Inspired By {Essential Stencil}

 This week Denise is sharing the Essential Stencil site for Inspiration this week at SCS. They also have a collection of Pinterest boards found here. And I came across this silly fishing one that instantly sparked ideas for me as 1. I need a birthday card for hubs soon and 2. I have an old Rubbernecker sentiment that is nearly the same sentiment. 

 And I also knew I had bought these Gone Fishing set of stamps and dies from Stampin' Up! a couple of years ago and had not played with them and then when I was fishing those out ha ha, I found this other die set of lures from Impression Obsession and thought the scale of those would work well with the SU set in the wells of the fishing tackle box. So, as I was cutting and inking things I started pushing them around the top of the box to see the scale and where there might be room for more. 

 So, the round bobber in the lower left-ish area was stamped on white cardstock with some ( this is a 2 step stamp) Versafine Clair Morning mist ( the bottom layer ) and some Tulip Red for the overstamping, I did stamp this on the diecut as I had cut it before I stamped it and I got the white halo off so, I did cut it out again with scissors and then inked the edges with scorched timber DOX ink like all the other layers. Those metal hooks I cut from some Tim Holtz shiny cardstock and The iridescent cord from May Arts was tied on to the round bobber to mimic fishing line. 

 The finished card here is A2 in real life, The reel-y sentiment is from Unity Stamps Reel Great Guy set and that panel was glued to the inside after this was shot. The vintage bingo chip has the number that hubs will be soon ( he is counting down to Retirement and still has a few more years to go) but, I was trying to keep the inside of the tackle box on the cleaner side since the stencil is and I thought the colors worked well with all the paper layers. ( it is pretty thick though) And then I did cut the skinny bobber and the top lure ( IO ) from Watercolor paper and used red Windsor & newton paint on those. and then added some metallic silver to the round places where the line would tie it on. Oh I have a second metal hook I cut to glue under the popper looking lure in the top left box and I seen ( after I shot this that it was missing) 

 

So, I ended up cutting another pair of hooks from the shiny silver card as I lost the one that I originally was pushing around on that bobber lure so, This is what it looked like with the inside glued in and the hook back in place. That's about it from me, I hope you're doing well and Staying warm. Thanks for stopping by, you can find this challenge here to play along with us if you are so inclined. 

 

A couple more Heart cards

 Not too long ago someone who was featured stamper at Splitcoaststampers ( I've forgotten off hand her screen name but, someone on the Simon Says Stamp design team) had these really gorgeous projects posted in her gallery of altered ( really fancy shapes) um Rolodex cards. and that really caught my eye. A very long time ago I used to actually alter the cards that you buy for the containers so it was a WOW thing to see all the fun shapes of them out at the moment. So, I caved on that and started buying a handful of the dies with no real plan for a project for them, I just liked the shapes. the first one to arrive in the mail was the AALL & Create Spring Sprouts die set. If I remember correctly this is the same die she had used in her gallery and so, when it came I ended up cutting out 3 of them from random papers on the table to get an idea of the scale of it. 

Just messing around with these pieces and I needed space so a bunch of it was put away in the drawer.
 

And then a week or so later another AALL & Create die this one is called Dotted Love and it has bitty hearts with the 3 different lengths of flaps/cards. And same thing cut one of each flap and all the hearts and I just kept pushing these things around on the table along with all those hearts I've had out and been cutting. And so, this was built from scraps on the table. I really liked the idea of this shape upside down. not as a flipping card but just a curious background detail all the edges of all the die cuts you see here were inked with some scorched timber distress oxide ink to unify all those prints. The enjoy is an Impression Obsession die as is that half circle heart layer behind it. The larger heart on a stem to the left behind that is part of a Penny Black die and the little heart topiary is a stamped image I cut out with scissors. I had that scrap of shiny silver sheer ribbon on the table and just tied it around the prongs. I figured since its all glued down to the card front it should stay put. This one is 5" square in real life. That special delivery was a paper ephemera piece from ( probably Tim Holtz ) but, I have big containers of that since I bought a bunch last year and have been trying to use some of those up as well, it was left behind in the tray on the table from when ever I was poking around in that. 

 

And I did something with the other heart branch piece I painted a week or two ago? I forget, that base is Blushing bride and this one is A2 in real life, that shiny pinkish glimmer cardstock was in the recent SSS card kit from Feb that arrived. ( the one with all the rounded corner dies in it) I cut a bunch of scraps up with those dies so far but, no projects yet. That embossing folder was out from some other project as well. these are just random cleaned the table off cards for me. I ended up going through my entire drawer of previously diecut things and I need to use some up before I cut anything else as that drawer is now bursting at the seams. The with love tag is an lili of the valley stamp on some watercolor paper and the ribbons are unknown. that gold elastic is really old from SU. That's about it from me, I hope you're doing well. We've got snow again this week and since we have not been buried under it all winter its a welcome and good thing here. Thanks for stopping by. 

Wisteria Birthday Wishes

 This week the watercoloring challenge is doing this Wisteria Branch video I found because, I love the idea of them. I have not actually seen a wisteria flower or tree or vine in real life ever but, I think the curves of the drapes of petals is so pretty and I wanted to try it. The name of the video is Easy Loose Watercolor Floral Tutorial : Wisteria Flowers by Nianian. 

  I did spend some time seeing what shades of purples I could come up with knowing I did not have any of the colors of paints she used on her painting. I started with a piece of Arches cold press and just started adding the paint. ( I did not sketch this) And I really did not have enough space to add more or enough white space so, I started over again with an piece cut to A7. 

These petals looked huge to me on this big piece of paper but, I thought, I need more space to try this with and we'll see what happens. 

And then I added a second cluster of petals and Leaves to the branch. I wasn't real sure what kind of curves or way to go with the way the leaves should be on the branch.

 I had the space for a tiny one to balance the right side so, in went a third spray. along with a few splatters around the petals. 

 I did add a few more dots of yellow on a few random petals in the larger sizes at the top, I need birthday cards for March and so, this one will go to my gma in a couple of weeks. The sentiment is on the inside of the card. The base is some textured Bazzill in an A7 size. 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. 

 

Inspired by {Anthropologie}

 This week Kia is sharing the Anthropologie site for inspiration. I was curious to see what they had for sale as I have purchased sweaters online from them in the past and so, I was surprised to see they had a section for "Weddings". While I was poking around this pillow caught my eye because of the almost hidden bird in the print as I had seen earlier in the week the teapot destination is Brenda this week whose family lost her son last month. And some how because, he was a hunter they wanted the project to have some kind of camo on it. and that just totally stumped me. When I think about Brenda, I think about Birds and snowmen and tulip flowers...

So, I knew I had Leafy printed papers and I decided to use this Hobby Lobby Eucalyptus print as I think it is So Pretty. ( maybe not a serenely somber enough print for a Sympathy card but, I decided if I was going to do this and try to follow the theme I need to just do something rather than over think it forever) 

 I have been die cutting all my postage type background dies lately to have some to play with and I had this back piece already cut with this AALL & Create Edge Spin die cut when I got this idea and I thought the leafy print looked OK with it. ( all the edges of the leaf print and the tan print have been inked with DOX speckled egg ink) and then I found this fancy vintage trim to wind across it and then I cut the Penny Black Finch die from some Arches cold press watercolor paper. I did keep the paints subtle on this so that it could you know hide and blend with that background. The base here is unknown but, this one is 6" square in real life and then I finished the inside with a few stamps from a couple of different Altenew sets. I did not take a photo of that part. I find it so very hard to come up with the thing to say, words fail me so, I had put off doing a card for them until today. That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find these challenges here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by. 

 

A Few Valentines

 When I looked at my stash of cards a week or two ago, I realized I didn't have a stash of Valentines day cards. I think I may not have made any at all last year. Since I stopped doing the way way in advance design team things I have been trying to create more in the moment type things. So, right now without a need for a Valentine it was fun to start pulling out both things that have not been played with and heart dies and such. 

What my desk looked like last Sunday. Nope, I did not watch the superbowl. I forgot about it, I know most the people in my family root seriously for the Chiefs and they were thinking the teams who were playing this year were well matched and it should be a good game to watch but, that is seriously all I remember hearing about it. I needed to see something happy and pretty so digging through these papers and dies helped. 

I did come across this video from Nichol Spohr on YouTube doing a postage collage background (Waffle Flower die) for a Valentine and I thought Oh, I have that die and dug it out and did a couple of them. I really liked her color combo with the browns coming through so, that was a totally copy for me to dig out those colors. Tattered Rose, Salt water taffy, Candied Apple, Antique Linen Distress Oxide Inks. 

The first one on the right was more heavily influenced by her card than the one on the left, so the one on the right I am probably going to give to hubs. I just used what ever, but it did have me digging through my Tim Holtz office supplies type dies as well and I cut stacks of file folders and bitty envelopes too while I was at it. These are both A2 in real life. The one on the left I used some shimmery opal stardream paper ( a while back to emboss that plaid ish texture to and it was just handy. That chiffon ribbon wrapped around it is something I came across at Hobby Lobby in January after the holidays. I do like this and if they still have it next time I am in that store I will probably buy the other colors. 

 Then monday came and I had seen the Clean and simple challenge at SCS was to include a heart and I had received these Penny Black dies in the mail that day and so, I did cut them from some of those papers on the table and thought OK this could work. That Love diecut is something old from Poppy stamps that I did a long time ago and then you know used an eraser on it after this was shot because, there are a lot of times it's such a cave up here when it's cloudy I just don't see things the same anymore. So, its interesting and helpful to me to see them as a photograph that I can enlarge on the screen and fix bloopers after the fact. And since its just for my own amusement and I am in the whole keep it real phase I just post it and move on.

Which lead me to looking at my other Penny Black dies and I came across this pot with all the heart stems growing out of it set and cut a stack of them from some Artist loft water color paper and then added some paint to them yesterday after work.
 

The Happy Valentines day tag is a Lili of the Valley stamp ( I believe they have gone strictly digital now but, I have physical stamps from them and I still play with mine) The mini copper-ish brad is probably from Recollections. I have a tiny jello mold on my table filled with these things because, when you could go to the store and buy them I did. ( I am glad I stocked up on them I don't see these in the stores anymore and I do like brads more than eyelets actually) 

 

So, I shot this last card early this morning way before the sun came up and so, the colors are a little off and dark. That card base is some Stampin' Up! Blushing bride ( I love that shade of pink) And the circle framing diecut in the center is something from My Creative Time called Circle card front dies. I tend to shy away from circles so, I have been die cutting and taping a bunch of these together out of these papers and some of the scraps laying around and now I have a little pile of them to play with as well. The frame part of this its a little busy so, its hard to see but, these die cuts the frame has some cute stitching details on them. I did try to tilt that pot straight here ( its on with a glue dot and it decided to just wiggle it self back to crooked again. I did run the top cover of the card base through the big shot with a Sizzix folder but, It only says sizzix on it so, I don't remember its real name anymore ( I want to say it could be an old Basic Grey Christmas one but, that is a best guess situation.) That's about it from me, I hope your doing well & thanks for stopping by. 

Watercoloring Simple Hearts

 This week there is this video seen here on YouTube called "3 easy watercolor Valentine's cards for beginners" by artby_Shagun on doing a trio of very simple heart ideas for Valentines day last minute cards. I was able to see this at lunch and did two of them after work. so, they really are quick ideas. So I had a piece of Arches cold press and I cut in half to have two smallish pieces to try this on. I did use Daniel Smith watercolors that were on the table.

 The first idea show's dangling hearts from a branch that needs drying time so, this is where I walked away from this one to start the next idea. 

 Which for me ended up being the third idea in the video. my brain totally forgot about the jar filled with heart stems until I linked to the video here so. I feel OK with getting two of the three done.

 When both of those were dry I decided to add a little more paint to the hearts and then decided to do gold to the hanging loops and the dotted berries on the wreath.

 I did end up using a brown pen to make the hanging loops for the branch idea. And since my favorite idea in the video was the wreath and there as a limited amount of time to finish this I focused on it and I ended up cutting it out with an really old Spellbinders Labels 2 die. 

 I knew I wanted the card to be a red one so, I did make the base from some SU ridinghood red in an A2 size and then found this dot print in one of the Maja designs packs and cut that down to fit. and I looked a lot of other printed papers for a mat for the painting and finally decided to just go darker red with this textured Corrugate from Fancy pants cut with a larger die in that same set. This got wrapped with some vintage lace and there is a layer of foam pop dots between the diecut layers for some depth. The sentiment tag here is from lili of the Valley stamped with some tulip red on some artist loft watercolor paper and cut out with scissors. the tiny brad is probably from Recollections and its on this with Glue dots. That's about it from me, I am pushing the branch panel around still trying to decide what to do with it. I hope you are doing well. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by. 

Inspired by {Proflowers}

 This week Julie is sharing the proflowers website & Pinterest boards for the Inspiration challenge. I seen these pretty pink roses and thought OK you could paint something. And thinking that I started a painting which did not go well. I tossed that and pivoted to trying this embossing folder. ( which If I had realized it would do 2 different patterns I probably would not have bought this) 

So I started adding paint to it and that was kinda not going well so, 

After adding more paint I decided this was going sideways and not working so, I set it aside and decided to start over again today when I got home. 

And I had this Maja Designs Miles apart paper pack and it has this roses, ( and others that are so very pretty in it, the heart background has the stripes as its reverse print on it) and decided it was all too busy for the things I had done earlier and thought, you know. you could just use this paper and use it together. So, I cut the main bouquet out of one of the sheets and used another and its drop trim for the rest. The With Love is an Simon Says Stamp die and I just got this. The vellum mat is from PTI cardstock and the detail letters are cut from some really old MFT insulation pink. The base here is some SU pink ( I can't spell it but I think its a Ballet term) that pink. Pir something. And this is 5 1/2" square in real life. I think the sentiment can go a few different ways so, I have not added anything to the interior as of yet. 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 a loose blue Arrangement

 This week Linda is sharing this video tutorial seen here on YouTube called Easy Fun watercolours florals to try by Andrew Geeson Loose Watercolors. It's a quick one so, I did change the colors of blues to Cobalt and Indigo and used Sap Green and Indian red Daniel smith paints with some Arches cold press.

 I cut the paper to 5" square and used a water soluble pencil for the vase.

First rounds of paints, I just kept painting between these layers I did not let this dry.

 

I probably kept going too far but, I realized the waterline in the vase was for the back side of it so, I did add more to the "front" curve and that lead to adding water to the whole what ever its sitting on and adding more paint there as well.

 Where I stopped before it turned into a pile of mud with the brushes I used. I am now waiting to see what it looks like dry. 

 When it was dry it looked like this and I decided to leave it alone. Found this Maja designs gingham print that was a "close enough" blend of those blue shades and added it to a SU cream paper at 6" square. I have left off a greeting as I do not know what I am going to do with it as of yet. I hope you are doing well & if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here. Thanks for stopping by. 

An Inspired VSN Scene

 This week Denise is sharing the Happy Walls site for Inspiration and I happened across this chilly looking scene and I knew I had this pad of paper from KaiserCraft on the table ( the sheet music paper came out of it) and I also knew that LizBeth had a Make it Icy VSN Challenge.

 

 It took a little while to clear the decks enough to have some space to do it and so, I did leave the paper out, not in this shot is a little white container that has like 3 wells and a tall handle and it has previously cut and colored images and sentiments in it, and there was this cat that had been stamped and colored last November some time and he has been patiently waiting for me to use him.

The Tim Holtz cat is from the Snarky Christmas cats set from 2020 and he was stamped on kraft cardstock and watercolored. The sentiment was die cut with a TH sentiment labels die and that base is some SU Taupe at 5 1/2" square. This card took probably less than 30 minutes to do because of the everything was in reach and thought about before hand. That's about it from me, Thanks for stopping by & stay warm out there today. 
 

 

Virtual Stamp Night { Go 4 the Gold Continued }

 Good Morning, I hope you are staying warm and have some time for yourself this weekend. I decided to steal some for me in snatches yesterday and I did do a couple of simple cards for VSN that is going on now. And this morning when I came up the stairs this is what I seen. And I decided. that if I would like to do a few more of the challenges today I need to clear the decks.

 The view when I got to the top of the stairs.

 Where I actually stand to stamp. Yeah, the struggle is real and it looks like I lost.. haha. I won't put away everything you see here as I do create with what ever is in front of me and I "Know" that pad of printed paper that was used on the snowman card below just may have a forest scene print that will pull together a wall paper I seen for this weekends IC that Denise is hosting and LizBeths Icy VSN challenges... but, that will be later this morning maybe after the sun is up is the hope. 

 Kim is hosting a back to the basics challenge ( stamps, ink & paper only) and I had this drop piece of Bashful Blue card from my VSN sample I made for my challenge and I also have ( its hard to see but, on the first desk shot, I am making stamped sheets for pockets that I laminate for cling stamp storage and this sentiment is in one of those silly dog sets from Unity Stamps ( a new one I think ) and I knew it was over there so I stamped it on the bottom of this 3" square and then started looking for a face that would fit above it. ( This gal is one of the oldest stamps I have and I took her off the block a long time ago and my memory does not remember her name at the moment) but, I did add a little bit of watercolor paint to this. ( very little water in the paint) and called it "good enough" 

 The next one I did finish is this long tall snowman for Vickkijo's made from snow challenge. I stamped it on some Arches cold press watercolor paper with Versafine morning mist and started adding DS watercolors to it, I also had stamped two of the twig arms on a scrap from when I cut around the body but, I was not able to successfully cut around those "fingers" so, the pivot was I decided about where he would stand on that Kaiser kraft music sheet print and then stamped one twig directly on the printed paper, glued him down, then waited for any paint on his body to be fully dry then stamped the cross body arm. There is watercolor on both of them and it was very little water so, the printed paper was fine with that. The base here is some Textured Bazzill and this one is A6 in real life. I did that sentiment tag a few weeks ago and I no longer remember the details. ( I might edit this if I find the packages as I am "cleaning" ) 

Those were the two I got done in the middle of the very early Saturday am night and then when we got home in the afternoon I stole some time from helping Hubs to do this one for Brenda's Mountains / Gold Mining challenge that had gone live when I went up stairs again.

The scene here is from the Stampin' Up! Beauty of Life set and its on some cold press Arches with a light first round of DS watercolor paints. ( My eyes seen a lack of shadows on this and I may add more paint to it later) This was cut with a large Spellbinders deckle die and the edges have some Scorched Timber DOX ink on it, its up on foam pop dots. That sentiment is from the Paper Artsy Sara Naumann set that I have not clue what the sets name is. maybe ESN40 ?I stamped some time around last Christmas and it was just sitting there waiting for me to diecut it, so I used a Spellbinders Perfect touch rectangle die on it to give it some interest on the edges and found this green in my ( I don't know what brands loose sheets hanging folder of green papers and made it A2.) And then I added some white gouache to the clouds and the water ripples because, that paper is not really a "bright" white and I wanted those highlights. That's about it from me at the moment. I am hoping to be back later with more progress. Thanks for stopping by.