E is for ENCOURAGEMENT (in watercolor)

I have been trying my hand at using watercolor pencils to create color and shading on some of my cards.  Things like this are a big challenge to me because of my lack of artistic skills, but I figure I'll never learn if I don't at least try.  I have watched some YouTube videos to help me understand the principles of shading and color, as well as how to wet the pencil marks to turn them into the watercolor effect. (I have not gotten brave enough to take any art courses yet!)

I also have not kept up with my effort to make a whole series of alphabet cards, as I had planned to do way back in September.  I had made an "A for Anniversary" card (you can see that one HERE), "B for Birthday" card (look HERE), "C is for Congratulations (HERE) and "D is for Dream" (HERE).

This past weekend I tried my hand at this by following the directions to make two cards.  The first one is an "E is for Encouragement" card for the next installment of my alphabet cards.

On this card, I stamped the lines and leaves on a piece of watercolor paper in a dark grey ink, then colored the leaves and water-washed them.  I squirted some green spray ink on the plain area before I stamped the message.  I attached the panel to the card front using foam squares to add a little extra dimension and when it was all put together I found it interesting that the effect of the coloring on the stamped panel made it look like the panel is a cream color against the white card background, even though the panel is actually white also.  All in all, I liked the way it turned out.

On this second card, I covered the card front with the daisy paper, then colored the flowers and stems using the watercolor pencils, then painted with the water brush.  I "fussy cut" the petals before layering them on top of the flowered paper.  For the "hello" I die cut two white and one black word and layered them on top of each other, off-setting the black word just a tiny little bit so there would be some contrast to show up the word better, and popped the word up on the card using foam squares.  I really like the way this card turned out.

Both of these cards were made using specific instructions/ideas from a kit for doing watercolor cards, but now I think I'll be brave enough to do my own original ideas.  My biggest challenge turned out to be controlling the amount of water I used on my brush, and only practice will improve that~

For someone special

I made a center-step card that included my favorite color, purple, and one of my favorite styles of paper, polka dot (I wonder why it's called that???). 

The white doily is actually a sticker I had in my stash.  I added some simple paper flowers and the "for someone special" sentiment plush the white lacy strip across the bottom which you can barely see in the photograph.  Inside the card is a happy birthday greeting.

Quilted squares

I have had some Dazzle stickers called quilted squares in my stash that I decided to do something with yesterday afternoon.  They are gold filigree designs of two sizes, one about 4 inches square and the others are about 2 inches squared.

On this first card, a "best wishes" card for a widow friend who just became engaged to a widower friend.  I used a large square and placed a small one in the middle, popped up.

Adding some fancy gold edging on the top and the bottom completed the look and I think it turned out very nicely!

I also made two cards that have a similar design but look very different because of the papers and colors I used.  One is a thank you card and the other a birthday card. 

I have another view of the thank you card that I need to include for a totally different reason.  Take a look ...

I took this angle photo to show how I raised the middle square up but in the process I got a snap of my "Christmas cactus."  I say "Christmas" in quotes because this late bloomer just popped out in blossoms this week, a mere seven weeks late!

I have enough quilt square stickers left to make one or two more card and I think I'll try other color combinations just to see how different it can look.

Fun with windows

I really like my newest set of stamps and die cut from Simon Says.  I can make three little windows in any card with the die, and the stamp set has three different surround-stamps, one with balloons, one with hearts, and one with flowers.  And I am learning to color and shade with my new alcohol ink markers, which I have thought about using for a long time but never had the courage to try and was nervous about spending the money on the markers because of my lack of courage.  When I found a set on sale a Tuesday Morning last week, I decided to take the plunge, and I am so glad I did! 
I've been practicing my coloring, and the results are on this card I made yesterday:

Yep, I actually painted the flowers and leaves on this card!  I know it is a first-timer's effort, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

The middle window is covered up by the extra leaves and sprigs and the two word additions, but the other two windows show the happy birthday stamp included in the set.  All in all, I won't be ashamed to send this to someone for their birthday.

This second card does not have any of my coloring on it, but I like the February-look of the card with the windows.  These windows have shaker hearts in them... the kit of stamps included the plastic window with which I can add sequins or something like the little hearts on this card.  Cute!

P.S. The cute papers all came with the stamp and die set, as did the little hearts for the shaker card.

Green and yellow

I really enjoy following the Retro Rubber Challenge blog even though I have not joined in as much as I would like to in the future.  This week they have an really fun challenge in the form of a tic tac toe board.


It captured my attention and I decided that this was the week to get back into the swing of things and enter their challenge!   I chose to use the first column, green, 4 x 4 card, sympathy.  Here is what I made:

I had some marbelized paper with the green swirls that I thought would look nice as the background then added some small butterfly black and silver stickers backed with yellow card stock to add just a touch of another color.  I like the looks of the card ...  somber but not so much so as to be depressing for the recipient.  The stamps I used are from a set I got back in 2012 or 13 and I had never actually used the wreath stamp before for some reason!

Birthday balloons

Oh, my goodness!  Two posts in one day!  And after such a slim offering the past several months, this is quite an accomplishment for me.  I have been working on a new schedule to help me get into my craft room more often, AND remember to photograph my activity, which I am notoriously bad at doing.  I've made sooo many cards in recent months and just never seem to get around to (i.e., remember to) take pictures of the cards before I mail them.  I think it is a result of being brought up in the pre-computer, pre-cell phone era!!  Whatever, I am trying to adjust my thinking to accomodate my blog.

But a new year and some new ideas for planning my work and activity have created a new resolve. 

I love keeping up with several challenges and seeing what ideas the challenge designers come up with, but I often have trouble coming up with a creative card that follows the idea from the challenge.  However, when I saw the challenge this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches, I knew just what I wanted to do to enter my card in that challenge.  Here is the sketch they gave us:
Tuesday Morning Sketches

I recently purchased a kit from Crafty Companion full of stamps and papers and dies with a balloon theme.  I have really enjoyed playing with the materials and made this card that goes right along with this TMS sketch.

Fairy hellos

I suppose I should make a different title for this post, but my creativity level in the title-making area is less than ideal this morning!  In any case, I had this Dazzle sticker I got from Paper Wishes several years ago and had never used it.  Then when I saw the sketch from  Freshly Made Sketches
 
I knew right away how I wanted to use my Dazzle fairy!

 Here is the card I made with this challenge in mind.

I used some beautiful blue mirror-like paper that I have had for a while as the background for the black and silver faity and I really liked the effect.