Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor

Worked on Christmas cards again.   

Using 140lb rough watercolor paper trimmed to approximately 4.00 x 5.25 inches.

I wet the triangle and just dropped color inside and let it blend together.  Added a trunk and let dry.

The red dots were added after the tree was dry.

I used a Micron Fine Permanent black marker to add the lines, the star and outlines around the dots.  Spattered the background by covering the tree with scrap paper.   This was mounted onto dark green card base with a seasonal insert.

The colors are different on this one and I chose another pattern for my lines.  This are quite not traditional colors and I am okay with that.

Stars replaced the cots.

This one was mounted on a medium olive green card base with a seasonal insert and white envelopes.

A few more cards for the box! 

Cool Tool - Refillable Bottles for glue

If you find yourself trying to glue down small pieces of paper like thin die cut letters or small punchies you know that a glue stick won't do a good job. Snail adhesive a bit better because it's dry but still covers way more area than you want and wastes glue. Double sided tape is really not flexible enough to meet the need. You need an application of glue in a very thin line. This requires a narrow tipped applicator. On the left with the purple lid is the tool I use for this job. I buy it a the craft store and it works great. What if you would like several of these then it becomes expensive. In comes the idea of recycling bottles sold with various other contents. You need ones with very fine tips which are removable from the bottle. Once emptied it can be converted to glue. Good old white glue works well and is inexpensive and likely is on sale right now for "Back to School." The middle one is fabric glue bottle and the other is used in stained glass. I found these in the clearance section for very little money. And since I was more interested in the bottle and not its contents that was great. Once I have used the contents I will have 2 small bottles for dispensing glue on small items. I teach classes so that will provide several to share around the table. Maybe you have some already in your craft supplies, maybe you have a friend into fabric or stained glass. Maybe a posting on-line will connect you with those who empty these bottles regularly. This is a cool tool! I can't take the credit for this idea, it came from my sister during my visit this summer.