gesso, small patterned paper scraps

Thanks for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Just a Little Pop of Orchid...

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm closing out this week with a soft and shabby little all-occasion card.

Now and then when I make a softly colored card, I like to add one small touch of complementary color (well, today's is technically "near complementary") as a little "surprise for the eyes."  This card started with soft greens and tans, and with the little pop of orchid, it gave me just the bit of fun contrast I was looking for...

I pulled a couple snippets of lace from my grab bag of partly used pieces, and they were just the right length to use here...little peeks sneaking out behind the flowers. I added some Viva Glass Effects Gel to look like little dew drops on the flowers and leaves...

This orchid colored rose was made up from small flat (2cm) Kaisercraft flowers, and the bunches of pearl stamens are from ChocolateLetters on Etsy...

In addition to the clear gel, there's a light coating of clear coarse glitter on the two-toned Prima leaf...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Prima "Princess" collection

Dies:   Spellbinders "Grand Rectangles" & "Labels 23";   Sizzix "Flowers Branches & Leaves"

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts,  Kaisercraft            Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy

Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:    Laces, twine, embellished stick pin, Viva Glass Effects Gel

Thanks so much for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

Art Journal - Touch the Sky...

Hello again! Every now and then I take a small break from posting projects here while I focus on other non-crafty things, and take up learning some new (to me) techniques. This last little break was one of those times, but I plan to get back on a crafty roll and start sharing on a regular basis again...and that begins with today's Mixed Media Monday post. :)

This is another 2-page spread in my small Dylusions journal. It's filled with textures and rich colors...

It started with a coating of modeling paste through Prima's Stone Wall stencil. After the paste had dried, lots of Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays were applied, mulit-layered and lifted until there were darker shades around the edges fading to near-white in the center.

The large script stencil was inked with Watering Can (gray) Archival ink; the stamped lace edge and center stitching were stamped with Black Archival ink...

Modeling paste was mixed with brown German glass glitter, then applied through the Tim Holtz burlap stencil...a little bit more of the glass glitter was sprinkled over the top of the paste before it dried completely.

Unity Stamp "dream Big" was stamped in three places, again with Watering Can Archival ink, and then it was time to add the hearts, balloons, and text strips.

I placed the hearts on the page with removable tape and traced around them lightly with a pencil. (I wanted to shade around the hearts, and wanted to make it easier to get right up to the edges - and this was the easy way... :) )  I shaded with a black Stabilo All pencil around the tracing lines, then permanently adhered the hearts to the pages.  The "rust" hearts are chipboard, with the rusting effect achieved by using The Dusty Attic's Rusting Powder, then wiping it off with my fingers once dry, so I had the rusty shades, but not the texture. A little bit more modeling paste was added to the red hearts just for fun...

Supplies:

Color Mediums:   Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays - Caribbean Blue,  Tilt a Wheel Teal,  T-Bird Turquoise,  

Gag Me With A Spoon Grey,  Cattail Copper Brown

Art Mediums:   Golden white gesso and modeling paste

Stamps:  Indigo Blu "Limor Webber Rugged Edge";   B Line "Lace Duo;   Unity Stamp Co. "Dream Big"

Dies:   Penny Black "uplifting"

Stencils:  Prima "Stonewall 3";  The Crafters Workshop "Mini Tile Texture"; 

 Donna Downey "Scribble Script";  Tim Holta "Burlap"

Miscellaneous:   The Dusty Attic Rusting Powder,  brown German glass glitter,  Black Stabilo All pencil;  Black and Watering Can Archival Inks

Thanks for visiting today, and I hope your week is starting with a smile!