Unity - All Lit Up Birthday

Happy Saturday!

Today I have a fun birthday card, using Unity All Lit Up.  I used some watercolor paper and stamped the Happy Birthday image with the balloons.  I stamped the balloons on a piece of white cardstock and colored them with Copic Markers.  I fussy cut out the colored balloons and paper pieced them on the main watercolor paper image.

I looked through my patterned and found a paper pad Paper Studios The Basics which had a rainbow of bright colors with different patterns.  I chose a blue and yellow polka dot and green stripe that matched the colors of balloons. and created a stripe background. 

Copic Colors: Y19, Y21, Y35, Y38, RV11, RV15, B01, B04, YG21, YG23 

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings,

Deb

Watercolor flowers - Mother's Day

Happy Saturday and Mother's Day!

Today I have the Mother's day card I made for my mom.  I got a new watercolor set and was playing around creating free-hand flowers.  

I created several images when experimenting, some I water colored the blooms then added a black pen outline and others I drew some flowers and water colored them.  The watercolor set I found on Amazon, Grabie is the brand.  The paints are in a metal travel carrying case and came with several brushes.  

I used a Unity postage stamp die to mat the water colored image. To add some texture and interest, I used a Spellbinders 3D embossing folder called Efflorescent Flora, which was Jan 2024 Embossing folder of the month.  The base card is PaperTrey Ink Aqua Mist.

Close Up:

I made a few more images with multi-color flowers. Paring them with pink and purple base cards.  They make great any occasion cards.

Base Card PaperTrey Ink Pale Peony

Base Card PaperTrey Ink Amethyst Allure

Base Card PaperTrey Ink Raspberry Fizz

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings to you,

Deb

Watercolor Birthday

 Happy Saturday!

Today I have a birthday card I made for my grand-niece.  I bought a new watercolor set in January and was playing around creating free-hand flowers.  I have a couple monochrome images to share today.  I have several multicolor images to share in an upcoming post. 

The watercolor set I found on Amazon, Grabie is the brand.  The paints are in a metal travel carrying case and came with several brushes.  It also came with a color swatch card which really helps identify the color you are looking for.

The first card is a pink version.  I chose colors that went with PaperTrey Ink Raspberry Fizz cardstock.  I used 140lb cold press watercolor paper.  The blooms and stems were painted freehand, then I added a black marker outline to define the center of the flowers and buds.

Here is a close up...

I used a Unity postage stamp die to mat the water colored image. I used a Spellbinders 3D embossing folder called Efflorescent Flora, which was Jan 2024 Embossing folder of the month, to add some texture and interest.

I made a second card in purples.

The cardstock is PaperTrey Ink Lilac Grace.

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings to you,

Deb

Spellbinders - Evergreens Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

Today I have my last 2024 Christmas card to share.  It uses Spellbinders - Seasons Greetings Evergreen Press Plate and the Spellbinders BetterPress System.  This card has a lot of elements to create this scene.  The metal evergreen plate was inked with Memento black ink and image transferred to rag cotton cold press watercolor paper.  I used watercolors to paint the image.  After dry, I added a few sprays of tsukineko glimmer and splatters of watered down white paint, for snow and sparkle.  

I used 2 die cuts for the windows; the upper one is Little Miss Muffet and is actually a screen door die but the outer frame makes a wonderful large arched window.  The second window below is Poppy Small Madison Die.  I painted 10 images and cut them to make 27 cards total.  I was able to get 2 window scenes for the large arched window out of 1 image and 3 window scenes out of 1 painted image for the smaller window die.

I created the wainscoting and trim using a Darice stripe embossing folder.  The green patterned paper I found in my paper stash, perfect for a vintage wallpaper.   

Lastly, I added the Christmas Wishes die cut.

Hope you have a blessed Christmas!

Blessings to you,

Deb

Arteza Watercolor - By the Seaside

Happy Saturday!

Back in October, I bought Arteza watercolor pens with grand plans to try them out over the Christmas-New Years break from work.  That didn't happen, however I found a weekend in February to try them out.  If you haven't seen the videos on Facebook, here is one, they looked so fun and easy and they actually were!  They have real brush tip with the watercolor pigment in the barrel, like a marker.  Apply full color to the page or dip in water or wet your water color paper to create the water color effect and to blend.

I found an un-used Joann's gift card in January, so I decide to get some new stamps.  This one was picked out for this Arteza watercolor pen experiment.  The rubber stamp from France, Carabelle Studio "En Bord de Mer" (By the Seaside).  

I was kind of blown away by how easy and well these Real brush pens worked.  I used Tim Holtz water color paper and used my We R Memory Makers Precision Press and Memento Black ink to stamp the image.  

The base card is 5 x 7 so a larger card than I usually make.  It is a large stamp.  The precision press allowed me to re-ink and re-stamp, since the water color paper is textured.  So hard to get a full image on the first try.  I made several cards, some with the stamped image on the smoother side of the water color paper and a couple on the textured side.  The image I'm showing today is stamped on the smooth side of the watercolor paper.

Close-Up:

Arteza Real brush Colors: 
Sun: A128 Bumble Bee Yellow, A121 Honey, A156 Sunset Yellow 
Boats: A169 Orange Rust, A190 Rouge Pink, A101 Red, A195 Punch Pink, A182 Wine Red, A181,  A162 Lavender, A125 Orchid Purple 
Water: Spearmint Blue 
Sky: A159 Cyan Blue 
Lighthouse:   A178 Ginger, A115 Smoke Gray


Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings to you,
Deb 

Sketched Ranunculus

Happy Saturday!

Today, I have a couple cards using the Simon Says Stamp 

set Sketched Ranunculus.  I stamped a background of images on

watercolor paper, then painted with watercolors.

Lastly, I misted the image with water to blend.

Close Up:

Second card:

Inks: Memento Black
Watercolor paper and paints
Cardstock: PTI Plum Pudding, True Black, green leaf

Cotton Lace
Simon Says Stamp Handwritten border

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings,

Deb

Watercolor Birthday Barn

Happy Saturday!

Today, I have another birthday card.  This image is one I've wanted to use 

for years!  It is an image released by The Angel Company in 2011.  

The artist is Phyllis Harris, who draws for Unity Stamps now.  

Watercolors seem to be really hot right now 

so I found some on Amazon which are really amazing.  They are from

Japan - Kuretake MC2036V Gansai Tambi 36 Color Set.  

The pigments are really bold for watercolors.

Close Up: 

Challenges:

The Pencil Case - Anything Goes

Alphabet Challenge - T is for Trees

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Polkadoodles - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings,

Deb

Sketch Saturday Challenge #322

We have a new sketch challenge starting today at Sketch Saturday!  Our sponsor this week is the fabulous Simon Says Stamp, with a generous $25 gift certificate going to one lucky winner.

Here is sketch #322:

The image I used today is a stamp I won from a Great Impressions challenge last Fall.  I also used my Distress markers to color it.  It took me a couple tries managing the water was the tricky part.  I ended up using Potion #9 blending solution and that worked the best.

Supplies Card 1 --
Stamp: Great Impressions F548 Elephant with Kite
Ink: Palette Black
Patterned Cardstock: Echo Park Happy Days
Cardstock: PTI Pure Poppy
Distress Watercolor Cardstock 
Distress Markers: Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Pumice Stone
Potion #9 Ink blending solution
Aqua Brush
Yellow Twine
Yellow Ribbon

My second card was actually the inspiration for the sketch this week.  I made it last Fall and never posted a write up on it.  It was made for my husbands co-worker who had surgery...an engineer who plays guitar.     

The image is a TAC image 'Hey Life' is the set and is available at Red Rubber Designs. Papers are Simple Story Awes{one}, one of my favs.

You can see all the DT inspiration and enter our challenge HERE.  Hope you will join us this week.

Thanks for stopping by...

Blessings,

Deb