Water Color Wednesday Challenge

Hello!

It's been a long time!  I'm now retired and have recently dusted off my stamps.  I'm in the process of organizing and unmounted my older stamps.  While doing so, I visited one of my favorite stamping sites, Splitcoaststampers.  They have started a new weekly challenge - Water Color Wednesday.  The first challenge was June 3, so I'm a little behind. Here is the link for the challenge.

Here is my entry for WCW001

The technique was for an acetate smoosh, but instead of putting your paper on the acetate, you use a second piece of card stock to transfer it to the watercolor paper. This gives you a lot more control.  There is a very well done video in the challenge thread with directions for this technique. It's difficult to see in the photo, but I also flicked on a bit of gold watercolor after my panel was dry.

My original plan was to mount this on a light aqua paper, but it looked too washed out.  I loved the look on the Old Olive and I think it makes a nice masculine card with the deeper color.

Stamps: SU Summer Silhouettes, PTI Birthday Classics October, PTI Tags Its #10

Ink: SU Always Artichoke, Handsome Hunter, Old Olive, Fine Tec Watercolor Luna Gold, VersaMark, VersaFine Onyx Black

Paper: Canson 90lb cold press watercolor paper, SU Basic Black, Old Olive

Accessories: SU Black Detail Embossing Powder, Crystal Stickers Mosaic 5mm Black

Well I enjoyed playing with my stamps again, and I certainly hope it won't be 9 years before I post again!

Have fun creating!

Paula

Happy Birthday to Mark

Mark turned 18 last month and this is the card I made for him. I used a retired SU set called Country Pleasures.It's a fun one to watercolor. After I colored the image, I sponged a little Antique Linen Distress ink to age it a bit.

I used an old SU DSP too, called Four Seasons. The backgrounds were made using Print Pattern and Cheesecloth, both by SU.

I hope you enjoy my fall creation. It's a beautiful, sunny,crisp autumn day here in Northern Illinois. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Country Pleasures, Print Pattern, Cheesecloth, On Your Birthday, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black, Versamark, Antique Linen
Paper: Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke, Confetti Cream, Four Seasons DSP by SU!
Extras: brads

Fisherman Birthday

Our neighbors, George and Karen, have become good friends over the years we have lived here. George is the neighbor who took my boys fishing at a lodge in Canada last year. He celebrated a birthday last month. He loves to fish and he collects antique fishing lures, so I thought he would enjoy this card.

I stamped the background stamp in Black Stazon and watercolored it using an aqua pen and markers. I like to use this method because it is very portable. In fact, I colored this in the car on a trip to see my son at school. Don't worry, I wasn't driving. ;) I take my markers, my aqua pen and a small plastic pallete, such as a margarine tub lid. Then I scribble on the pallet with my markers and pick up the color with the aqua pen. The pallet can be saved, and even if the colors dry on the pallet, you are still ready to go. One year I watercolored about 80 Christmas cards while waiting in the car to pick up my kids. I just left the project in my car and every time I found myself waiting, I worked on them.

This card is pretty simple. I did sponge over the whole thing with distress ink to tone down the bright colors of the lures.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. We are having quite mild temperatures here today, in the 60's. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Sincere Salutations,SU and Judi-Kins (lure backgound)
Ink: Various SU markers, Tim Holtz Distress ink in Antique Linen, Stazon Black
Paper: Confetti Cream, Old Olive, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy
Extras: Nestabilitiy Oval dies, brads

Masculine Birthday Greetings

I have such a time with making masculine cards! I know I'm not alone on this, but sometimes it's a true struggle. I turned once again to my trusty Lovely As A Tree set from SU!. This card came out OK. In looking at it now, I wish I had sponged some Creamy Caramel or More Mustard on the Confetti panel. It's looking too stark for me now.

But this card is long gone to it's recipient, my niece's husband. He is married to the niece who received the cupcake card from the last post. Their birthdays are only a week or so apart.

I watercolored this in the car on the way to take Daniel back to school a few weeks ago. I used the aquapainter and a plastic pallet with my markers. A very handy way to watercolor while traveling.

The mustard panel is stamped with the Flannel Plaid background and the greeting is from On Your Birthday.
I used the new large oval punch from SU! for the sentiment.

The kick-off for the hospital massage program was Tuesday and it went well. We had over 45 people and did about 38 short seated massages. There was a PT Assistant who is also a massage therapist who came to help out for a while. Tomorrow is my first day with clients (employees) scheduled. It is also our wedding anniversary tomorrow. Twenty seven years. We will be going out to dinner to celebrate.

Thanks for dropping by. As I am typing this post the Chicago Cubs are beginning their second playoff game. I don't know if I can take much more of this. That game last night was so disappointing. It's easier when they are not in the playoffs. Then there are no expectations; just the usual "There's always next year." Oh my Cubbies...don't let me down!

Stamps: all by SU! Lovely As A Tree, Flannel Plaid, On Your Birthday. Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Ink: Stazon Black, More Mustard
Paper: Confetti White, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Always Artichoke
Extras: Chocalate Grosgrain, brads, SU large oval, and horizontal slot punches, distressing tool, aqua painter.

A Turtle Birthday

This card is for my nephew, Matthew who turned 18 the other day. It is a pretty simple card: no ribbon and few layers. My masculine cards tend to run that way.

I used the turtle from the retired set Nature Prints. I like this set and all of the images are appropriate for cards for guys. I watercolored him with my SU! Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

I distressed all of the panel edges and rounded the corners of both the panels and the card. The turtle panel is wrapped in gold DMC metallic thread. It a good fiber to use on a masculine card since it has a metal element, and it's rather subtle. I had forgotten that I had it, until I saw a piece trying to escape from my drawer, and I decided it would be a good addition to my card.

Today was a picture perfect day here in northern Illinois. I met a friend for lunch at the Morton Arboretum. Everyone else seemed to think this was the perfect day for lunch at the Arboretum too, as it was one of their busiest days. I enjoyed the view, the company, and the lunch! Hope your day was picture perfect too. Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Nature Prints, Birthday Whimsy, and Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black, Versamark
Paper: Taken with Teal, Old Olive, Basic Black, watercolor
Extras: Watercolor Wonder Crayons by SU!, Black brads, Corner rounder, DMC Metallic thread Lt. Gold

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dad's!

I remember my Dad with much fondness today. He was a wonderful Dad and loved all five of us kids very much. He was a good provider working full time into his seventies until I was finished with college. One of the best memories I have of my dad is the last time I danced with him. We were at my niece's wedding and I was dancing with him to "Unforgettable." I always loved to dance with my dad. He was an excellent dancer. I remember telling myself to enjoy this dance, because I couldn't be sure I'd get another opportunity to dance with him. He was 81 at the time. That was in February and he died that same May, just nine months after my mom. That was 16 years ago, and when I hear "Unforgettable", it still brings tears to my eyes. I love you, Daddy.

So anyway, I made this card for my husband, who is a dedicated dad to our 4 boys. Our boys are turning into honest, caring, and loving young men, just like their dad. Well, maybe not the young part!

I watercolored the focal image from SU!'s Thinking of Father. The embellishments on the corners are Dew Drops, and I applied Ranger's Sepia Accents over the main image to give it an aged look. You might be able to see that if you enlarge the image. I used Flannel plaid on the left and Cheesecloth on the right, both by SU!. I thought the right side still needed something, so I used toilet paper wadded up and dabbed on some Antique Linen Distress ink.

I like how it turned out, and more importantly, so did my husband. Although he's so nice, I'm not sure he'd ever say he didn't like a card I made, unless I didn't like it, and then he might agree with me.

I hope you enjoyed Father's Day, either with your own dad, or thinking of him, or with the father of your children. May God bless Father's everywhere today, and everyday.

Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Thinking of Father, Cheesecloth, Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Stazon Black, Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink
Paper: Watercolor, More Mustard, Really Rust, Basic Black
Extras: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon, Dew Drops, Sepia Accents by Ranger, SU! ticket corner punch, Watercolor Wonder Crayons by SU!

Fashionable Fish

You might be wondering why this fish is fashionable.
I've been participating in a challenge stamping weekend over at SCS. It's called Virtual Stamp Night, or VSN. You can read about it here. A challenge is put out every hour that somehow relates to the theme. The theme this weekend is Fashion. You have 45 minutes to make the card.

The challenge for this card was to use thread in your design. I started thinking about this as I was going to bed last night. I wanted to use my sewing machine, so I started thinking about fabric. The SU background stamp, Flannel Plaid popped into my head and I remembered that my niece's husband's birthday is coming up. He is an avid outdoorsman and fisherman. So I thought I would go masculine for this card.

I watercolored the fish with one of my favorite methods; markers scribbled on a plastic pallet and picked up with a wet brush. It's quicker than opening up a bunch of stamp pads, and more transparent than watercolor crayons. I sponged on Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye on both the fish image and the sentiment.

I stamped the teal layer with the Flannel stamp in Garden Green to help tone down the brightness of the teal. I stamped the Canvas background on the small green panel and then I stitched it onto the flannel panel. I heavily distressed the edges of my layers with the distressing tool from SU! to invoke the feeling of flannel.

I had to use my Spica glitter pens on the fish. I used turquoise, olive, lemon, and clear. I LOVE these glitter pens. They have such a fine sparkle. I know that most "men" type cards don't usually have glitter on them, but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, nature has lots of sparkle, and I had to make my fish fashionable, right? teehee.

So, if you have a bit of time this weekend, join in some VSN fun. Anyone can play and the only requirement is to do the card in 45 minutes. That is a challenge, but I find that I can make a nice card in that time. I'm thinking I should limit my time for all of my cards to an hour. I spend way too much time agonizing over every little detail. With just 45 minutes, you can't ditz around with decision making. Decide and do it! That's my new motto.

I hope you are enjoying some lovely spring weather. We are having our first beautiful spring day today here in Northern Illinois. How nice for us that it's on a weekend! Thanks for visiting!

Stamps: Nature Prints, It's Your Birthday, Canvas, Flannel Plaid, all by SU!
Ink: Stazon Black and Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress ink pads, SU! markers in Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Close to Cocoa, and More Mustard.
Paper: Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Confetti White,and watercolor
Extras: Spica glitter pens in turquoise, olive, lemon and clear; SU! cutter kit, circle paper clip, sewing machine, and black thread.

Happy Birthday to my ol' Bro

I made this card for my brother's birthday. He will be 66 tomorrow.
It's a little hard to believe, but it's OK to say that because I know that he doesn't read my blog!

I was experimenting with the faux shaving cream technique. I first learned this technique at an SU! convention a few years ago.
Take a solid image stamp, (I used a solid rectangle here) and ink it up. Then ink up a wheel in a complimentary color and twist and swipe it onto the solid stamp. Huff on your stamp and stamp it onto your cardstock. I used More Mustard for the solid stamp and Chocolate Chip for the wheel. This is a great Faux Shaving Cream tutorial.
The giraffe and sentiment are stamped in black. The image on the right is a retired SU! wheel that I stamped in Versamark and embossed in gold. A bit of gold cord, a torn edge, and a little distressing on the edge of the giraffe panel add some texture to the card without adding much thickness. Thickness can be an issue when mailing a card.The PO is becoming
more strict at times about the 1/4" rule. Anything over 1/4" thick requires an additional 17 cents to mail. I had been mailing mine with a 41 cent stamp and they haven't been returned. My children have not said anything about postage due either. But I do know of some people who have had trouble.

Stamps: In the Wild, DoubleLine Stitched Plaid Wheel, Batik Wheel, all by SU! and all retired
Ink: Basic Black, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Paper: Basic Black, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Extras: Gold EP, Gold cord


This second photo is of some of the eggs we dyed for Easter. My son Daniel wanted a paint brush for the egg he was dying, so I brought up several watercolor brushes. I wanted to see how an egg would look if I painted it. I chose complimentary colors and just swirled the dye on them. I like how they turned out and they were very easy.

If you haven't noticed, I finally figured out how to post my labels on the side for reference, and I also have a list of blogs I like to visit. Check some of them out. There are some very talented ladies (and gentlemen) out there. Thanks for visiting!

Authentic Birthday

Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with masculine cards. Since I have four boys and a husband, that could be a problem.

I used SU!'s Stamp of Authenticity set for this card. I created a tag to stamp the order image on. Daniel is our 2nd son, and after I filled in the info on the tag, I thought it would have been cute to put "BOY" under style, instead of his name. I also used Flannel Plaid by SU! on the top part of the card. The bottom background is done with a TP background technique that I found here on Leslie Miller's blog. I like to use it for a quick background, to add some interest, but not any particular design to a piece of card stock. To get the edge on the violet piece, I removed the corner guard from my square steps pocket punch and used it along the edge of the card stock.

I'm sorry that my posts have slowed a bit, but I've had funerals, concerts,hospital visits, and extra time at work this week, so my stamping time has been limited. I am working this weekend, so I may not have time to post. Have a great weekend and don't forget to change your clocks!

Stamps: Stamp of Authenticity, Flannel Plaid, Short Order Numbers, all by SU!
Ink: Basic Grey, Old Olive, Buckaroo Blue
Paper: Marigold Morning,Buckaroo Blue, Vintage Violet, Old Olive, Confetti White
Extras: Eyelets,1/2 inch, Tag Corner and Square Steps Pocket Punch

A Quick Post

My brother-in-law' birthday is
on Sunday, so I have already missed the window of opportunity to mail this in order for him to get it on time. With the postal holiday on Monday, he wouldn't get it until Tuesday, so I guess I'll deliver it in person on Sunday.
I'm working tomorrow, so I'm going to make this quick so I can get to bed. :)

I pulled out an old stamp set for this card called Close to Nature. I stamped the images in Close to Cocoa on Sahara Sand and punched them with a 1 3/8 " square punch and matted them with True Thyme. The blue panel is Night of Navy, although it looks a bit brighter in the photo. The eyelet is a silver one that I colored brown with a Copic marker. I like this color combo. I rarely have used Sahara, but I really like this combination of colors, especially for a masculine card. A busy weekend ahead; working, visiting Daniel at NU, furniture shopping. Hope you all have a good weekend and get to do some stamping. Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Close to Nature, It's Your Birthday
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Paper: Sahara Sand, True Thyme, Night of Navy
Extras: Silver eyelet colored with Copic Marker E27
Dimensions: 6 5/8"by 3 1/4"