Inspired by {Collage Quilter}

 This week Denise is sharing the Collage Quilter site for inspiration And they have a collection of Pinterest boards here. I started looking knowing I needed another Father's Day card so, I started searching for Blue and Plaid I seen these country plaids. And this one  I have these old SU background stamps that mimic that but, I also know My husband used to back pack into places to go fly fishing some of our first "dates" we did this in little mountain streams and so, I dug out this really old SU set. I think when I bought it I did not have any coloring skills so I always used it as a line art image and I wanted to see if I could paint it to color it so, I stamped it on some Smooth hot press Arches cotton watercolor paper with some Versafine Sand Dune ink. I did not remember it being so not defined in the shadows. ( of his face ) 

first round of paints, these are Daniel Smith colors. I did not have any kind of a plan before I started this for colors I just knew I wanted the waders to be "bright green" and then somehow the yellow said pick me for a shirt. ha ha. this is not an outfit hubs would have worn. but, I did let this dry and then started adding more.

after the paint was dry I added some white gouache ( Windsor & Newton) straight out of the tube to places where I think there would be splashes or maybe foam in the water. for interest. I also added a Stardust gelly roll pen over the fishing line and to a few places inside the net where I think the fish could be for sparkle. 

 I am not so sure this angle shows the sparkle either but, its there. I also added another layer of paint to the mountains and water around the guys body for some contrast to give the scene more depth. I did add in some greys over the paint colors. also the waders kept bugging me because I could not figure out where the straps should be so I finally just add-libbed them up the chest to the shoulders. I figure they are baggy and they would be off set I guess from twisting around in the water right?  

I used a Honeybee stamps deckle edge die to cut this out and then found this printed paper in the whimsy stamps cottage core pack. (its glossy in real life) so, the colors were off a little when I was trying to shoot it with my cell phone it read it as black instead of blue and so, I did wait for the sun to come up this morning to use my camera. I know its not nearly the same as the plaids that I first seen but, it does have both blue and brown in it and it fits a little better with a fishing scene to me so, I decided to just keep going. I think the whole idea of the "inspiration" is for it to jump start a project you actually finish right?

I have not added a sentiment to the inside yet, the base is one of those SU ones they don't make anymore that I am mostly hoarding for cutting gingerbread dies with and its name escapes me but, this is 5 1/2" square in real life. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & thanks for stopping by. 

Wild Buck

 This week the Clean and Simple challenge has an use an Wild Animal as the theme and I have so many wild animal stamps that it took me a while to decide what to do, and then knowing I always need guy cards I decided to pick one that I would not have to color as the line art is very detailed and in my head that meant it was more "clean" 

This is a Unity Stamps "The Wild Haven" image that was done with Versafine Pinecone ink on some Neenah environmental card. I used an really old Simon Says Stamp wonky stitched rectangle die to trim it down and then used the same cardstock for its base. And then I started second guessing the whole thing about if it really was Clean and simple as the white space is in short supply on an A2 sized card. I did end up using some DOX scorched timber ink on the edges of the diecut panel to give it some more depth. And it was a really quick and easy card to do. So, I may just pull out some more similar types of line art and do a stack of them while the mess is out. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & thanks for stopping by. 
 

Lavender Farms for Dad

 So I kept adding more paint to the lavender farm painting I started last week and finished it into a Father's day card for my dad. He's a gardener so it works. 

 One thing I did every time I added paint to this was added more dots of color to the closer view of Lavender and then I added more dots of color to the flower beds around the front of the house and more color to those trees. 

 I did add more paint to the where the rows would be growing as well. 

The thing with the cell phone shots like this is it seems to wash out a little bit of the color this has. and then I do the real camera shots and I also get something not quite right where I have to tinker with the levels. The white levels. I think the actual color is somewhere between this shot and the one below as a card.

The shape of this was a little off to fit on an A7 card so I used a piece of Simon Says Stamp cream for a mat under it after letting it sit in the big shot trying to press it flat. The sentiment here is from the Clearly Besotted Message me set. I tend to like those mixed fonts ones and this set is on the smaller side so its very usable for me I guess. The base here is some Coredinations Lettuce. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well and Thanks for stopping by. 

Watercoloring a Floral Flamingo

 This week we have MariLynn for a guest hostess for the watercolor tutorial challenge at Splitcoaststamper and she has chosen this floral Flamingo from Julia Lis Art that can be seen here on YouTube. 

 So I did a simple sketch on a piece of Cold Press Arches watercolor paper and I didn't have a scale in mind when I started so, I ended up too close to the bottom and I thought OK this can be the trial one... I was not really sure what to do with the feet and so, I did consider trimming it to be more of a peek view type thing if the body turned out. 

 So I started doing some flowers with pinks and corals and orange and walked away to let it dry. The sketch was done with a water soluble pencil so, I was not worried about painting over that. 

 I ended up doing some black in the feet as well thinking there would be "toes" if they call them that. I'm not really sure. and again I walked away and just let it dry.

 So I trimmed off the excess at the top of the painted layer and then found some sparkly Stardream pink cardstock for a mat and used a Pretty Pink Posh stitched border die ( from set #4) on the edge for some interest and then used some textured Natural Royal Sundance felt cardstock for the base. The sentiment here is from the Gina K Wishing well set and it was done on some Neenah solar white some time ago. This is 5 1/2" square in real life. I cannot for the life of me remember if there is supposed to be an eye on the face or not so, I may have to go look at the video again to see what the final project looks like but, this is what I remembered so I am pretending the eye is peeking out under one of those petals haha. Okay I did not see an eye on the sample bird and I also noticed that I had filled in the space around the petals and where the tail/wing tip feathers started so, mine is a little dark in that area but, all in all its a pretty cute first try with something like this. That's about it from me, if you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here. Thanks for stopping by. 

 

 

Father's Day

 It's coming, you know its coming every year and since my step dad does not have an online presence it's OK to post his card even though its going out in the mail this morning.

I picked up this PinkInk Mel's Angel from the Frantic Stamper retirement sale not too long ago knowing I wanted to use it for him. ( he has done both the long blond hair along with the assortment of Harley's over the years so, the hair has gone grey now and the last bike was a glittery Purple.) I did stamp this with some Nocturn (waterproof) ink and then let it sit for a few days as this is textured cold press Arches cotton paper. and this image is really big, I tend to make bigger cards so buying stamps from the UK brands works out for me for the most part but, this one did take my by surprise.

I thought about popping in a mug shot of us on this bike as I have one framed but, it was not a digital shot and photographing photos does not always work so great for me, my brain still looks through the lens of a DSLR and expects I will get what I see haha. ( these flat shots are always done with my cell phone over the table) It's probably hard to see but, there are several shades of shimmery paints in the lights and on the chrome of the bike and the sunglasses lens here. So it has some sparkle as the paper is tilted.

I found one of those loose sheets of textured cardstock in a deep shade of purple for the base and cut it to A7 and then started trimming down the image on the paper trimmer so it could fit with a sliver of the purple peeking out. There was an "make it Masculine" clean and simple challenge a couple of weeks ago at SCS and I started this with that in mind. I stamped that sentiment ( from the Unity Stamps set called wild surprises with the moose) when it came in the mail and die cut it with an Whimsy stamps Antique frame die in that set and thought OK that hair is certainly wild so, to me it fits and I think it will surprise a laugh out of him) That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & Thanks for stopping by. 
 

 

 

Inspired by {Neiman Marcus}

 This week Kia is sharing the Neiman Marcus store & Pinterest Boards for inspiration and I came across these Pink Jimmy Choos and stopped looking. I love these, every detail about them but, I would not wear them so, they are not something I'd buy but, I like to look at shoes.  ( I am more of a rainbow of Chucks kind of a chick when I am not barefoot) 

So I started by Stamping this shoe from Limited Edition 1997 with some Versafine Baby Pink ink on some Authentique lace paper that was really cream colored. So, I smooshed some DOX Salt Water Taffy ink over that and cut it out with scissors then used a stardream stardust pen on the buckle and bottom of the heel and used some Daniel Smith watercolors in the "shadow" parts of those straps that mimic's the colors of the Paper Studio paper behind it. The mat under this is some brushed silver that sparkles and the card base is some Star Dream cardstock that also sparkles and shimmers. This is 5 1/2" square in real life. The sentiment here is from Inky Antics and was stamped directly on the Paper studio layer with some Versafine Nocturn ink. And I ended up choosing it just because, it made me chuckle. I have not decided who needs to receive this in the mail as of yet so, the inside is blank. Thanks 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 Lavender Farm Scene

 Hello & Welcome here, this week Linda is sharing a video tutorial on doing a Lavender farm scene. You can see this video here on YouTube. 

I did sketch this scene real loose on some cold press Arches watercolor paper with a water soluble pencil. ( because, that is what is on the table with my brushes) and I knew seeing how wet the paper was in the video I would have to do it from memory like usual so, I did not do a lot of details with it.)

 like so

 This is my first layers of paint while it was wet and I did try to keep the house and those trees near it dry. I also had started out with a regular round brush and remembered that they used an Mop style brush and I did use mine ( my smallest DaVinci 1) and my inner control freak was screaming and it holds an enormous amount of water in that brush.. so, one of the bristles fell into the paint and I haha chased it around with a sharp poking tool on the table and left some pretty big scratches into that paint and then added more to make it look more intentional.

 So, I decided to walk away and let it dry and this is what I came back to.

So I added more paint to the "road" and the horizon foliage line and added some paint to the mountains and the house walls. and I walked away again. 

 

And this is how that dried. and I am debating about if I want to toss it and start over or just keep going but, its now time to load these to the gallery and I feel like it needs a lot more paint to work and I am not so sure I am going to be able to ignore the scratches. So, I am planning to add more to the fields on the right side when I get this wet again. 

 

I think this may take a few more days to finish as I will be driving all day for work tomorrow and I have not done that in a while.  If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS. Thanks for stopping by. 

Inspired by { Painted Papers }

 This week Denise is sharing this Painted Paper wall paper site for Inspiration they have Pinterest boards seen here and I laughed when I seen this pin of pale Kraft or tan Gingham. I have piles and piles of Gingham papers so, I stopped looking after that. 

And I tried too hard and made a really not pretty Baby card, and then I had one more piece of this print in this color in the Simple Stories Simple Vintage pad and I started over again with this Darcie's Bear. ( it has patches and a Band-Aid on its forehead and I thought it would work well for a feel better type card.) So I stamped the bear with some Versafine Clair Sand dune ink on some Arches cold press and used some Daniel Smith watercolors on it.

 These colors are off here, lately it seems like everything I shoot with my camera is off and this is actually a tinge more red in real life so, that is probably why its off. Red is picky to shoot digitally to me. I did cut this out with scissors and then popped it up on some foam dots over the printed Gingham paper.

 I wanted to the paper showing around the bear so, I kept it simple and used an Avery Elle die to cut it out and then stamped the Clearly Besotted Message me sentiment directly on the paper with some Acorn ink. The base here is a rich shade of Kraft that is nearly the same colors of paint as used on the bear and it's A2 in real life. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & thanks for stopping by. 

Watercoloring Loose trees

 This week Suz is sharing this quick and easy video on doing very loose and wet forest scenes that can be seen here on YouTube called The Easiest way to paint watercolor trees in only 3 steps by Kristin Van Leuven. And I had recently picked up a Lighwish swatch book on Amazon (it's cotton pages) The book I started making into a swatch book years ago was some cannon? something cheap and I have given away a lot of the paint sets I had and I've only kept a few brands And so I was you know swatch swiping paint while I watched the video and I happened to have these handmade paints I found on Etsy made by Jazper Stardust a while back out at the time so, the first round of trees were done with those. (They are not smooth when dry, they have like a gritty texture to them kind of like Tim Holtz distress embossing powders is what they remind me of, that gritty texture.) ( Pretty colors though) 

I did do this on a scrap of Arches cold press watercolor paper. And I set it aside and tried it again with some Daniel Smith paints that were on a Palette here.

 

first layers of paint, it bleed everywhere so, it was kind of flat and one dimensional so, while it was damp I kept adding more pigments to it.

 I still did not get much dimension to the scene so I let them dry and eventually I did end up adding a little more paint for some shadows and on the tree trunks mainly.

 I just I am not sure what I want to do with these so, they are unfinished like this, I am thinking more trees maybe some flying birds, for sure more shadows... and so, I think the ground shadows turned out better on the one on the left. I did end up adding some DS paints over the top of the handmade paints. If you'd like to play along with us you can find this challenge here at SCS.  And that's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & thanks for stopping by.

A Textured Noel

 I had a little free time yesterday afternoon while I was waiting for the paints to dry for tomorrow's sample and I also have a small wooden tray on the table that has partially started things in it, The thought process was maybe I'd finish them some time. So I started poking around and I came across this drop piece with the embossed berries and branches that had been colored and stamped on in the past. ( The original project is can be seen here) I did like how it turned out, I was surprised how long this has been "saved" to be used. It always surprises me how quickly the time is going by now.  At any rate, I did add a little more watercolor to a few leaves and more white gouache on the spots on the berries as well.

 I recently picked up a couple of "shaped edge" card dies made by Find it Trading from a little shop at the top of the state that sells on Etsy (here) and I wanted to see how it would look. This one is a deckle type edge and it does cut all the edge and score the center so the top where you fold it does not have a deckle edge. So I pulled out some DOX Vintage photo ink and did the edges of the card ( both sides) and all the edges of that previously textured card with it. And a while back I had seen someone say they diecut their word dies in multiples when they got them so they could glue them together. And that made sense to me so, I had one of those times in the way back cut this Penny Black Immense Noel die from thin Micheal's Artist loft watercolor paper and glued a couple together, so here I decided to add some green paints to it.

I did use some Simon Says Stamp foam strips to raise it up above the card panel for depth and then there was room to add the very lumpy Mullbery Poinsettia. I did daub some DOX on the stamen of it as well as it was pretty bright in this more vintage feeling card to me so, It didn't take too much time to do this and then when I photographed it I thought I need to daub some red paint onto the textured panel at the end of where the center of the E ends as it just blends so well with those leaves behind it color wise its hard to read the letter to me. This also follows along with the Dirty Dozen June Prompt for Christmas cards and so, Yay me I got a two-fer month done ha ha. That's about it from me, I hope you are doing well & thanks for stopping by.