Thank You Cards - Finally!

I finally have most of my craft room set up so I could get some cards made. With seeing family tomorrow I pushed through to get quite a few done.

I created watercolor abstract art on a sheet of 12x18 inch Strathmore Cold Press 140lb paper.  I added salt in some areas.  I ripped my masking tape which held down my edges which gave wonderful irregular edges to my watercolor art.  Great idea. 

Left: SU Pear Pizazz green card stock in A2 size because I know where those envelopes are.

I ripped the bottom edge and added a sequin star in the top right hand corner with half of the one piece of 3D foam tape I could find.

Still stuff to unpack.

I chose blues - Prussian Blue, Ultramarine, and Turquoise along with some Sap Green and Cadmiium Yellow Hue.

Of course not all pieces have the same colors.

The card base is SU Night of Navy with a landscape orientation.  The right hand side ripped with an oval punchie greeting overlapping the ripped edge.

The A2 card base is SU Bermuda Bay.

I ripped the top edge of the watercolor and aligned the right hand edge to the card edge.

I chose to create a flower with watercolor and metallic watercolor around the dot of color left by a grain of coarse salt.

I added a line of pearl watercolor along the top and mounted a greeting over it.

Greeting is SU Modern Label punchie with a Word Window greeting.

Cards - Charity - Butterflies

 More cards for the IWin Charity.

I chose the Crate Paper Designer paper which made the cut when I de-cluttered a while back because it had Stampin Up colors. Pear Pizzaz, So Saffron and Brave Burgundy.

For this card I have an A2 card base in Pear Pizzaz with a layer of DSP and a coordinating strip placed vertically. 

The greeting is a SU Decorative greeting punchie which has been warmed with the Laurentian pencil crayon - Arizona Topaz 80. Great match for So Saffron. Also I punched a green one and cut it in half and glued the halves offset at the back of the greeting.

The Martha Stewart butterfly punchie with black marker additions was adhered with a Bling Zot. White quarter sheet insert.

The other Pear Pizzaz card with a layer of DSP and a horizontal strip across the top third. 

A So Saffron Martha Stewart Butterfly punchie with black marker enhancements adhered with Bling Zot.

The greeting is a SU Small Oval punchie with a similar punchie cut in half and attached offset at the back.  The accent was then adhered with 3D foam tape.

A white blank quarter sheet insert added to the inside.

This set has So Saffron card bases in the A2 size.

This is a portrait (tall) orientation with a layer of DSP on the front then a strip of Bravo Burgundy mounted horizontally across the top third.

A yellow Martha Stewart butterfly with black marker embellishments held in place with a Bling Zot.

The greeting is a SU Modern Label punchie with a Word Window punchie embellished with the pencil crayon to warm up the white card stock.

A white quarter sheet insert added.

A So Saffron card base in the A2 size set in the wide or landscape orientation.

A strip of Pear Pizzaz card stock mounted vertically on the left hand side. 

The yellow Martha Stewart Butterfly with it's black marker embellishments attached with a Bling Zot.

The Modern Label punchie greeting this time in green with a similarly enhanced Word Window greeting with the Arizona Topaz pencil crayon.

A white quarter sheet insert.

These cards feature a Bravo Burgundy A2 card base with a layer of the designer paper adhered to the front.

A narrow strip of the deep red card stock mounted on the left hand side with a circle of So Saffron with the MS Butterfly punchie mounted onto it.  Black marker used to add the body and antennae.

The greeting is the Stampin Up Modern Label punchie topped with a Word Window greeting warmed up with a pencil crayon.  It adhered to card front with 3D foam tape.

A white quarter sheet insert.

This card is the same Bravo Burgundy card base with the designer card stock layer.

A narrow strip mounted vertically with a 1.75 inch circle punchie and a butterfly stick I found at the ReUse center the other day. Very blingy.

A Modern Label punchie with a Word Window greeting warmed up with a yellow pencil crayon which matched perfectly.

A white quarter sheet insert.

Hopefully my car will be ready to come home today after it's over night compression test.

Card - Watercolor - Yellow Cosmos

I painted this yellow cosmos for my niece's birthday card.   

I found an image on line just to give me an idea about their foliage.  I did a bit of a pencil drawing to start.

I used my Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I did a light wash of blue with Tempting Turquoise and a light wash on the bottom half with Old Olive. Once I had my first light color on the flower and the stem then I erased about 50% to leave just a very light line.

I used Daffodil Delight for my first light layer on the flower and Pear Pizzaz on the stem. I then added definition on the cosmos with More Mustard and Always Artichoke on the stem.

I added some very light stems on the bottom just so the flower was more grounded. 

I mounted the watercolor with double sided tape to a 5x7 card of Hello Honey.  I was a little short on the bottom so I added a length of  Washi Tape in More Mustard.  It rips very easily so I need to use this up so that its gone!

Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor - Aug - Salt Backgrounds

I created a watercolor background for my large Christmas greetings for this month's challenge.

I started with 140lb Arches watercolor paper I purchased from my sister. It had been rolled up so I spritzed it with water and let it relax itself to flatish.

I cut a strip about 6 inches tall and the width of the sheet.  I taped that down to my waterproof work surface.  I used my small watercolor palette I created the other day.  You can follow this link to the post which contains the details. 

I soaked the paper with my spray bottle then I just worked with the greens and blues in my palette. As I moved across I switched from the blues to adding red to create purples. Once I was happy with the colors I misted it again to ensure the whole surface was wet then just added some table salt to the surface.  It then dried for several hours.

I believe this is rough water color paper but is softer than the sheets have I have been using. I was very happy with the pattern produced by the salt.  Once completely dry, I cut it into 4.00 x 5.25 inch sheets.  These will leave a small border of the card base showing.  Since I was not using Stampin Up watercolors it took a bit of evaluation to see which card colors to use.

While the paper dried and searched the internet for some free large greetings I could use. The card above features the one I liked best.  The greetings were sized to be smaller than the watercolor background and printed grey on vellum.  They were then heat embossed with gold powder.  I ripped the edges to provide a more natural edge.

On the right I created some portrait (tall) cards with vellum greetings which also included images. This one is a Christmas tree. For most of  these cards, the vellum is adhered to the watercolor background with tiny gold brads. Then the watercolor layer is adhered to the card base with 3D foam tape squares.

The greeting on the card on the left has been around for a very long time.  It is very classic fonts and makes a great greeting.

The card base on this card is Marina Mist. The brads used on this one are larger sparkly gold star brads. 

I added some vellum adhesive in the opposite corners to keep the vellum close to the watercolor.

 The watercolor background features the transition from green to blue in my original painting.

This watercolor background was the toughest to match to card stock.  I tried Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Sahara Sand and eventually settled on Soft Suede. 

That is the challenge - when I was painting I did not measure the width of the colors so this piece ended up with some muddier colors with the n bright blue on the right hand side.  

This is the other portrait (tall) card where I combined an image and a greeting.

Again, I was not thinking of images at all when I was painting.  I had to trust I could work it out once the watercolor background was dry.

I think this worked out well.

This card features Bermuda Bay for the card base.  Another landscape (wide) layout.

This time tiny gold star brads in all four corners.

I will be adding quarter sheet inserts with a seasonal sentiment to each of these and pairing them with a white A2 envelope.

Another great set of cards for my box.  Ready to give come December st!

These worked out well and the background is worth considering again.