November Dirty Dozen Christmas

 Hi, Welcome back. It's that time of the month again when the Dirty Dozen shares a prompt for Fan Club members and Dirty Girls (& guys) who want to get some of their Christmas crafting done ahead of the holidays. This month's prompt can be found here inside those special forums. I started with this (really old) Neenah Collum's Red Pepper cardstock and cut it to become an Slimline (4" x 9") card with a gate fold opening. So the scores are at 2" on the long sides. I found this stripe printed paper from the paper studios Vintage Christmas pad (Hobby Lobby) and I ran that through the big shot inside a Leane Creatief Stars Background folder. Where the paper broke I rubbed some DOX vintage photo ink over that, trimmed it to 4" wide and cut that down to two 2" wide strips to be the center background.

I then found a sheet of some dotted print from the Photoplay Kringle & Co. pad that I liked the rustic ness of and cut it with the Sizzix Primitive Star die and instead of using its matching embossing folder I used the Sizzix softly falling dotted folder on it. I backed this with a kraft non embossed star cut with the same die as I knew it would be visible from the back side when the card was opened. and this gave it some more stability to build layers on. The Merry Christmas one of Dina's designs from Impression Obsession was stamped with the Crimson Versafine and diecut with an really old Spellbinders deckled oval die. The star has some older Christmas ribbon ( either Micheal's or Joann's from years ago) plaid wrapped around it's middle. The star printed paper die cut was done with the Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitches heart die and the metal star on that is from Making Memories. I did ink the edges of the star and the oval with DOX ink also and I like the rustic vibe this has paired with the bright white. ( I tend to lean more towards the creams when I go rustic so, this was fun to see it worked)

So, this morning I went upstairs to pick up the mess so I would have a blank table to do the IC sample for tonight after work. ( I know what I want to do) but, I picked up this drop piece of Kraft that had the star cut out for the backing on the card above and I had that Hobby Lobby pad on the table so I started laying it on the papers in the pad looking to see and found this pinecone sprig paper that did not look bad with Kraft so, as I put away the folders I used above I pulled out this pine sprig one also made by Leane Createif and inked the edges of that with a DOX vintage photo pad.

 I had it in my head to make this card A6 with some of the white print peeking around the outside edges of the kraft but, I got it crooked when I cut the star so it did not line up perfectly so, the white parts peeking out were whacked off, the edges were scruffed up the hemp string tore the kraft before I even tied the knot, it just acts like dental floss and will do that. The tiny pine cone charm was found on Amazon recently (here) its more golden in color and smaller than the old Tim Holtz ones. I really like the scale of it. The sentiment is also from that LOTV hexie tags set done in pinecone ink on Kraft, the bitty brad came from Micheals a long time ago and this was also inked. the dots in the embossed part were colored over with a white gel pen and I am leaning towards looking at this after work in the daylight and thinking about going over that with some snowtex or bleed proof white. we'll see. for reals this time. That's about it from me, Thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring Qtip Berries

 This week Angie is sharing an idea that uses Q-Tips to create berries on branches and such. You can find this video here on YouTube. 

So I started by cutting a sheet of Kraft cardstock in half and scoring it to have two cardbases. 

I used Dr. PH Martins bleed proof white for the white parts seen here.

I was not sure how far to go down but, in my head I thought save space for a sentiment to go to the bottom.

And the whole time I was looking at this I was thinking, maybe the berries should be red.

I did add the red bird and I thought I like how the red pops on the Kraft with the white here and I also thought maybe I should have painted the bird larger. 

But the idea of red berries would not leave my mind and so on the other half of the sheet I did use the Windsor & Newton Red for them there. And then I could not decide what color birds should be. and it is sitting like so while I think about it more.

I had fully intended to use a large sentiment on this in the space I saved but, I had also recently received a package of happy mail from Lili of the Valley and this particular Hexagons tag set was one of them and I wanted to ink it up, so this was stamped on a scrap of Neenah solar white and cut out with scissors here. the mini brad is on the card front with glue dots so the prongs are not visible on the inside of the card. That's about it from me, I am excited about how quickly this went together and playing around more with the idea. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here on SCS. Thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring Fall Leaves

 Hi & Welcome here, this week it's my turn to host the water coloring challenge and I chose this video on YouTube Called the secret to painting stunning Autumn Leaves in watercolor by Creative Lass. I liked how the leaves have a translucency where they overlap. She did make this slightly mixed media with adding some stitching to the line the leaves are dangling from and I did skip that part. 

I started with a piece of Arches cold press and rough sketched some leaves across this piece cut to A6 in real life.

 I did use a water soluble pencil so that I would not have pencil lines to erase after.

I did mask the leaves before I started the sky wash.

I did dab this with a paper towel after this was shot to pick up some of those puddles you see here and added a little more blue to the very top of the paper.

First layers of paints on this, I had too much paint. You can see slight overlaps but, not as much as if I had taken the time to build more watery layers I am guessing.

I did use an Calligraphy nib to trace those veins into the leaves. And I felt like my leaves were getting pretty dark so, I did not add much to this after this was shot.

I free hand did the stems and the line and then used that bitty brad to attach the sentiment tag ( lili of the valley) and this is mounted to a pre made A7 base from Strathmore. it has an deckled edge along the bottom front of the base and the envelope flap. That's about it from me, If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.

Inspired by {Fine Art Canvas}

 This week Denise has chosen the Fine Art Canvas site where I came across this wagon filled with potted trees. I loved that. every detail right and I knew I had potted tree stamps and a wagon stamp so, out came some stamps. 

Both of the tree stamps are from Impression Obsession and stamped with some Versafine Morning Mist and the Wagon is from Two Paper Diva's and it was done in Nocturn ink. This is first layer of Daniel Smith watercolors on this. I had the bright idea to extend the shadow up the crock in the back under the wagon and then it looked odd to me when it dried so, I decided that would be the spot to park a sentiment.

I did add a little more paint and Some stardust gelly roll pen to the handle, axels and the ornament on the tree on the left. I had the bright idea to cut it with a Square postage die from Spellbinders and then after the outside was cut I though that the dotted die was just going to make dents in the paper but, it cut it as a square also so, I did tape these pieces back together again on the back side with scotch tape. At about this point is when I decided to look at the mug shot of the piece I had stopped at and I realized that it was framed with a check pattern and I decided that this was OK, it didn't have to be a total CASE, I just used it as a jump start.

The sentiment here ( I think) is also from Impression Obsession, that lace is vintage and the stripe printed paper is from Maja Designs. The kraft base is from My Favorite Things and cut to finish at 5 1/2" square in real life. That's about it from me, If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring an Snowy Tree

 This week Linda is sharing a tutorial from Liesl's Artic Studio on painting a snowy pine tree with watercolors seen here on YouTube. So, I watched this video maybe a week before I painted the tree. And so, evidently my brain totally forgot the twiggy sticks at the end. ( I am just seeing them on the video start shot haha) At any rate I decided to do this on a half a sheet of the Studio Loft watercolor paper with Daniel Smith paints. ( this is about A6 in real life.)

Mostly dirty water background trees, I did add more water to the center to mop up a little knowing I would do the one with more details there.

First layer of paints of the center tree.

I had walked away at that point above because, Izzy needed to go out. and when I came back I decided the top right corner needed one more tree, and a little darker then the first there. 

I had considered cutting this into a gift tag and grabbed a Time for tea wide stitched frame die instead. ( its A6) and then when the center part cut away I decided to pop it up on foam tape over the background frame that is flat to the cardfront for some interest. I came really close to turning this into an Mixed Media project at this point by adding some white gouache, snowtex and clear stickles glitter glue but, so far have refrained from that. I did enjoy this and will be trying it again. maybe with some more greenish tint to the branches. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by.

Inspired by {deluxe modern design}

 This week Kia is sharing the Deluxe Modern Design site and pinterest boards collection. And the more I looked around at the site the more I seen Pink. there is even an entire board of all the pink things... I did spend some time poking around in every board they have and this particular home shot caught my eye because of the WHITE wrought iron fencing in the foreground. That struck me as interesting because, you see a lot of metal work outdoors painted black. So, with those thoughts in the back of my mind I decided to stamp this Hero Arts Newspaper home on a scrap of pink cardstock.

And then I grabbed these IO dies that came in the mail last week ( fence & bare tree) cut those, I found the sparkly pink Sugar plum fairy paper from MME and decided that was neat, wrapped some swirly ribbon around the fencing as the scale of the IO gate is much larger maybe 50% larger than the scale of the fence. and then Stamped the A Muse Irish Proverb on some Neenah and diecut that with an MFT banner die. That base is some Stampin up pink. ( one of the ones that spell check laughs at me when I attempt to type it) and This is A7 in real life. You can find this challenge here at SCS to play along with us. Thanks for stopping by.

watercoloring Tree's drills

 This week Brenda is sharing a video from Joe Cartwright with tips on painting better looking trees in watercolor landscapes seen here on YouTube. There is a lot of information in this video and I feel like I forgot a lot of it by the time I started to paint so, its one of those things I will have to see several times I think later. I did watch the whole thing before I started to paint, and I also grabed a sheet of the same textured Artists loft watercolor paper I used last week and I started with a leafy type tree in Autumn colors.

I did this with a script and a fan brush and Daniel Smith paints.

and then I thought oh, yeah you can use that brush to do poplar type trees. Sure.

which did not go so well for me, this will take some practice. (this may be the first time I have used these fan brushes, I can't remember using them before anyways) 

So then I tried a conifer type tree and I really liked how this one turned out color & shape wise so, I cut it off the sheet and made it a Christmas card.

I did add a little more paint to this there was just not quite enough depth to the places my mind said there should be shadows. The frame here is from the Mama Elephant deckled frames set ( it really makes a solid rectangle) so, I used an Hero Arts nesting rectangle to turn it into an actual frame. The edges were inked with some DOX vintage photo. That tree printed paper is from an Hobby Lobby pad and the sentiment here is from Tim Holtz stamped on a Justrite tag die and tied onto the sheer ribbon with some natural hemp string. This one is 5 1/2" square in real life as most of the 6" cards I have mailed the last few months the envelopes are something like 1/4 maybe 1/8" larger than the post offices "large envelope" limit so, those cards were mailed as "packages" and I am trying to get my sizes smaller before Christmas as that is a big bulk mail thing right? :) That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. thanks for stopping by.

Inspired By {Hello Hayley}

 This week Julie is sharing the Hello Hayley site and pinterest boards collection for the Inspiration challenge at Splitcoaststampers. And I kept coming back to this pin of a decorated tired tray. I love this. every single thing about this mug shot. I did know in the back of my mind that I could probably duplicate this very easily with dies. but, I decided to start poking around in my have never been inked Christmas stamps again and pulled out this from Impression Obsession. I know it does not look anything like the pin but, I think it picks up the colors and rustic Christmas vibe.

I stamped it with some Morning mist versafine ink and then added a layer of Daniel Smith watercolors over it. 

And after that layer dried I did add more paint and decided to add some clear stickles glitter glue to spots in the window panes and snow piles but, it was so subtle that.

I dug out a jar of snowtex and I remembered how hard this is to get it to stick and or be in anyway kind of organized ha ha. I had it all over my fingers and the bristles of a acrylic paint brush and the end of the brush also. ( I think I need something teeny tiny-er) to poke in that jar next time as I really enjoy seeing the texture on other people's projects. So, that's where I stopped with that. 

The painted panel was cut with a Penny Black stitched frame that I ended up taping back together on the back side of this. That is Arches Hot press watercolor paper (smooth) and then layered it to some Recollections kraft ( the one that looks like a paper bag) and the base here is an Tim Holtz Coredinations bundled sage cut to A6 in real life. That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring an Autumn Still life

 This week Kia is sharing this still life painting idea from Harriet DeWinton seen here on YouTube. I did watch the whole video before I started painting and I totally intended to do some pastel type colors but, somehow I forgot what colors went where when I started to paint.

I did sketch this scene with an water soluble pencil, and you guessed it my acorns were absorbed by the paint when I started with the ground shadow like in the video. I did walk away at this point and let it dry.

So, this is the second layer of paint for the ground and first for all the things you see. This is Daniel Smith watercolors on some Artist Loft watercolor paper I picked up at Micheal's on Sunday because, it had this interesting texture to it. I  think it went mostly OK compared to strathmore paper but, it is not as easy to blend on as say Arches cotton paper. but, I kept going because, I thought it was not so bad. 

After adding more paints and the shadows to the still life I did cut this out with an Mama Elephant Deckled frame die. The base here is river rock and its finished out at A6 in real life. That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by.