The ceremony was June 8th which 4 days after I took possession of this place that needed so much work that I could not get away.
We are celebrating this weekend as they are in town.
The card is SU Elegant Eggplant. The seam binding is SU Marina Mist. I layered the 3 pieces of watercolor over and below the ribbon which was wrapped around and knotted to the front of the card. Added a SU Word window greeting.
They are headed to college soon.
I made some special watercolor ornaments to put on my siblings Christmas cards this year. This is the first year that Mom and Dad are both gone. We are getting together early December for a get together which is close to what would be Dad's birthday.
This is an ornament I designed myself. You can read more about the process here. The ornaments were cut out by hand.
All the designs were hand drawn then I used a permanent black marker for all the outlining.
I used my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons for all the painting. The background is watercolor paper with a mixture of Always Artichoke and Garden Green. I painted a wash on a couple of 9x12 sheets of wc paper. I made it a bit darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. I did put salt on but it was not wet enough to produce much of an effect. When dry I added a spatter of Always Artichoke. Once cut to the 4.00 x 5.25 inches I pained the branch and I spattered the pieces with Always Artichoke.
I made some French cards for my aunts and uncles who are still with us. Joyeux Noel means Merry Christmas.
I started with the purple paste paper my sister and I made many years ago. It has been paper that I though too special to use just willy nilly and so it has not been used. I have to get out of the scarcity mentality and use stuff I think beautiful knowing that more will come when it needs to.
I cut the paste paper to 3.5 inches wide and about 4.75 inches tall. The die is a thinlit by Memory Box. I used my magnetic spacer to keep the die in place while cutting. I cut the paste paper then pulled it off the paper. This requires gentleness because those letters up top are very delicate. I did mark the die with an up this way arrow this time because I did lay it upside down and of course had the greeting the wrong way.
I chose Stampin Up Lavender Lace for the card bases for these cards. I added a layer of Whisper White cut to leave a small border all the way around. I used double sided tape on the bottom and side and Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive around the noel letters. The bottle has a very fine tip so it was easy to put just where I wanted it.
Once that was adhered to the white layer, I added my accent pieces. The tree is by Hampton Art and cut from Elegant Eggplant. I added decorations with my white opaque marker. I added silver star and sequin on the top of the J. The snowflake is a large Martha Stewart punch. I adhered to the layer with a dusty purple mini brad and a silver sequin and a tiny sequin on the J.
Another set of photo cards.
I chose a different presentation for this set.
I chose Stampin Up Soft Suede as the A2 card base, scored in half and folded.
The accent layer is Really Rust cardstock cut to a quarter sheet and cut with the SU Top Note die. Once cut I then cut it in half cross wise with the paper cutter and then trimmed the center points off with scissors.
I trimmed the photo to 3.5 inches wide to perfectly align with the widest spot on the half Top Note. This was adhered with tape on the back then process repeated for the bottom half.
I chose a green-brown grosgrain ribbon to lay over the join of the photo and the die cut. It was pull to the back and taped down with tape. This layer was then adhered to the front of the card.
A white insert and envelope finished off the card.
This card features a Jacob's Ladder blossom taken at the Botanic Park.
I chose SU Elegant Eggplant for the card base and Lavendar Lace for the Top Note layer.
I ran a piercing tool over the photo to mirror the stitched edge on the Top Note layer.
The grosgrain ribbon is Certainly Celery.
I made another couple of cards from my photos. A lovely Dahlia taken at the Botanic Park.
I cut a piece of Garden Green card stock with the Tim Holtz Brackets border die. I glued it behind the 4x4 photo and taped it down.
I added a length of Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon on the join and taped the ends to the back.
I added a silver flower sequin with a white tiny star brad at the point of the green diecut.
This layer was then adhered to the front of the Elegant Eggplant card base.
I added a quarter sheet white insert on the right han panel.
A greeting can be added centered just above the sequin.
She is here visiting so I will give it to her at supper tonight.
Card base is A2 in Rich Razzleberry with a top fold.
I cut another piece from my larger watercolor paper piece and chose this blue purple section. I cut a Stampin Up Top Note die.
I added a length of Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon wrapped top to bottom on Top Note die and held it in place with a crystal large brad.
I cut large flower in Elegant Eggplant and smaller one in Not Quite Navy and added a small silk all held with a silver mini brad. The flowers are Tim Holtz - Tattered Flowers.
White insert quarter sheet on the inside.
I found a coloring book page on line to help me with the line drawing of these flowers.
I used Stampin Up Wonder Watercolor Crayons so it would match with the card stock I selected.
The colors are Night of Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, and Always Artichoke. Once painted and dry I outlined the image with a fine Micron permanent black marker. It pressed overnight under several heavy books.
The back petals are a mix of Navy and Eggplant, the center ones are EE and the front one is Daffodil with darker marks with More Mustard. Put a pale background with Night of Navy on the top and Always Artichoke on the bottom.
I chose to trim the watercolor piece to 3.75 x 5 inches. I taped a couple of lengths of grosgrain ribbon in the AA and EE to the back of the watercolor. Brought them forward and held in place with double sided tape and trimmed the ends on an angle. This was adhered to an Eggplant layer leave a small border. Then that was adhered to the Always Artichoke A2 card base.
I put together this gift of ReUsable Make Up Remove pads for my grand niece.
It is always good to reuse and reduce and this way the pads came be washed and reused for a long time.
They are made from 2 layers of flannel with serged edges. I will link to the detailed post here.
The mesh bag included is for laundering this small pieces of flannel.
I made a card in Elegant Eggplant card base with a watercolor layer topped with stars and a greeting.
The greeting is punched with the Modern Label punch and off set with a piece which matches the card base.
I used turquoise stars with a grey one to coordinate with the watercolor piece.
I created watercolor backgrounds with the intention of using these dove brads for this set of cards. The watercolor has a bit of salt technique.
The doves come in right and left facing styles. I used a Sakura GellyRoll Stardust - Clear Star gel marker for the olive branch.
The circle behind the dove is a 13/8 inch circle punchie.
The greeting is a color printed double flag end banner I designed.
This card is Stampin Up Elegant Eggplant which is a deep rich purple color. This card is in the landscape orientation.
On this card I used Stampin Up Primose Petal for the card base as I did not have any Rose Red card stock.
The circle is Rose Red.
The greeting is also Rose Red and I chose Peace on Earth in various fonts.
You can see the Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust - Clear Star gel marker on the image on the right.
It just adds mostly sparkle with little colors so it works well in many situations.
These watercolor backgrounds were created with the Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons which makes it easy to match to the card stock. This card had lots of salt action on the color.
The card base, the circle punchie and greeting are all Marina Mist on the left and Always Artichoke on the right.
I wanted a branch with an ornament. I put a wash of Old Olive green in the top right hand corner blended softly to the center and left hand side to suggested more tree.
Once that was completely dry I drew my line for the branch with a pencil. I worked with Always Artichoke, Old Olive and More Mustard. It was really hard to be loose and let the needles go willy nilly but it worked.
Then, when the branch was dry I drew the ornament by hand with a pencil. I filled the ornament with Tempting Turquoise and Night of Navy. Card is Marina Mist. I added another layer of wash on the right hand side to suggest light from the left.
I did the hanger with a very thin brush and Payne's Gray also lining the outside of the ornament.
I ended up with a harder high light spot on the left hand side which works better. The darker side on the right hand side does not seem to be as dark as I intended. Watercolor is sometimes hard to judge as it dries lighter.
I have used the color of the ornament to add spatter to the layer.
The card stock used for these ornaments is the back side of the Foil Joy cards I did last month. It was a textured linen card stock. I think it worked with the watercolor pretty well.
On this card I used Rich Razzleberry pinky purple for the ornament.
The pieces of card stock were trimmed to 3.75 x 5 inches before I started painting. They warped a little so needed to be steamed and pressed to flatten.
The ornament layer was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape in the corners and a bit in the center.
I did add my signature on the original art after I photographed them for blogging.
Seasonal inserts and white envelopes have been added to the mix and they are sitting in the box for December 1st.
The color is Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder crayons and coordinating SU card stock.
I am not choosing to put greetings on my cards these days but the subject matter helps to communicate the sentiment.
I created birthday candles on this one. I put an odd number of them. These were penciled in then traced with the black marker then colored in bright colors.
I drew various patterns on the candles. Some were made with the black marker and others were added once the first wash was dry.
Once the candles were dry then I added some spatter with orange and blue.
The paper is 140lb rough water color paper trimmed to about 4.00 x 5.25 inches.
Mouunted to Tango Tangerine card base with a quarter sheet insert on the inside with a white envelope!
I wanted a masculine subject for my nephew's birthday card.
I needed whimsical because I cannot draw realistic birds. I did a bit of searching on the web then drew a couple.
I chose warm colors for the bird with warm background and a sun in the corner.
I traced my pencil marks with black permanent marker once the watercolor was dry.
I chose a Kraft card base with a Coastal Cabana grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the card front. The ribbon is aligned on the left just off center.
The watercolor was adhered with 3D foam tape above where the ribbons met on the card front.
This card will be going digital as it has a long way to go.
I searched the internet for simple floral images - bouquets so that I could see how the stems interacted, etc.
I trimmed my 140lb water color paper to 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares. Loosely following the compositions I found on line I drew flowers with a pencil. Once I was happy with it I traced the pencil lines with black permanent marker again making adjustments if needed.
Once the ink was allowed to dry a bit I erased the pencil lines and was left with the black lines. I used my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons to match my card bases.
I chose Mellow Moss grosgrain ribbon wrapped around the front of the card with the ends taped under the watercolor accent.
The floral watercolor is adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.
I decided to go with no greeting so I can use it for any occasion.
Quarter sheet insert on the inside with A2 white envelope and 3 more cards ready to give. One for my aunt, one for my sister and one for Mom. I still have a couple of sisters who have birthdays this summer. Another session to follow soon.
I was inspired by a photography challenge to produce some art and I chose watercolor.
I opened a pad of water color paper bought at a scrapbook store. There is no indication of the weight of the paper so I was not getting my hopes up.
I cut down a sheet about letter sized into 4 smaller pieces. Some square and others not. I pulled out my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons so I can match it will card stock later.
This one is a bit of a landscape with a tree, flowers, the sun and a few birds flying in the sky. The paper worked really well in this small size.
I paired it with a piece of Bashful Blue leaving a tiny border and ripped the bottom edge. I mounted that onto a piece of Passion Pink card base. Stamped a greeting with Old Olive with a set of small clear stamps. I spattered the card once it was finished.
