Scenic Halloween...

First of all, NO, I am not ahead on making cards for any holiday:) This card was made for a month long Fall themed swap among a group of SU Demos. Each Monday of the entire month, I will make and send a Fall themed card to my partner. Here's my first one. I really grew to like this one, and had a time hard putting it in an envelope.

The little girl image is new from SU, the set is called Greeting Card Kids, and all the images are just as cute! I can see me getting a lot of use out of this one! I started by stamping the image on Watercolor Paper with Jet Black Stazon (my first choice for watercoloring). I then stamped it on copy paper, and cut it out closely to make a mask. Once the mask was in place, I used the tree line stamp from Lovely As A Tree, and stamped that in Early Expresso. I punched a 1 3/8" circle out of copy paper, and masked the moon. Then I sponged the sky and ground, then removed the circle and used the negative to sponge the moon. There are two Early Expresso ribbon loops under the layers, and the sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Creating scenes with masking and multiple stamps is one of my favorite things to do. This wasn't a quick card, the coloring alone took me quite a while (and I still ended up with a little bleeding on one of her arms), but I love the end result. I was a little behind on stamping, and it was great just to sit and create this!

Stamps:
Lovely As A Tree
Greeting Card Kids
Teeny Tiny Wishes

Inks:
Rich Razzleberry
Not Quite Navy
Daffodil Delight
Old Olive
Pumpking Pie
Blush Blossom

Paper:
Rich Razzleberry & Early Expresso CS
WaterColor Paper

Accessories:
Word Window Punch
Modern Label Punch
1 3/8" Circle Punch
AquaPainters
Early Expresso 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon

Hope you like it!!! I will have to make another for keepsies:) As usual, SUO!

A Sketch Challenge gone CrAzY!

I am so in love with the group I swap with online! I didn't think I would have time for it, and it's been a struggle, but I am having so much fun! This card is for a swap, the theme is a sketch. Basically, it's a strip behind the main panel, and one in front with a circle shape on the front panel. Well, the card got so awful busy that I cut the main panel and used just a band of ribbon. It helped, but I am still thinking this card is just too much. Is it just me?

I just got Bouquet Bunch in, and love it! It will be available in May in the New Summer Mini catalog. It's a wonderful set, I do believe I will reach for it often. I stuck with some current In Colors for this one, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo (glad those two are hanging around to become part of SU's regular line up!), and Crushed Curry. I added some Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (the homemade button uses that as well). The flower and pot are watercolored, and popped up, the pot on dots, the flowers on Dimensionals. I framed this with Large Ovals, the centers punched with the Small Oval, and DSP behind that. I was hoping for a flower effect, it came out looking like some sort of science prop...neuron or something...school's been a while...LOL!

All being said, I don't hate it, but it's certainly not my favorite either. I hope the recipient likes it, that's all that matters!

It's a Swap Thing...

So, I recently joined a group run by a wonderful friend of mine. The group is a mix of all kinds of stampers who participate in themed swaps. I thought it would be fun to give it a try, as I have never been much of a swapper. I have signed up for several different swaps, and one of them was to make a card using only Black, White and Purple. I hope my 'loose' interpretation of purple is ok. But this card just screamed for Rich Razzleberry, and who am I to deny a card what it wants?

There's a lot on this card that you cannot really see in the pic. The Razz oval is run lightly through a texture plate, and there's tons of sparkle on this card. I used some corners cut with the Big Shot using a set of Sizzlets called Architectual Elements. The flowers are from Embrace Life, two stamped on Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, and the middle one on Watercolor Paper. The middle one is colored with reinker and AquaPainter, blended much lighter in the center. Stickles are on all flowers, and it's showing gold in the pic, but it's truly Diamond Stickles. My Signo Gel Pen got a great workout on this card, and I love how that turned out! A new pen made all the difference, my old one was gloppy.

I hope you all like it. This is one of my faves in a while, and I haven't mailed it yet. I don't think the recipient checks my blog☺ Well, I hope not...LOL!

***Aside from the Sizzlets set and the Stickles, this card is SUO!

My Hubby's Valentine...

I just realized that I had forgotten to upload this card. This is what I made my husband for Valentine's Day this year. I saw a very similiar card on SCS a while back and loved it, so I wanted to do something like it. The set is Boatloads of Love. The DSP is Fall Flowers, CS is Really Rust, Old Olive and Baja Breeze. The image is stamped on watercolor paper, and colored with watercolor crayons, reinkers and Aquapainters. I used some natural hemp twine, and a piece of Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware. I like it, and was pleased with it. Since making this I saw a tip someone posted about heat embossing images before watercoloring, and am doing that now, it does work much better for staying in the lines with the brush. Still overall, I like this one, so did he!

Big Shot Bird...

This is the first card I made with my new Big Shot. It's simple, which I think may be my new style as I have been doing it for a couple of weeks now. The base of this card is Really Rust CS, the side panel is Old Olive. The Old Olive was run through the Big Shot with a Fiskars texture plate {I was excited to discover this works!), the edges torn and inked with OO ink. The image is from Serene Spring, a SU current Level 2 Hostess Set. I ran Watercolor Paper through the Big Shot with Sizzix Scallop Circle #2 die to get the scallop. Then I stamped the bird image onto the paper with Timber Brown StazOn ink. I watercolored it using Earth Elements WaterColor Crayons, and Aquapainters. The sentiment, also stamped in StazOn because it was already on my desk, is from Love Ya Bunches, a SU set from a few years ago. Lastly, there is a piece of Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware on the side holding my ribbon. This is for a friend who is having a rough time, and I hope it will cheer her up and remind her that I love her.

SU products in BOLD print. The StazOn and Sizzix items are from SU also.

*** This is one of my first 'real' attempts at watercoloring with Aquapainters, and I am in love! It is definitely time consuming, I spent about 15 minutes coloring this image, but I love the outcome. It's not as easy as I thought it was, and need more practice, but I think it's good for a first 'real' try.