Cards - Charity

Three more cards for IWin.

The designer paper is Stampin Up Painted Blooms. Nice watercolor design.

I chose SU Lucky Limeade A2 card base for this card.  I added a piece of DSP trimmed to leave a small border.

I adhered the glitter butterfly to 100lb card stock then cut the oval with the Creative Memories cutter.  I added a border of Thalo Blue watercolor pencil then brushed it with water brush.

I created a greeting accent with a Modern Label in blue and taped a Word Window greeting to it.  

I adhered the oval accent to the card front then added the greeting with 3D foam tape.

This card base is SU Summer Sun in the A2 size.

A layer of floral designer paper adhered to the card front.

I adhered the silver glitter butterfly sticker to a piece of vellum trimmed to leave a large border.

I added a Not Quite Navy card stock strip along the top attached with 3 silver brads. 

I added the round greeting in the top right hand corner with 3D foam tape.

On this card the A2 card base is Always Artichoke.

Trimmed another piece of designer paper to leave a small border.

I adhered the butterfly sticker to a piece of Regal Rose card stock then trimmed it with the CM oval cutter.

I added an Always Artichoke mini brad to the head of the butterfly.

The greeting is a combination of a Modern Label Punchie and a Wordl Window greeting.

Drawing - Quick Doodle

A quick doodle with a graphite pencil after a day of packing more of the kitchen.

I used a Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment pen to add more details.

The washes were added with Payne's Grey and Deep Red watercolor pencils by Faber-Castell.  Got deeper color by letting it dry and doing it over again.

Like it!

 

Watercolor Painting - Green Leaves

I created this green leaves piece last night prompted by a photo challenge of green.

I used my rag tag watercolor pencils and the pencil sharpener to get some pencil shavings onto my watercolor palette.

With 2 greens, 2 yellows and a grey I managed to get a variety of colors for this collage.

Once it was dry I added the lines between the squares with a marker.

I then used a fine marker to draw leaves in the spaces. All kinds and shapes with a bit of help from the internet.

It's nature wonderful.

This morning looking at it I'm not sure that I will do for a photo challenge.

I will scour the place to find something green to shoot. I do have plants if worse comes to worse.

Watercolor Art - Christmas

I tried a Christmas art drawing last night.

A Bethlehem Star front and center.  A night blue sky with stars.

A stable with Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.

Sand dunes a plenty.

Penciled then went over with a dip pen and black ink.

Watercolored with my rag tag pencils.

 

Watercolor Pencils - Set of 12

I was wanting a set of good watercolor pencils to use while I am away from home.

I have collected a rag tag selection of them from the ReUse Center over the last couple of years.

Some are high quality which made me realize that my Artist Loft set need to be replaced.

I had the case so today I went to Delta Arts and got 3 colors to round out the set.

I got a red, a grey and the silver. Thanks to the staff a Delta I got 3 watercolor pencils in the same brand. She pointed out the watercolor pencils are hexagonal in shape. I had 1 of the 3 right. Great customer service.

I have documented them all in the front page of my sketch book.

They all dissolve completely and it should be a treat to paint with them.

The brands are 

Staedtler Karat to 

Kohinoor Hardtmuth Moneluz to 

Caran d'Ache Prismalo and the new ones are 

Faber Castell Albrecht Durer. 

All the basic colors and one metallic.

These will last for as long as I need them.

The technical pen is still working great.

Drawing - Sepia - Tech Pen

I doodled last night with the new to me Staedtler marsmagno 2 pen with a super fine tip.

I am sticking with the 5x7 size as that will make one A7 card or two A2 cards.

I drew lines with a ruler which works well with this pen and it's metal tip.  Then I added lines in some spaces and washes with the Sepia ink diluted with water.

Then I decided it need a bit of color so I worked with the few high quality water color pencils I have in my stash.  

Then I dipped into my watercolor palette for more color. 

I did add some metallic with my new metallic colors from the dollar store. What a great buy that was.

With these small spaces I was able to achieve a smooth watercolor wash in some of them.

I filled the pen with ink and considering that it is permanent I will not get it out of the cartridge if it dries in there.

I will consult with my sister the art school girl to see if it will be okay to leave it or not.

Next time I will not put so much ink in the pen.

Inktober - 20 Sunrise

Inktober 2024 Challenge

20 - Sunrise

I penciled my outline sketch which were just the hills and the sun.  I used my black marker to create the lines in the hills by hand.

I used the watercolor pencil to color the sun yellow and a  store brand to put in the orange. 

I need to get a good set of watercolor pencils.

Inktober 2024 - 19 Feather

Inktober 2024 Challenge

19 - Feather

I used my fountain pen with blue black ink to trace my penciled sketch.  It is not permanent.

I then doodled in some of the spaces.

I used watercolor pencils and colored pencils to fill in the shapes. 

Card Making with Seniors - April - Watercolor Flower

These are art from Joanne Fink.  I used watercolor pencils to color them.  They measure 3.75 x 4.50 inches.

I then chose card stock colors which coordinated with them.  The black allows the painted art to be highlighted.  Then a layer of turquoise to coordiate with the bloom and green to match the leaves and stems.

The vellum greeting was printed then clear embossed.  The top and bottom of the greeting was ripped.  It was placed across the art and the ends were taped to the back of the black layer.

This was adhered to the blue then that to the green layer.

Makes a quick and easy card with great layers.

The same card with different layer color, this time pink.  This allows you to change the look of the card for a particular person perhaps.

This one is off to my card exchange buddy.

Art Card Stack Class

I am holding my Art Card Stack Class tonight and these are the cards we are making.  This is a very different from the kind of cards I usually make.  I had hoped that by offering something different it would be more popular and I would be able to capitalize on the trend of adult coloring books. Did not turn out that way.  I have a few ladies registered.

I will be bringing a couple sets of pencil crayons, and water color pencils with brushes.

I have 2 ladies who purchased the Stampin Up Watercolor Crayons years ago and would like to learn how to use them with the Aqua Painter (water brush) which was sold at the same time. We will use a clear mount for our palette.  I am looking forward to helping these ladies make use of the supplies they have.  I also have these supplies which I have not used a lot so we will have fun together.

These line drawings are printed on heavy card stock.  The designs are by Joanne Fink. She is an Orlando based calligrapher/designer.

I chose to mount them onto black card bases so no matter what color the participants chose it would match the black outlines in the art.  I wanted to add greetings but without hiding the wonderful art so I chose vellum as a substrate.  Again, with black letters clear embossed on the vellum so it all matches and does not conflict with any colors selected.  All held in place with tiny black brads.

My 2 Cents:
As a person who has spent the better part of the last 20 years working on cards, teaching classes, and in many involved in this craft I am disppointed in the lack of appreciation for them in the younger crowd.  I know that when the postage increased in our area a few years ago that was the final straw for some who just abandoned the practice completely.

Cards are not popular among the younger crowd and the older crowd struggles with the motor dexterity to handle the materials and tools. I, one day will no longer have people who will participate.  I am sad about that but that is for a day way in the future I hope. 

I was speaking to a young lady yesterday and she was not interested as she does not send cards at all.  I guess it's all on line or not done at all.



Laurentien pencil crayons - the brand I used when I was in elementary school. Can be applied light or heavy. Soft or bold are options.

Artist's Loft - Watercolor Crayons which are applied like pencil crayons then lightly moistened with a paint brush to blend the color(s) and fill in the white spaces.

Stampin Up Watercolor Crayons. They are solid color pencils so there is enough color in this box for me to paint the rest of my life and likely beyond that.  These are available under other brands.


A spray bottle to provide a bit of moisture when needed.  The Aqua Painter brush from Stampin Up.

I am looking forward to the class and sharing my knowledge and giving these ladies the ability to leave my class and continue to make art and cards.

Rose Tea Pot

I chose a small rose background paper from Granny Enchanted free digital papers.  I printed it onto white card stock then trimmed the piece to leave a small border.

The rose tea pot is from Free Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps.  I added a sentiment then printed on white card stock.  I used water color pencils to add color to the roses and the blue on the foot, lid and handle.  I heated it with heat tool and the ink did not run.  I did not use much water on my brush.

I chose a warm green card which matched the background very well.  It was more challenging to get my water coloring right with a limited number of pencils.

I had hoped to have the solid layer behind the teapot be blue but could not find a piece of card stock in my stash that would be right so I went with another piece the same as the card. I trimmed it to leave a tiny border and ripped the right hand edge.

I created this card for a challenge at Coffee Loving Card Makers - CASEing DT#10.

Share Your Cup - This Week

I've made some more tea cup coasters because they are fun to make. You can find the link to the pattern in this post.  I'm not sure how I made one facing the other direction.  It was not intentional so I will have to work on the process to figure it out, then write it down.  These feature subtle and bright fabric.

I have decided to include some relaxation into my life regularly.  The tool I have chosen is coloring so I bought my self a small book. 

I used watercolor pencils on this fish page.  I bought them for a class I am giving in the spring and I wanted to try them out to see how they worked.  I colored them just as I would with colored pencils. 

Once done, I used a paintbrush with a bit of water to blend all the colors.  It makes the image well colored as any white space is given color with the water.  This paper is not the weight needed for much water and you can see the wrinkled edges.  I had to iron it flat once it had dried. 

I am happy with the results.  It took longer as the design was quite a bit more detailed and the water color added some time.

I spent some time viewing art with my aunts. 
One of the most interesting pieces was an art piece with with this kit designed by Victor Vasarely (French/Hungarian, 1906–1997) Planetary folklore Participations no. 1 , 1969. Mixed media sculpture edition plastic, paper, metal 20 x 20 in. (50.8 x 50.8 cm.)
The plastic pieces are held in place by magnets in a black metal box frame. The pieces can easily be re arranged to create a new piece of art.  I loved the concept.  I found these images on line as photos were discouraged.

I have been sewing too.  

Car Litter Bag

The piece of fabric on the left with the marbling pattern was too small to make a litter bag. I combined it with red fabric for the outer bag and chose solid red for the liner bag. 
I have been trying to decide how to design the way the bag is held in place in the car.  I have decided to make fabric ties of 12" as well as include a loop in the center.  Some cars have a hook in the foot well which is works nicely to hold this type of bag.  Again, it holds a produce bag placed inside a plastic container which makes the opening always open and the litter in the produce bag can just be tossed when it is full. 

 

Scrap Sack

This one is made of turquoise butterfly fabric with a pale yellow liner. 

Sharing with Jann at Daily Cup with Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup #233.