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.

Inspired by {Brighton}

 This week Amy has shared with us the Brighton site where I came across this butterfly Key ring and I knew there was a "Butterfly with a banner" challenge happening on the last day of Dare to get Dirty So, this morphed into being a combo card for both challenges. 

I looked through all my butterfly stamps and found this trio that is from two different club scrap sets that were small enough to fit onto these My Favorite Things jumbo fishtail flags and I was like "YES!" this in a million years is not a card I would have ever come up with without these challenges as a prompt. So, since the butterflies were not floral ones like the key ring I decided to hang my banner on a floral printed paper. (Moda Scrap fly & scrap set) The base on this one is from Bazzill, the sentiment is from Impression Obsession and I did poke the May Arts cord through the tops of the banner die cuts and just taped it to the back side of the printed paper so, its pretty flat in real life. There is a tiny bit of stardream gellyroll pen over the watercolor paint on the wings since the cord is sparkly in real life. You can find these challenges here and here at Splitcoaststampers to play along with us, thanks for stopping by.

Watercoloring Tips for Light

 This week Linda has shared with us a quick tutorial on how to build layers of paint for the "light" to be there in the finished piece. You can find this tutorial here on YouTube.

It's also about the half-way ish point for Dare To Get Dirty. It's the 15th anniversary so, this year the challenges are open to everyone and you can find them all here at SCS. So, I decided to combine my Watercolored Viola's with Judy's Challenge seen here. 

First layer of faint paint on some Arches 100% cotton hot press paper that was stamped with Simon Says Stamp barely beige ink and that Personal Stamp Exchange Viola's stamp. 

Second round of paint dried on the image. 

The step where I combined it with Judy's challenge and I did use Daniel smith paints for this rather than ink. So, it "kinda" worked but, when it was dried I decided to take a brush and smooth it out and add a little more detailing to the soil. 

The painted panel was cut with a Spellbinders hem stitched rectangle die ( love that one) This is up on foam tape above the base and I added at Gina K. Designs wishing well sentiment to one of the scraps. I think this will make a nice birthday card for my MIL this year. You can find this challenge here at SCS to play along with us. Thanks for stopping by.

Some more from Dare to Get Dirty.

 There were 49 challenges in total this year for Dare to get Dirty week at SplitcoastStampers. I have not done them all as of yet, the good news is the inspiration stays up on the site for future use. So, here are the rest of the ones I have done so far. I cannot tell you what the challenge is but, I can say what I did or used. This will be a really photoheavy post so, grab your cup and enjoy.

This was done for Lydia's first challenge, this girl Unity Stamps Just Sorry was stamped with versafine on Neenah and watercolored with some Karin Markers ( skin & hair) and Daniel Smith Watercolors on the rest of the image. The sentiment here is also from Unity Stamps the Crappy Day set. ( its up on foam pop dots)

The front panel here I have cut a hole into the top end of it to tuck the girl from behind and used the same acrylic paint on the edges of her panel as the front to make it a little more seamless. I did run that textured panel through the big shot a few times to flatten it a little more. ( its Masking tape with covered with gesso and paint) I thought it looked like a messy bed. And this one finished out at A7 in real life. 

For Dina's first challenge I used this So Many Hearts girl from the precious moments line at Stampendous ( this is a really old one) colored with pencils and copic markers (skin) and the sentiment here is from Hero Arts Many everyday messages set. the door is an Alexandra Renke called wing door. This one is A2 in real life. 

So a week ago the inspiration went to a home design magazine site and I being an alumni dirty girl also had access to the master list of challenge knew what Lori C's first challenge would be so, I combined these two. The home design photo that jump started mine can be seen here. What an awesome back yard hmm? So, I picked up the My Favorite Things perfect pool stencil when it first came out and this is the first time it has been removed from the packaging. so I decided to tape it down to a piece of cheaper canson watercolor paper and "paint" through the exposed holes. It did bleed a little bit, and I did go over the top of some of the bleeds with white Gouache after the stencil was lifted and the Duck was stamped with some Cheerful (yellow) Versafine Claire and watercolored with Daniel Smith paints, I cut a slit into the water panel to tuck his tummy into and taped over this on the back side to help keep him flat. The sentiment here is from The My Favorite Things you float my boat set, and it finished out at A7 in real life.

This was done for Gem's challenge and I used a Spellbinders hemstitched rect. die on the cover of the cardbase and Their shapabilities Joy set for the center. The letters are up on foam pop dots and the pearls are from Kaiserkraft, ( they are a blush color but on the barn red texture they may show up as cream on your monitor) the inside was lined with some Neenah because, I always put white cardstock on the insides of my colored bases to write on. This one is A6 in real life, and the first Christmas card I have done in months and months. which poked my brain into looking at more of the challenges thinking and over thinking to see if they could be modified to become Holiday cards too. 

Which lead me to Lee's challenge, the base stamp here is a background from Simon Says Stamp that was heat embossed with white SU powder on some pink shimmer DCWV. the Vellum layer is an older holly berry house that was also heat embossed on the top side and then I used water base markers in spots of the back and I really thought that gave it a kaleidoscope look. So, I added some dots of glittered stickles glue in a few spots too. this one is 5 1/2" square in real life. 

I found this image Our Daily Bread Designs the mighty sea already colored with some pencils in the envelope on the table and so, I used some previously made watercolor background for the framing and then while I was looking at this, I have had my Daniel Smith watercolors on the table for a few weeks now, I decided to add some paint here and there over the pencils. The sentiments on this are from the Altenew camp life set. and this one finished out at A7 in real life. 

So Kia has a challenge that I decided I would watercolor for it, and this is the center piece of a frame diecut and so the bloom is from the eclectica3 kay carley 47 the pretty flowers were a feast for the eyes set and heat embossed with white powder over the paint. I did go over the center with white Gouache and some stickles glitter glue. That sentiment, I spent hours over several days trying to figure out which set it came out of. I cannot find it in evernote so, I will probably end up poking around in the stamps them selves here and there and edit later. I found it in the file cabinet in one of those pockets of previously stamped and diecut sentiments. the center panel is up on foam tape and this one is 4" x 9" in real life. 

So this is the actual entry into her challenge and its also a slimline card. the homes and sentiment are from the Concord & 9th city stacks set. 

a closer look at the painting from the card below. The road runner is "on the run" the Wil E Coyote is called "Yipes!" the center has some shimmering from Stampscapes ( but, it is a small stamp, so I deliberately used the paints in lines to add more streaks around them.)

The silhouette in the back is from the sweet n sassy landscape silhouettes set and the sentiment is from Impression Obsession pandemic humor. 

The painted panel is on foam tape above the base and this one finished out at 4" x 9" in real life, the edges were cut with deco scissors. 

You might remember this panel, it happened to fit Pat's challenge so, I did some layers of speckled Neenah cardstock to frame it trying to detract from the fact that I had taped the tape across the top crooked when I painted it a while back and that was one of those hunh moments when it was revealed. 

I probably could just mix up some more blue ish paint and touch up the top left corner but, so far I have resisted the urge to do so. This one finished out at A7 in real life. 

 Done for Liz's challenge, the Victoria's Secret is from the Emerson line at American Art Stamps, the bra-less is from Art Impressions. She was colored with Karin markers and Daniel Smith watercolors with some stardust gelly roll pen on the glasses. 

Some where around Wednesday the watercolor prompt came out and it was to do some free hand blooms and I had a mess of yellows on the palette at that point and I knew what the DTGD line up looked like so this ended up being made for 4 different challenges, the Wednesday watercolor, Jen, Holly & Ann's DTGD challenges. the Sentiment here is from the Penny Black A little bird set. 

You may have remembered seeing this dog face ( Impression Obsession) being painted when he arrived in the mail, the sentiment came out around the same time too, so this was done for Bev's challenge. 

This was done for Shelly's challenge. the birdhouse is from the old SU set called scene in a garden. The sentiment here is a reverse printed one from Simon Says Stamp ( some spring set) That red panel is vellum with alcohol inks on it and to allow the light to flow through like a window, the front panel of the card also has a window cut into it from the inside of the base. This one is A2 in real life. 

This was done for Mary's Challenge. The sentiment is from Riley & Co. the Oscar reading the paper is from Art Impressions ( this was stamped twice as the top colored layer is paper pieced into the scene.) the rest of the room are from two different My Favorite Things sets, Cozy Companions and Our Story. the main layer here was all colored with Daniel Smith paints. 

 Now this I did not make, this one came to me the other day in the mail from Shelly with a sample of some gold leafing flakes to play with and the sticky note that said do not open with the fans running. This is one of her samples she made for DTGD and it sparkles so beautifully in real life. Thanks Shelly!

 Which lead me to playing with them for a little something for Judy's challenge. the cat is from Art Impressions, the sentiment is from the Shut up and Color set from Dylusions. this one is A2 in real life. that pale aqua color is an shimmer cardstock from Micheal's recollections line. 

This week the Inspiration destination is looking at Nordic Wall where I found this piece of art 

and my first thought was you could paint that. ( not a normal thought for me) and my second thought was, you could have a two-fer card and use it as a sample for Tracie's challenge. So, I did this is Daniel smith watercolors with a bit of White Gouache. the sentiment here is from the My Favorite Things anything but basic birthday wishes. It's 4" X 9" in real life. 

 Which leaves me with something I had done for Jayne's challenge. the teabag here was paper pieced back into the design using a used dried coffee filter. the other color around it and on the tag are DS watercolors. the sentiments here are from the Verve Stamps one cup set. the embossing folder is one I had borrowed a while back from my MIL and I have forgotten its name, but there is a heart underneath the image panel in my card on it. the lace here is vintage from the notions dept. and this one is A6 in real life. I do have something drying / de-fume - ing for Jayne's second challenge and hopefully sometime soon I will get it done. I hope you enjoyed this, thanks for stopping by.

Decided to just edit this post with the last card, this was done for Jayne's first challenge. the butterfly was painted last April some time, the cardboard was painted along time ago too. the background panel was run through the big shot inside a Cuttlebug goochie script folder and it has some Antique linen and Salvaged Patina DOX over the top of the leaf pattern. and I realized the reason I never used this butterfly is. I did not leave space to give it a body. ha ha. ( did you notice that before I wrote it?) ( I didn't) 

I did actually get a group mug shot of them all before I started mailing some out.