Soft Sky Star of Light

This is a version of the card I sent out this year for Christmas.  I should have sent out the same version, as it was a lot less complicated.  This card is actually pretty easy to create, if you like to make the watercolor backgrounds.  After letting the watercolor background dry completely, I stamped and embossed the star images (Isn't the large one just gorgeous?!)  After the embossed images cooled, I spritzed the entire front of the watercolor layer with some of my shimmer mist.  After that, it was just a matter of assembling all the pieces.  This is a good one to mail, as there are no embellishments sticking up to interfere with the mailing process.

The card I sent, had the same images on the front, but I mixed the reinker for the watercoloring with Frost White Shimmer Paint and then created the watercolor background.  I still spritzed it all with shimmer mist before assembling.

I love the images and the text on the inside of the card.  This is just a perfect stamp set!

Ok, so this is another favorite of the year.

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Playing With Watercolors, Part 1

A while back I had some time and was playing around with watercolors.  Then, when I got sick, I couldn't finish them for a long time.  When I needed to catch up on birthday cards for our church to send out, I grabbed these backgrounds and went to town creating several designs of completed cards. 

Adding a few black speckles and then a mat of black behind the top layer really pulled the card together.  I love how it turned out. 

I made quite a few of these cards, so I was so glad that I had made a bunch of backgrounds on the day that the playing all started.

I made some of the cards with blue or green card bases and others with white (thick CS) bases.  Which one do you like the best?  I have one more post coming up for you (a totally different color story with watercoloring) and then I'll start sharing some of my cards with our upcoming new In Colors.  Yay!  I can't wait.  Be sure to come back to see them!

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Getting Your Sparkle On, Part 12

Here we are up to Part 12 already.  Are you wondering just how long I can keep this little series going?  Well... we're getting close to the end.  And... if you're wondering what effect this series has had on my studio..... let's just say that there's a lot of sparkle going on around here:)  Now, for today's card, I have some soft and beautiful Pool Party, vellum and sparkle.

Isn't this vellum just gorgeous?  I got it FREE, with my S-A-B 'earnings' with my last order.  During our Sale-A-Bration (S-A-B) you get to choose a free item for each $50. you spend.

It didn't show up at all in the photo, but I colored in parts of the design on the vellum with Wink Of Stella.  For other sparkle, I embossed the greeting and the little flowers and then added a small rhinestone to the center of each flower.  Before adding the rhinestones, I watercolored the background on the tag and then sponged the edges.

Next up...

I have a couple more posts for you with my little sparkle series, so be sure to check it out.  We'll be wrapping up the series soon with a dryer sheet technique tutorial.  I've had several requests for this, so I'm happy to share it with you.

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Getting Your Sparkle On, Part 9

Let's continue our sparkle series with some more beautiful Wink of Stella and some sprinkles of rhinestones.  Bring on the sparkle!  Today's card is one of my favorites.  

I cut the tag from watercolor paper, splashed on a bit of color for the background (with my Aqua Painter), and then embossed my flower and colored it in.

Once my flower was dry, I added Wink of Stella to the blossom on the flower and then added a sprinkling of rhinestones.  Notice the ribbon technique.  This is one that was in my Ribbon Techniques Album.  Click this link to see it.

I'm sorry the sparkle doesn't show up much on the flower blossom, but it's there and is very pretty in real life.  It's just such a great way to add a subtle touch of gorgeous sparkle... and so easy.  I'm kind of finding myself wanting to put it on most everything... Hee, hee!

Next up...
Iridescent Ice, Wink of Stella and Glitter Ribbon.  See you then!

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Playing With Watercolor, Part Three of Three

Let's wrap up my little series by taking a look at my third card.

I featured the largest snowflake toward the top on this one.  

There are more greens in the background than in my second card in my little series.  The snowflakes look pretty wherever you place them.  

I hope you've enjoyed my little series.  Now, it's time for you to get out your Watercolor Papers and get to work.  Have fun!

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Playing With Watercolor, Part Two of Three

Are you ready for my Part Two of my little series?  Let's jump right into the fun.  Today's card is very similar to my previous post.  These 3 cards I'm showing you are all similar because I was playing with the backgrounds and using the same stamps for each.

This card has less of the greens in the background than my card in Part 1 of my series.

The tiny snowflakes in the background are actually stamped in VersaMark Ink and then embossed with my mixture of White EP and Iridescent Ice EP.  Any time you want the look of white but with some added sparkle, this mixture of EP is perfect.  Mix about equal parts and keep it handy for this type of project.

Have you tried playing with some watercolor backgrounds yet?  You'd better get at it.  It's really fun!!!  Be sure to come back for part 3!  Have a blessed day!

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Playing With Watercolor, Part One of Three

When I get the opportunity to play with watercolor, I usually go through 2 or 3 packages of our Watercolor Paper.  Because the results are different each time, you keep wanting to try 'just one more' and that makes it totally fun.  I decided to present some of my results in a 3-part series.  Let's take a look at my first card.

My card base is Lost Lagoon with a layer of Island Indigo over it.  I've used several shades of blues and touches of a couple of shades of greens for my watercolor background.

After the inks dried, I stamped my snowflakes with Versamark Ink and then heat embossed them with White EP.   I stamped 2 extra snowflakes in different sizes and layered them over the largest snowflake.  Even with all the watercoloring and embossing, it was still a pretty easy card to create.

Be sure to come back for parts 2 and 3!  Have a blessed day!

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Watercolor Shadows / Highlights Technique Video

Remember my Moon Lake card?  Here's a video to demo more about this coloring technique.  Thank you, Stampin' Up! for sharing this with us.  

Click here to enjoy the technique video.

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Watercolor, Vellum And a Unique Envelope Liner

Today, let's play with watercolor and vellum... and let's do it in Blackberry Bliss... and don't forget a butterfly.  

The oval frame for the top layer on the card was actually left over from cutting an oval piece for another card.  I cut a smaller oval opening for the layer beneath it, to give a nice contrast and added dimension.  I watercolored the top layer, using BlackBerry Bliss reinker.

I used our markers to color the butterflies on the back of the vellum piece.  I did something unique for the envelope liner.  I added DSP under the cut vellum piece!  I like how the color and design of the DSP shows through the vellum.

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A Stunning Background

Let's jump into April with a card that has a stunning background.  This was created using my watercoloring technique.  I then embossed over it, using a background stamp to cover the entire front of the card.  

I absolutely love how it all turned out.  I added a layer of black CS to bring out the black embossing and then used a Crushed Curry card base, to pull in the yellow tones.  I sponged the edges on the inside of the card and then embossed a message.  I added a layer of embossed CS to the flap on the envelope.

Remember, your embossing will have an entirely different look when you're embossing on watercolor paper.  I love this card!

If you missed my posts on my watercoloring technique, click here to see them.

I still have some pieces left, so I'd better get busy and figure out what else to make with them.  

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Old World Elegance

Today's card is really unique and I love it.  I created it using techniques that I kind of made up as I went along with.  That's the fun of being an artist.  You make your own rules and dance to your own music.  This card started out with my Watercoloring Technique for the background.  I then stamped our World Map background stamp over it and embossed it in gold.

I added gold ink to the envelope edges and around the edges of the inside of the card, using the 'Direct to Paper' method and then embossed them with gold EP.  Very cool!  My goal was to achieve a rustic, old world look.  I love how it all turned out.

I opted to go with no sentiment at all on the card front.  This card is intended for writing a personal note to a special someone.  I didn't feel like it needed any words just yet.  The card front is mounted onto a layer of gold foil and then attached to the black card base.  It's even prettier in real life.  Some of the most gorgeous elements are the most difficult to photograph.

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Watercoloring Play

I've been just playing around with watercolor papers.  I'm having fun!  Instead of working with just circles, as in my previous two posts, I started working with entire sheets of watercolor papers.  I still used the same techniques as I used in my first post ... just with whole sheets of papers.  This first one is super cool.  After I did all the inking and spritzing, I added sea salt over it and left it there until the paper was dry.  Once I brushed it off, I got this cool resulting look.  I love it!

I still worked with one wet sheet at a time and then placed a second sheet over it to absorb the colors and the water.  

Can you tell that the one on the left (below) is the one where I added the salt?

After playing with some blue, green, yellow combinations, I switched to purples and a light blue.

I even went for some very bright orange shades.

So now that all my pieces are totally dry, what shall I do next?

Well, I thought that maybe I'd try some embossing over the watercolors.  On this one (below) I stamped our World Map stamp and embossed it with gold EP.  Cool!

Next, I stamped our Wildflower Meadow stamp and embossed it with black.  Love it, too!

Then, I gathered up a bunch of my remaining scraps, including some extra circle pieces, and tried some more embossing, including using white EP with some flowers.  The flowers on the circles are from our Forever Florals and Nature's Perfections stamp sets.  I've stamped butterflies from our Papillon Potpourri and Swallowtail sets.

If you try this, keep in mind that your embossing will come out differently than on smooth CS.  I like playing around with the different looks and textures.  I'll share again soon when I have some finished projects using all my goodies here.  Be sure to check back so you don't miss a thing.

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