Monday, June 29, 2015

Sole Mates



I had a little time over the weekend to make something just for fun.

I pulled out some of my Ellen Hutson stamps.  I love the 12 Days set, and I think the fact that they created a companion set of sentiments is just genius.

I decided to pull together an anniversary card using the shoe images from the 12 Days set and two of the sentiments.

The shoes were watercolored using Distress Markers and a water brush (I scribbled the markers on an acrylic block and picked up the color from there using the water brush.



The patterned paper is from Amy Tangerine's Stitched collection and I softened it with some vellum and bits of a pink doily from Freckled Fawn.  Finally, I added a few sequins and stitching to finish things off.

Another crazy busy weekend here, but lots of fun stuff happening.  Hope your week is off to a great start!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  AC - Stitched 6x6 pad; Avery Elle - White cardstock; Recollections - Vellum
Stamps:  Ellen Hutson - Twelve Days and 12 Days Companion Greetings
Ink:  MFT - Hybrid Black Licorice Ink
Other:  Distress Markers; Freckled Fawn - Pink Doily; Neat & Tangled - Crystal Clear and Silver Sequins; Ranger - Water Brush; CTMH - Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Friday, June 26, 2015

Jane's Doodles Release Blog Hop



Hey everyone!  Jane's Doodles is releasing two new stamps sets today, Winnie and Anemone, and we're having a hop to celebrate.

 

One random commenter from the hop will win a $50 certificate to the Jane's Doodles store.

My first card features the Winnie set.  I stamped her with Versafine on watercolor paper and then created a mask in order to stamp the zigzag border over top.

The image/background was painted with Kuretake watercolors.



My second card features Anemone.  I love these flowers and I wanted to paint them also, but I wanted to something more vibrant and painterly, so I pulled out some acrylic paints.

I stamped the anemone and leaves with Antique Linen distress ink and then painted the image with the acrylics.  Since the acrylics are opaque, this is not an exact science.  I painted in stages following the lines and also using another stamped image as a guide, particularly when I went in to add some shadows.



I love this look and am definitely going to be trying it with some of my other floral images.

Ok, your next stop is Marion, but I have the entire hop order listed below as well.

Happy hopping and good luck!

Me http://janeb-myblog.blogspot.com
Ange http://www.angeliquekelly.blogspot.com/
Me
Marion http://mademarion.vagg.org
Jane's Doodles blog http://janesneakpeeks.blogspot.com

Thursday, June 25, 2015

MFT Color Challenge 24




Ready for a new color challenge?



I used my smallest zigzag square to create a grid/quilt-like design.

Then I cut the Framed Love Birds centerpiece die from Sweet Tooth cardstock.  I trimmed out the inner portion to adhere to the grid and added the two blue birds over top of the white piece.



I went back and forth about adding a sentiment and decided it was best without.



I really liked the design of the card, so I thought I would switch it up a bit using a white base and black silhouette.  Which one do you like best?

OK, head on over to the blog to check out the other girls cards, and I hope that you'll play along too!




Wednesday, June 24, 2015

MFT Sketch 234




Hey guys!  Ready for a new sketch from MFT?



I will admit this one gave me fits, it was hard to 'tame' it.  I ended up keeping the background all white to cut down on the busyness and then used the stars for the circle elements.



I don't have dark blue embossing powder, so I stamped the sentiment with hybrid ink and them clear embossed it.

Be sure to head over to the blog to check out the rest of the projects.




Monday, June 22, 2015

Flowers for Jane's Doodles



Happy Monday!  It's my turn over on the Jane's Doodles blog.

I was in the mood to watercolor this weekend, so I used the waterlily stamp from the Smile set to create this simple scene.

The waterlily was stamped four times using Antique Linen distress ink and then colored with Kuretake watercolors.



The sentiment is from Pretty Peonies, and I added a bit of twine to finish it off.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Canson - watercolor paper; MFT - Kraft cardstock
Stamps:  Jane's Doodles - Smile and Pretty Peonies
Ink:  Ranger - Antique Linen Distress Ink; Versafine Smokey Grey
Other:  Kuretake - Gansai Watercolors; Lawn Fawn - Lawn Trimmings; Scotch - Foam Adhesive

Friday, June 19, 2015

MFT Summer School - Quiet/White Space



All week long My Favorite Things has been holding Summer School.  There's a lesson each day about creative design/technique, and you have the opportunity to win prizes by doing homework and linking up your projects.

I thought I would jump in with today's Quiet/White Space lesson.

White space is hard for me.  I have a tendency to want to fill up the card or think it looks too stark, but I think the key to white space is balance.  The space balances the features of the card.



For my card, I chose to use Birdie Brown's Super Boy set.

He's stamped with pigment ink and then I watercolored him with Kuretake watercolors.  To stick with that watercolored look (and avoid masking) I sketched in a skyline behind him.

All the 'action' is at the bottom of the card, and it balances the white space at the top.

Be sure to head over to the MFT blog to get all the details about today's challenge and make sure you check the posts for the entire week too.  You have until June 26th to finish up your homework, so there's plenty of time to play along!


Thursday, June 18, 2015

End of the year cards



We're just about done with the school year here.  Ellie's done on Friday, and Carina's preschool transitions to a more summer camp type format starting next week.

Instead of creating coordinated card sets for the teachers this year, I opted to just package up some of my cards for them since I think those are always nicer than the sets of cards that I make.  They're also getting gift certificates to a local bakery because carbs are always an excellent reward for a job well done.

Anyway, I had ordered the Teacher's Pet stamp set and coordinating die a while back from Studio Calico because I thought it would be perfect for this purpose, and it's always nice to follow through on my crafting plans.



The crayon box was stamped with Versafine and then colored with Kuretake watercolors.  Then I just picked some of the coordinating colors out of the crayon box to serve as card bases and for the sentiment die cut.

This is such a fun set and it's got some great sentiments/images for kids too, so I'm thinking maybe some lunch box/encouragement notes for next year might have to be created.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Canson Watercolor Paper; MFT - Electric Red cardstock; Avery Elle - Jungle and Blue cardstock; Misc scrap of AC cardstock (orange color)
Stamps:  Studio Calico - Teacher's Pet; MFT - You're Super
Ink:  Versafine
Other:  Studio Calico - Teacher's Pet coordinating die; Kuretake Gansai Watercolors; Tombow - Mono and Multi Mono adhesive



Wednesday, June 17, 2015

MFT Sketch 233



Time for another sketch from MFT!



I went with a very neutral masculine theme this time.

The background was created using the Scattered Bars stencil.  I started by randomly tracing around some of the bars, shifted the stencil and did some more tracing.  At that point I thought it needed a bit more impact so I added some solid bars using a dauber and Black Licorice dye ink.  I also added some doodles around the outside of the panel.

The little face was so fun to created.  Those eyes are the sequins from Blueprints 24.



A sentiment from my very favorite sentiment set, Friends Like Us finished it off.

OK, be sure to head over to the blog to see what the other ladies created, and I hope you'll play along this week!