Watercolor with re-inkers, Card Part B

This post is the second post in a two part series about Re-inker Watercolor Roses Part B is all about the technique and how I arrived at the Part A monthly card swap card.

Almost a year ago, I came across a technique using re-inkers to watercolor the Stampn' UP Manhattan Flowers set. The technique created these beautiful, realistic roses! OMG, I filed it away knowing that one day I would have the perfect opportunity to play with the technique.

Manhattan Flower SU set & matching SU cuttlebug folder have both been amongst my top 5 favorite sets from SU! They are simply elegant and oh so versatile!

How to:
1.) Stamp image with White Craft Ink or Stayz-on White.
2.) Emboss with Clear embossing powder
3.) Spray image with lots of water. Make sure you have enough water that it pools on the image.
4.) Using re-inkers of your choice, dip Aqua brush into color then touch the pooled water...add as much color as you like.
5.) pick up piece and swirl around colors, tilt forward over papertowels to get off excess water.
6.) dry standing up. Cut out.


All Stacked up & waiting to dry...I found out that by drying the cards at a tilt would pool the water at the edges and once dry creating an interesting color affect.



Card One~ So elegant, almost wedding-ish. But, my goal was not to make a wedding card, but rather to highlight the roses in an elegant way. So, I tried a different layout (see card #2)



Card Two~ I liked this card so much I decided to tweak it and make it the card I would reproduce 11 times for my monthly card group.

Hello Kitty Cartridge, Card

I finally took some time to dust off my beloved Cricut and try out one of my recent cartridges- I've been a fan of Hello Kitty since I was a little girl. I was tickled that my parents gifted me this cartridge (along with Pagoda) for my Birthday!! I've had the HK font cart so the "salutations HK" is a welcomed addition to my collection.

Inside the "Salutations HK" is a bunch of HK shape CARDS! OMG! Yes, Hello Kitty CARDS!! Precious, adorable, cute cards!!

Here's my SECOND try at a card (2nd because it is my favorite- favorites go first, lol) :) Read below for what I learned in my first attempt with this cart & image..

Below is my very first try at the HK card...it is still cute, but I prefer the one above.

Both cards are cut 5-1/4 on my Expression. At first glance I thought the base card needed to black and fill in the face, hands, feet with white card stock but, it didn't work out quite like my minds eye pictured. In person, this card shows the outline of the body and the base, so it is cuter in person. I left the sleeve off for the picture so I could show the base on this card is a black base:

All in all, it requires a lot of cuts to finish the card. But, totally worth it for any Hello Kitty Fan!

Crochet, Baby Blanket

Well, well... I FINALLY got started on Baby Miller's baby blanket!



Months ago I picked out the sea foam mint yarn at my local Walmart with hopes of starting a baby blanket for my soon to be little one. It is likely that we still have 1+ years to go before we receive our adoption referral...but, in the mean time I have enjoyed making little things in anticipation.

Last fall my good friend, Mrs. Gladys began the arduous task of teaching me how to crochet. Since then I have crocheted 2 scarfs. I've honed my skills enough that my mentor feels confident I am ready to begin my baby blanket! OMG! I'm thrilled and nervous at the same time! I want it to be perfect!

I was a little rusty getting started but picked up crochet again. Possibly my knit,pearl class blocked my short term memory on the proper way to crochet! LOL. Anways, I'm at it again, sitting in front of the TV crocheting my little heart out! I plan on making the blanket much bigger than a baby blanket so that she/he can use it as he/she grows older and longer! :)

I will share the finished blanket when it is completed! Until then I am finding it to be a stress relief and mind settling to crochet! I'm gaining confidence that possibly there will be another one in my future ~ using a different pattern. This one is a "ripple design".

Thanks for visiting my blog! Have a blessed day!

Everyday Cricut, National Sbday Celebration

Hello Blogger friends! Happy National scrapbooking day! I hope you find yourselves in your crafty space playing with all your crafty goodies!

I HAVE to share with you a terrific web site that my wonderful sister introduced to me a couple of months ago. And, in honor of National Sb day they are giving away a Cricut Expression Machine. Check them out and put your name in the drawing for your chance to win:

http://www.cricutholiday.com/2010/05/our-gigantic-national-scrapbook-day.html

I've been following them for a few months now and am just amazed at the project ideas they share. I'm on their email distro list and every day I receive an email from them. I've come to look forward to getting their emails ~ it's one of the first I read every day, LOL. Anyways, because of them I have come to realize I am not using my cricut to its fullest.

Mostly I use my Cricut is for titles and die cut decorations on my SB LO's. Oh, there's so much MORE I want to do with it~ all from being inspired by cricutholiday.com Needless to say, if you have not yet put yourself on their email subscriber list, and you are a Cricut lover like me, you are missing out~

HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY BLOGGER WORLD!