Dare to get Dirty day 6

 Today I happened to play along with trying out Brenda's DTGD challenge seen here.

  During the holidays I need simple little cards to tuck gift cards into for work. So, I started with a sheet of very old SU very vanilla which is not quite 12" square. knowing that, I tend to chop it up as I like to make large square cards. Okay, all the sizes of square cards.  

 

 I did cut this at 5" and then was left with a strip from the middle as a drop piece and I used that to stamp the little gingers and water colored them cutting them with scissors.
I did pop them up on foam pop dots.

 

The tiny tags with the sentiment were done on a scrap of watercolor paper. (and I spent hours searching for which set that sentiment may have came out of the rubber is purple) So I have 8 finished 3X3 cards and one extra ginger colored and cut out. That's about it from me, I hope you are enjoying the challenges this week and playing along. If you want more information on how to join the fan club you can find that here. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Watercoloring Simple Blooms

 This week Brenda has chosen this video from Paper Wand studio seen here on YouTube. 

first round of paint with minimal shading.

Second round of paints, not much more going on.

Had this drop piece decided to completely cover it with the same green paint as the leaves/stems and then misted it with water and let dry. ( this is Strathmore 400 series wc paper) warped right up into a dome.

added a little more paint to those flowers. and decided to cut the drop piece with a Stitched border die from My Favorite Things. Stitched Basic Edge 2 set ( it does the stitches on both sides of the curve, so I wiggled it to use both curves the same way like cut but, moving up and down to let the flowers peek through from behind and then just trimmed it. 

The painted panel is up on foam tape and the sentiment is also up on foam pop dots. This one finished out at A7 in real life and I did add a little more paint to those petals. I really did watch that video but, you could have fooled me when this was done ,eh? :) such is life. This is also a sneaky peek at one of tomorrow's Dare to get Dirty Challenges. This sentiment is from The Simon Says Stamp Tiny Words Birthday set cut with a My Favorite things stitched dome die. If you'd like to play along with us you can find out more here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by.

Dare to get Dirty Day 4

 today opens up a challenge from Jeanne ( found here) and at the time I had read about her challenge I had received an order from The Greetery mostly dies) and So, I had this tag on the table when I started. I am thinking if I wanted to this could become a slimline card if needed down the line but, so far its still a tag.

I am not really sure "why" but this tag has a perforated end and I did cut that off with scissors. The Penny Black Par Avon stamp was watercolored with Daniel Smith paints.

I did add some stickles glitter glue to the hats when the paint was dry and DOX vintage photo ink along the edges.That sentiment is from the Mama Elephant Holiday Messages set.

The tiny tag at the top is a die from the Poppy Stamps Mainstreet pinpoint tags set ( the smallest tag in the set) and the sentiment is from Stampendous done in some tulip red versafine ink. the Hemp strings are natural and black colored. So, it is actually very flat and could become a card front easily I think.

I had some time last night waiting for tonight's watercolor sample challenge paint to dry and I remember about Bev's challenge ( seen here ) So I gave that a whirl also. 

I originally thought to stamp the sentiment on the background to do one layer but, I was not positive about getting a really good impression with this stamp ( its old) and so I did it on a second piece and cut it out with scissors. 

It was a little pale for me so I did take a black pen to it when the paint dried. and there is also of course DOX vintage photo ink along the edges to blend that white line from cutting. The tag it self I used a Tag Sale Quilted Tag Die from Papertrey Ink. the gingham ribbon is from Offray and the Burlap string is from May Arts. the tiny tag is also from Poppy Stamps and it's blank because, I tend to either put a monogram or a name on those tags when I give them away so, this is saves a step later closer to Christmas. There is a bit of red stickles glue on the berries above the heart on this also. That's about it from me, I hope you all are enjoying this week. Thanks for stopping by.

Dare to get dirty Day 3

 Today I have for you some cute little Christmas Cookie cards done for Janine's DTGD challenge seen here on Splitcoaststampers. 

These are folding card dies from The Stamps of Life. These are the first dies I have ever bought from that company and I do like them and will more than likely add to the collection down the road but, these darlings are why I caved. The also make flat tag shapes if you did not do the base piece and just the body piece. ( Can you see that? I did do the bodies in a slightly lighter color than the bases) but, every piece has Distress Oxide vintage photo along the edges. The candy cane and the bow on her collar are from the Spellbinders post and parcel set and the tiny ginger cookie tucked into her pocket is from the Cottagecutz gingerbread gnome die. The tiny buttons are from the jesse james dress it up line and the hemp string is natural color. There is a bit of white gel pen on the tiny Gingerbread cookie and looking at this I am thinking I should have done the cheeks on the big ones. This was the first time I had cut and played with these so, I did want to keep them flat-ish for mailing. They fit inside an A2 envelope. That's about it from me, I hope you all are enjoying this week and Thanks for stopping by.

Dare to get Dirty day 2

 Today I have a sample I did for Kittie's challenge seen here at Splitcoaststampers because, as soon as I seen the request I knew it would work out perfectly for my Aunt's birthday.

I had diecut all the pieces you see in this from Watercolor paper, and painted them with Daniel Smith paints.

 I started with using the (one piece) garden tub fillers from the Greetery (foliage) in the tub and then started mixing in blooms and other pieces from some Spellbinders Botanical Sprigs, Sizzix Foliage Wrap. I was mostly looking at my die collection for scale rather than matching manufactures. The yellow flowers I thought looked like tulips when I cut them apart to arrange.

had some moments tucking things into this garden tub where I really did not know what to do with the handles up or down, and I messed with that for a while. and I ultimately did not use everything I had cut and painted while
building before I said OK this is lush.

I did tie on some old fibers by the yard (yarn) around the tub and there are some tiny slivers of foam pop dots under some of the leaves and blooms for different depths. The tiny sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly cut with a stitched square die from (I forgot I own at least 4 different brands of this again because of the sizes are different) that metal stick pin is from Tim Holtz.

The peeling woodgrain printed paper is from Recollections and the zig zag at the bottom is I am guessing My Minds Eye. the base is some textured Bazzill and this one is 6" square in real life. 

That's about it from me, I hope you all are doing well & Thanks for stopping by.

Inspired by and Dare to get Dirty starts

 This week the Inspiration is taking a look at Natures Jewelry (the challenge is here) 

Where I found this simple cuff bracelet and I knew I had this same thought in a stamp so, I had also received my recent IO order from when their dies were on sale ( I don't remember how long the sale is/was on for) but, I did pick up a little stack of the stitched edge ones including the Crazy Stitched set so, that was how this simple card came about. 

This is A2 in real life, the base is some Neenah millstone, the printed paper was a scrap and the sentiment was white. That crochet lace is from May Arts ( and it's old) the edges of everything has a bit of Distress Oxide Vintage photo ( what else is there right?) 

And today also begins the marathon otherwise known as Dare to get Dirty... I believe altogether there are just under 50 challenges and on today's line up I did play along in advance making a Christmas tag for Lori's first challenge seen here.

I am going through this phase of use some of the older things you have and neglected things you have to you know make things you will really use type of a mind set. This old stamp is from Penny Black called Santa Wishes and I had stamped it with some Simon Says Stamp barely beige ink and colored it with Copic markers. this had that no line coloring look but, I wanted it to be a little sharper where the stitch lines should be so, I ended up grabbing a fine line marker and adding them in after the fact.

Like so, and also grabbed a white gel pen for cheeks and highlights. I cut this panel out with a die from the Our Daily Bread Designs lavish layers set. ( I like that little peek a boo cut away along the edges) rubbed some (vintage photo DOX) on it.

For me the fun part of making tags is you can make them lumpy and heavy and collage-y as you want because, I never stick these in an envelope. they either get gifted out in person or packed on packages in boxes so, that is just a little fun thing for me. The printed reverse sentiment on the bottom is from Simon Says Stamp it's up on foam pop dots, that little metal prim star is really old from Making Memories, The foliage is a die from Penny Black ( cut two of them) from watercolor paper and painted with Daniel smith paints.) called Berry Branch. I think that plaid printed paper is Basic Grey cut with a spellbinders Shortie tag, there is cardstock glued to the back side. ( I have every scrap of that stuff squirreled away still. ( I use it but, I cut it even the tiny pieces) the stitched ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and the grossgrain is unknown, the tiny tags are from the Poppy Stamps mainstreet pinpoint tag set, and the larger one is from I have to look that up. The tiny tag has a SU itty bitty sentiment on it tied on with some Black Hemp string. 

I make it into a hobby lobby store about 3 times a year and right before I made this tag I had seen that they are still selling Stampabilities wood mounted stamps ( that surprised me) and I liked the font/size of this one so, that is what is stamped on the back side of the tag.  So far, from today's line up this is what I have done. If you'd like to check out the DTGD challenges your fan club membership needs to be active and you can find them all here. That's about it from me, hope your doing well & thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring Abstract Mini Paintings

 This week Angie has shared this video from Karen Rice on doing several small abstract paintings at once with the idea they will fit on cardfronts. 

So I taped off a piece of Arches watercolor paper with skinny-ish washi tape like in the video rather than the very wide masking tape I normally use.

I grabbed a derwent watercolor pencil and misted it with water. 

First layers of color 

Next layers.

added some bubble wrap to the center panel as it was wet.

added some splatters on the end panels.

So I had added crumpled plastic on the one here on the left and had removed the bubble wrap in the center but, I really could not see much texture from them. ( the humidity here is running between 17% - as much as a whopping 20% most days so, the paint was drying nearly instantly.

Added some white Dr. PH Martins bleed proof white and I had laughed at my self after it dried that instead of being abstract I may have got it a little wolverine claw marked instead. 

Pulled the tape off.

So, a long time ago there was a tutorial to do this fancy fold. and it was hard for me, seriously hard so when I finally figured it out I did a few of them. and I shoved them in a drawer, and I found them again when I went digging for some cardstock to make a base and decided to use one here. ( this is the far right panel) I did shoot this with my cell phone as because of the angle and the not flat ness it did not want to focus ( my real camera) and part of it is I have the window coverings shut to help keep the heat out so, its also a little darker than it really is. If you'd like to play along with us, you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers. Thanks for stopping by.

Inspired by { Carole Jarvis's Pinterest Boards}

 It's my turn to host the inspiration challenge this week and I had done a search using vintage stamp designer names that I knew I had to see what would pop and found this collection of boards curated by Carole Jarvis. I seen Thomas Kinkade, Debbie Mumm, Susan Winget, Charles Wysocki, Tim Coffey, Carolyn Shores Wright, but where I stopped was on the Barbara Mock board seen here.  And I realized I own some of her art as Penny Black stamps. So, I dug out this Nesting Topiary and stamped it with Barely Beige Simon Says Stamp ink on some Arches cold press watercolor paper. ( and I could hardly see it) So, I left the stamp on the table and attempted to do a loose watercolor of it and have it be use able.

the first snap shot. as you can see you may just catch the bird above the pot? ( it was one of the darkest parts) 

And I just kept adding more paint to it and pretty much ad-libbed what I thought should be where type of a thing as it didn't stamp perfectly or darkly enough to do it as seen on the index sticker. It is also 19% humidity here so, it pretty much dried instantly as painted and I just kept it sketchy and loose.

Where I stopped, I used a waffle flower A7 rectangle die to trim it down and inked the edges of both it and the Basic Grey green printed paper with some Distress Oxide Vintage Photo for depth. The base is some textured Bazzill at A7 in real life. I left off a sentiment as I do not know what I want to do with it yet. If you'd like to play along with with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers. I hope you all are doing well, Thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring a {Robin's Nest }

 It's my turn to host the watercoloring challenge at Splitcoaststampers and a while back this one from Emma Jane Lefebvre caught my eye as something I wanted to try.

So, I cut a piece of Arches cold press to 4 1/2" square and did a very rough sketch in the center with a trio of eggs. 

and started out adding some Daniel Smith browns, black and green to become the base of the nest.

added more to the nest when it dried and some blue greens to the eggs. I did keep adding just a little more paint to this a couple more times.

I decided there should be some orange-ish brown spots on the eggs and kept adding more twigs to the nest but, I think the dry brush was too dry for some twigs and perhaps this would have had more depth with a larger scale. I die cut the watercolor panel with a Pinkfresh blanket stitch square die and the sentiment was cut with a spellbinders labels trio die. these panels are up on foam tape over the Hobby Lobby printed leaf paper and the white woodgrain I think may be Micheals recollections. ( these were scraps) and the base is some textured Bazzill. It finished out at 6" square in real life. That sentiment is from A Muse. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers.

Inspired by { Hester & Cook }

 This week Kia has chosen the Hester & Cook site where I stopped at this table cloth. My friend at work gifted me a year or two ago with a huge pad of plaid papers from Hobby Lobby. ( I ripped up the book and sorted them by dominate colors so, I don't know the whole pads name anymore but, I'd guess they probably still sell it or something similar) ( doesn't everyone love plaid?) and it made me think of this paper and I decided that if I cut it down and let the background peek out it would be OK. and then it was you know very neekid with just the plaid on the background So I rubbed on some Distress Oxide along all the edges and that gave it a little more of a country feel to me so, I decided red meant I should do something Christmas-y and the top built it self from a few things near and on the table. 

 

The big tag die is from Poppy Stamps called Mainstreet pinpoint tags, The Ginger girl is an older Penny Black stamp done on some Strathmore 400 series water color paper with Versafine Acorn ink &  painted with Daniel smith paints. ( I cut her out with scissors) and then inked the backside of her with more vintage photo. ( it blends the white cut lines without running ink over the top of the paint) That Swiss dot ribbon is from Stampin up, the red heart button probably came from Joann's or Micheal's a long time ago. The candy cane die is from the Cottage Cutz Santa Gnome with Christmas tree set the With Love is from lili of the Valley sentiment tags set and the Hello Sweetie ginger tag is from lotv's Christmas recipe tags stamp set. ( I am pretty sure you can buy these as printing files but, that is something that just does not enter my brain as something to do, I am very much a reach for a stamp kind of a crafter so, I have been picking up their clear stamp on etsy. my really old stamps are rubber and I miss that but, these seem to be nice quality clear stamp so YAY. There is a bit of white gel pen on the ginger after the paint was dry and the natural hemp string is what is tying on the tiny tags and filling the button holes.  Of all the things, I do not remember who makes the tiny printed gingham the big tag was cut from anymore. The finished size of this card is A6 in real life, I hope you all are doing well & Thanks for stopping by. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at Splitcoaststampers.

Watercoloring a blue scene

 Hi & Happy Independence Day everyone! This week Kia has shared a painting a blue scene from nasimart Seen here on YouTube. I tend to watch all these video's with them on mute and the closed captioning playing. So, I am not so sure exactly what the focus of this one was. the actual scene the monochromatic look or the color blue. 

So, I decided to not over think it and just do something similar. blue scene, pretty monochromatic, used a newish brush on some Strathmore 400 series watercolor scrap with Daniel Smith paints. with a new to me brush found here. ( inlaid liner brush)

a closer look at the scene and the tip of that brush.

and its hot here, really hot so the clear water on the right side of the scene was totally dry before I got to that second tree.

So, I decided that since it was dry here when this was shot I decided I could just add more paint over the top of the whole thing. 

Some browns and greens went in around the cabin /grounds and then the trees also received another layer of paints in the foliage. 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.