Wishing for rainbows...

 

I am so looking for some rainbows these days, but all I am seeing is snow, sleet and freezing rain. Like much of the country Pennsylvania has been having lots of bad weather. I even getting used to driving in the snow.

There is still time to join us at Inky Paws. You have one more week to play along with our watercolor challenge.

My card today uses the the set "Believe in Unicorns" from Newton' s Nook and their sky borders dies.  

 

I hope you will did out your favorite watercolors and join us for our watercolor challenge at Inky Paws.  We will chose a RANDOM entry to win a $20.00 Newton's Nook store gift certificate. Our favorite entries from each challenge will be highlighted the following Monday, so all entries have a chance to be featured on the blog.
The deadline to enter today's challenge is  Friday, February 26, 2021 at MN CST. The winners will be announced on the following Monday at Inky Paws.

The Male Room Challenge: Vacation or on the Beach

Hi Everyone! Forgive my crazy location for my picture. I was on vacation this past weekend, got home late on Sunday and off to work on Monday. I have had no time at home to take pictures of my challenge card this week, so I took them at work!

Anyway, this week's challenge at the Male Room is "Vacation or on The Beach".

I spent my vacation in the Pocono Mountains with 4 stamping friends for a crafting weekend. We did a lot of stamping, eating, walking around the lake and of course laughing. This week's challenge card was made in the "NOs". I used a fun stamp from Paper Artsy . I even got to use my new ZIG clean markers. Boy are they fun and they blend so well.

I am entering this card in the challenge at AAA Cards. The Challenge is "It's so hot" Hey it is always hot on the beach. They are  also having a DT call so I am throwing my hat in the ring.

Please join us at The Male Room and show us how you vacation!

Old Bird

Birds, now there is a bit of stretch when it comes to a guy card huh? But that is what the challenge is at the Male Room this week.

 I love birds and watch them from my studio windows. I have a million bird stamps, but when it came to this challenge, I had to go to the bin of stamps rarely used anymore to find just the perfect stamp. I picked up this set from one of those big box craft stores- Inkadinkado "bird assortment". The birds are so much fun and there are some great sayings to go along with the images.

 I used watercolor paper as my card base and did a light blue wash and then sponged light blue with a screen stencil. I stamped the branch with a brown ink and colored the leaves with copics. I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the terrifically grumpy cardinal and popped him up on the card. Add the perfect sentiment and this fun guy card was done. I am saving this for my brother's birthday.

Please play along at the Male Room and show us your best guy bird cards!

Off on an adventure!

I writing this post a week in advance, because as the title of my blog says, I am of on an adventure. This is our annual girls stamping weekend in the Pocono Mountains. I will be up there for 4 days of stamping, crafting, cooking, cocktails and chick flicks. It doesn't get  any better then that!!

Lisa's photo challenge at Just Us Girls was like kismet! I knew exactly what I was going to do. I just had to make sure I hadn't gotten rid of the stamp set I wanted in one of my many purges. I am happy to report, I hadn't got rid of Loads of Love from StampinUp.  This clean and simple was easy to create and I used my new fav trend- watercolors.

I hope you will join us in this cool photo challenge at Just us Girls this week.

These are from last year, but it looks kinda the same every year. Stay tune for pics from this tear!

Duo of Butterflies

Ahhhhhh, Sue V. is hosting a great color challenge at Just Us Girls this week. Well if you know me, you know that I think green is the most beautiful color in the world (sorry Margarita- it isn't pink!) and pair it with blue- well what can ya say- I am in heaven!!

I had made another card, when I wasn't sure I was going to have time to create this week. It was kinda crappy and a cop out. I came across this video from Dawn at Wplus9 and knew I had to try this technique. I didn't have the butterfly from Wplus9, but I did make do with this stamp from Hero Arts- an oldie but goodie that has always survived my purges.

There is something so zen about watercoloring especially when its dawn and the house is quiet and some soft music is playing in the background. I couldn't screw it up with all those peaceful and creative vibes going on around me. Check out Dawn's video, she really makes these butterflies look easy and they are.

While I was surfing the net before I started on my project, I remembered today is the August release day at Papertrey Ink. I came across this card by Nicole Heady and loved the look of copics on the kraft paper. I pulled out another oldie but goodie from Hero Arts.  I stamped and embossed with white and just colored the image in with the required colors. Easy- peasy.

If you ever watch any of those cooking competitions, many of the cockier chefs will try to make a duo of something and it often turns around to bite them in the butt. I hope that this isn't the case with my duo.

I hope to see your creations this week at Just Us Girls!

Tweet Tweet big changes at Just Us Girls!

A little birdie told me that there are big changes going on at Just Us Girls. Th challenge line up is changing and I am soooo excited by the new challenges we are offering!! We have decided to go with a word and trend challenge instead of the sketch and technique challenge. 

This week's challenge is the word bird by Maria! How trendy is that. And it is just in time for me to play with my new Dina Wakely scribbly birds. I think everything I have seen done with these adorable birds has been mixed media, not really my thing these days. 

Naturally I made a card and even got to use my new koi watercolors that were so highly recommended by Kristina Werner. 

I hope you will join us at Just Us Girls for these exciting new challenges!

Technique time at Just Us Girls!

Hi everyone! We have had a week of rain. I am so ready for some sunshine. This weeks JUGS card makes me feel sunny! Sue V. is hosting a great technique challenge this week at Just Us Girls. She is asking us to do watercolor stamping. 

 I wanted to try something a bit different then distress ink on my stamps and spritzing it. I remembered Shari Carroll demonstrated a distress stamping technique on the Hero Arts website that was cool. I have included the video on how she does it.

 The first card I stamped the flowers on a separate panel and popped it up. The card below is one layer. I used bristol board for the card base. I discovered this card stock from taking the online watercolor class. I love how well watercolors work on it. They blend an mix with little warping. Kinda reminds me of working on tags.

Join us with your watercolor stamping creations over at Just Us Girls!

Tweet-tweet

Can I tell you how much I am loving the watercolor class with Jennifer Maguire and Kristina Werner. I have become obsessed with watercolors. This particular  card is my favorite so far. I used distress markers on this adorable bird stamp from Impression Obsession that my best buddy Pat gave me. After I colored the stamp with the markers, I heavily spritzed it and stamped it and just blended the color out with a waterbrush. I thought about a sentiment on the front of the card, but I just loved the bird by itself.

I made this card for the color challenge at House of Cards for the CAS category. I mighta cheated with the gray tones, hopefully my fearless leader Mynn won't notice! :)

I hope you will join us this week at House of Cards and show us what you can do with the color challenge this week for either CAS or classic/elegant cards

Find beauty

 This week at Just Us Girls, Lisa  is hosting a color challenge that is waaaaaaaay outside my comfort zone. Orchid, kraft and white.

Since I am still on my water color kick, I did an orchid watercolor background with an acrylic block. I stamped elegant weeds from Hero arts with frayed burlap distress ink.I accented the blossoms with an orchid marker and added texture with  white liquid pearls from Ranger. I finished the card with a touch of a script stamp and some watercolor splotches. I like this card but ir wasn't my first attempt. 

My first attempt was much lighter and it just didn't read orchid, so I redid it. 

 Both are cool in their own way. I hope you will join us this week at Just Us Girls for Lisa's color challenge!

Trends

I have often said that I am way behind with trends in paper crafting, but the trend for watercolor anything is one I have heartily embraced in a timely fashion. So what with Jennifer Maguire and Kristina Werner's "Watercoloring for Cardmaker's class starting Monday, I had to pull out my watercolors. I have had the one set from the time I was a kid and it is well loved! Can you guess which one?

This week's sketch challenge at Just Us Girls is being hosted by Cheryl.  I have been trying to create CAS cards for the sketch challenges, which mean minimal layers. This sketch worked perfect for the idea I had. 

I just took a flat brush and spread on overlapping stripes of watercolor and just stamped the "artiste" image over the paint. it was so much fun I had to make one in cooler blues and greens.

Remember, you don't always need lots of pattern papers and layers for sketches. Think outside the box and join us at Just Us Girls this week!

Homework

Do you know the saying- "saving the best for last"? That's how I feel right now. My last class before I graduate was a one credit art class. The class was two days and involved a lecture on the Wyeth family and watercolor techniques, with hands on instruction. The next day we went to the Brandywine River Museum.

I have never taken any "formal" art classes and while this class was geared to the completely inexperienced person, the class was full of useful information on watercolor technique. By the end of the first class we were asked to choose a painting from either N.C., Andrew or Jamie Wyeth to replicate. This was rather daunting since none of us were really artists. I know my limitations so I chose Long Limb by Andrew Wyeth painted in 1998.

We were given a rather large sheet of watercolor paper to work from. The first thing I wanted to do was cut it down to card size! I didn't, but there was no way I was going to fill that 12x9 sheet of paper, so I just worked in the middle. I think I missed the yellow aspects of the original, but I think I at least achieved the same tonal qualities on my representation.

The next day we toured the Brandywine River Museum. I am fortunate to live in the back yard of the Wyeth's and to have a museum dedicated to the Brandywine School of Art within driving distance. Our teacher took us on a tour of the museum and talked about the various works of art and how to look at each of them. I thought I knew about art, but I learned how to really look at a painting from the movement to the use of color and perspective.

Half of our homework was to create another painting from a Wyeth painting. As usual I bend the rules. I decided to stick with "Long Limb" but to recreate it in the four seasons. I really wanted to pull out my branch stamps and leaves etc etc, but I stuck to my own art work. I used ink and watercolor  and brought it into my world by making a card set.

Here is a picture of the start of the process. The well loved and used watercolor set in the lower right corner I have had since I was a kid. I will be bereft when it is used up.

I began with creating the four season backgrounds.

Next, I laid in the branches for each season. I wasn't completely happy with how they looked, so I  pulled out my copic liner 0.1 and accented the work with ink. It just seemed to add the definition that the work lacked. 

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

I am pleased with all of them but summer. Summer just seems to lack the verdancy one sees in summer and the patch of flowers seems rather blob like. I have to remember I am new to all this and practice makes perfect. Winter I added splotches of paint by flicking paint onto the work to mimic snow. You can really see it in the photo, but I also added some Mr. Huey's white spray ink.

I hope you all enjoyed my watercolor explorations and might be tempted to try them yourselves.

Now off to write yet another paper!!