Floral Card with Aqua Painter

One of my great loves in life is playing with color.  I love how the colors blend and change with the light and how they're influenced by other colors around them.  I love painting and coloring as I play with color.  Yesterday, I finished painting a couple of little storage containers for my studio and then I played with seeing how our new and old colors work together.  After all that, and because they're painting our house right now (exterior), into my little head pops the idea of trying a new color for our front door.  Imagine my delight when the painters rang our doorbell this morning and presented me with a huge color swatch paint sampler.  Yippee!  Right now, our door is red.  I've always been disappointed in the original job on it because they didn't sand it first and they didn't use the exact color I'd wanted.  It was ok at the time, I guess, but as time marched on, it has faded a lot and looks more of a pinky red and now has a lot of wear and tear on it.  Yay!  Time for a change.  (I know.  It's a sickness:)  I'm actually thinking of a black.  With all those colors, I chose black???  Well, yes.  I think it will be nice.  I'd suggested a turquoise or a beautiful teal and my husband actually had an opinion --- a quick no.  I'm taking a day or two to think about it.
Now, let's get back to using color in our artwork.  I first learned to color my cards using watercolor pencils.  I loved how you could add shading and darker areas.  Then, along came the Aqua Painter and my life was forever changed.  My favorite go-to method of coloring is using it with just a puddle of ink in my ink pads.  The trick is using the least amount of water possible.  Those who tell me they hate using this method, it always turns out to be that they're using too much water.  Hey, that's why they make paper towels, my friends:)
For today's card, I chose a stamp that has beautiful shading already there.  The detail is incredible.  This is a super easy technique.  You stamp your image in black (or dark gray) and then, once the ink is dry, you color it with your Aqua Painter and puddles of ink colors of your choice.  Fun!  Easy!  It's a great technique.  Here's my card.

Isn't this a beautiful stamp?  The little 'Levi' tag adds the perfect touch of elegance to the card, using a Berry Burst ribbon with beautiful silver edging.  I love this ribbon!

I've used Berry Burst and Old Olive for my card.  Keep this card design in mind.  It works for lots of large, single images.  Tip:  When you use Whisper White as your card base, use the thick CS.  It holds up nicely.

That's it for today.  I'm off to work in my studio.  I need to stay here pretty much all day because yesterday, I took my first solo drive to get my hair cut and then ran a super quick errand on the way home.  Later in the afternoon, we went to Target to get some essentials.  I realized that I'd overdone it for the day because I could barely push the cart and began having severe hip and knee pain which increased as the evening went on.  I had a very painful evening, went to bed super early, had a painful night which eventually settled into some actual sleep.  By morning, I was feeling much better.  I just can't seem to find the right pace for me to enjoy life without constantly overdoing it.  Hope you're keeping me in your thoughts.  I need all the help I can get:)

JULY HOSTESS CODE:   

HPWJY6EF

 
My July Hostess Code Special ($35.+ orders)
--- Surprise Gift 
--- First dibs on 'shopping day' for you to shop.   
     You will be a VIP shopper!  
     See shopping days listed below.
--- Equal credit from your order to use @ sale.
--- Free Color Coach (new/updated) !!!

My July Hostess Code Special runs through to the end of July.  We'll have a new code for August. 

Important dates to remember:

Aug. 13 / Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $15.00
     Joy Sampler / Pay to register at least 2 days before class. 
Aug. 18 / Saturday Stampers / 1:00-4:00 / $20.00
     Color Your Season Cards -- Brand new!!!
     Fall, All-Occasion, and Christmas cards!
Aug. 26 / Summer Open House Party  / PLEASE RSVP!!!
     2:00-5:00 / a no fee event
     Super fun fellowship, stamping, goodies, and shopping!
     It doesn't get better than this!
Aug. 31-Sept.1 / Garage Sale /  8:00-5:00 Fri. and Sat.
Sept. 8 / FREE STAMPIN' BLENDS CLASS
      1:00-4:00 / Let's color!!!
Sept. 10 / Scraps and Prayers / 5:30-7:30 / $15.00
       Fall Project, showcasing the gorgeous colors of nature.
Sept. 15 / BONUS Saturday Stampers / 1:00-4:00 / $20.00
       Let's make some gorgeous Fall and Christmas cards.
Sept. 29 / FREE BRUSHO CLASS
       1:00-4:00 / This should be the most fun ever!!!

If you've earned one of my Sept. Free Classes, contact me if you need to attend on a different date.

Shopping Days for my little sale:

July 30 / 5:30-6:30 / VIP Shoppers may come at 5:00
Aug. 13 / Before or after Scraps and Prayers
Aug. 18 / Before or after Saturday Stampers
Aug. 26 / as a part of my Summer Open House Party
               2:00-5:00  
               (I cannot begin earlier than this.  
               You may stay until 5:30 if you need more shopping time.) 
Aug. 31-Sept.1 / Garage Sale /  8:00-5:00 Fri. and Sat.

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

4 Beautiful Cards

I'd like to share a closer look at the 4 cards for my next Friday class (Sept. 12).  This class is moving to a fun, new time that includes participants bringing their own lunches.  We meet from 10:00-1:00 and the class includes eating here, with me providing fun projects, a beverage and a treat.  Sounds like fun, right?

Each and every card features a fun coloring technique, as well as beautiful embossing.  Let's take a closer look at each card.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 15

Today is the last entry in my technique journal... at least for now.  The nice thing about a journal like this one is that I made it so that it would be easy peasy to add more pages as I learned more techniques that I wanted to save and use for future projects.

Today's technique is one of my favorites... simply adding color by sponging.  When sponging over a heat embossed image, the embossed area resists the color, thus getting its name emboss resist. 
 
Here's the card I made using this technique.

Once again, I've made my card pretty inside and out... with a stamped, coordinating envelope.

I've used several complimentary colors of ink, sponging them on in a circular motion, and then burnishing with a tissue when finished, to remove excess ink.

Please do me the honor of leaving me a comment about how you've liked all the techniques, which is your favorite, which ones you've tried out yourself, and/or any questions you may have.  I hope you've enjoyed all the techniques as much as I have enjoyed creating and sharing them.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 14

I have 2 versions for you today for this next technique.  This is very similar to the technique I shared using our Chalk Marker.  Here it is before and after adding multiple ink colors.

For this one, you add color by stamping an outline image using VersaMark Ink onto Crumb Cake CS.  Heat emboss using white EP.  After it cools, color in the image using White Craft Reinker and an Aqua Painter.  It only takes a tiny bit of reinker to do this, so don't pour out too much.  Let it dry completely and then color over the white ink with the Aqua Painter using various colors of inks from the lid of the ink pads.  (Squeeze closed ink pad to create 'puddle' of ink in the lid.)

Here is a card I made using this technique.

Notice that I embossed the liner for the envelope.  I used CS instead of DSP for the liner.

Come on back and we'll finish up my technique journal with one last technique.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 13

Today's technique is created using a baby wipe.  You drip 3 coordinating shades of reinker onto a baby wipe and use it to 'ink' your stamp.  This is another one of those techniques that will turn out as a unique surprise every time you stamp with it, so it's a ton of fun.

I've used this technique on the 'masked' background piece and on each of the flowers.

Here's the card I made using this technique.

Come on back to see my next technique in my journal.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 12

Today's method of using color is a quick and easy, yet beautiful technique... simply use a color of embossing powder (EP).  My choice for this project is our gorgeous Crushed Curry EP. 

First, stamp your image using VersaMark Ink and then heat emboss.  I've chosen black CS to create a really striking and dramatic effect with the Crushed Curry flowers.  

Here's the card I made using this technique.

I had to think a while on what to do with this card because I didn't want to take away from the embossed layer.  I finally came up with the idea to add a vellum strip, emboss the 'hello' in black and then punch out a flower that was embossed on vellum.  I love how it turned out!  I decorated the inside as well, so it would really look pretty... inside and out.  So, I've actually shown you 3 ways to use a color of EP on your project, as well as more ways to use vellum.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 11

Woo hoo!  We're ready to begin the last section of my technique journal today.  I hope you're learning a lot from what I've shared.  I also hope that you will try some or all of these techniques, then leave me a comment about it. 

I actually have TWO versions of today's technique.  It looks beautiful both ways!
Version 1:
Stamp the image with VersaMark Ink and then heat emboss using white EP.  Once it cools, color in the image using our Chalk Marker.

Version 2:
Begin the same as Version 1 and then color over the Chalk Marker using our new Blendabilities.

Here are the cards I made to showcase both versions:

To get the touch of color on the flower on the envelope, I used a stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.  The flower is from the Hostess set, I Like You.

So leave me a comment and tell me which version you like the best.  I love them both and think each one creates its own unique and beautiful look.  I decided to keep any sentiment and/or message just on the inside and let the front showcase the beautiful image.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Coloring Techniques, Part 10

Today, we'll be completing Part 2 of my technique journal.  This coloring technique involves using our fabulous new Blendabilities.  It does involve some skill to color with the Blendabilities, but it is easy to learn how to do it.  It mostly takes jumping in and experimenting to find the look you like.  I've found that I like starting with the darkest color first and working toward the lightest shade of the trio.  Here's my page.

Here's a card I made using this gorgeous flower.

The leaf sprigs are from our new Flower Frenzy Bigz Die.  Are you wondering about that embossed border all around the top layer of the card?  It's a sneak peek at a new embossing folder that will be coming out in our new Holiday Catalog.  I love it!  I've spritzed the entire card front with a shimmer mist.

Speaking of our new Blendabilities, I've shown you all the first set of colors that we could purchase.  Since then, all the other colors have become available.  Take a look and leave me a comment about which one is your favorite.

... and we have several neutrals as well, that can be used in any way you can push your imagination.  Some of the skin tones are great for highlighting darker colors, too.

That's it for section 2 of my technique journal.  Come back as we travel through section 3.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.