Watercolor Video Tutorial

I love doing watercolor cards, and could not wait to try out my new stamp set, squeal, since it has been a little while since I did a tutorial, I thought a video would be best to demo watercolors.  Hope this is helpful, and you enjoy it!

Check out my latest video here.

Supplies:
You need good quality water color paper, I really like the kind Stampin Up has because it does not warp when you add water. You can use a brush, but I really like aqua painters as they help me eliminate mess and accidents!  You need a great stamp set, I used Joyful Christmas  (#131805) and of course Stazon ink.  All your classic Ink pads will work with the painter, so any color is available to you!
I also used the Season of Style DSP paper Stack, Gumball Green, Soft Suede, and Cherry Cobbler. I also used Crystal Effects for the flower centers.  Also helpful to have on hand are paper towels, and a hair dryer. -Hair dryer to dry between watercolor layers, and a paper towel to blot the paper if you accidentally put down too much color, and need to lift a tiny bit.  This also works if you go outside the lines and want to fix it if you aren't cutting it out.

Have fun and Happy Stamping!

Butterflies Galore

This card was inspired by the Shades of Spring Designer Series Paper and the Embosslit Beautiful Wing Die from the Spring Occasions Mini, and the Big Shot Beautiful Butterfly Die. My Embosslit was on backorder for 2 weeks, and I was worried I would not get it in time for club! But it came Thursday and I went crazy.

The Embosslit makes 5 little butterflies of all different sizes and textures. It cuts and embosses in one step and uses tiny scraps of paper. I used Orchid Opulence, So saffron, Certainly Celery, and Shades of Spring for this card.

I cut my ds paper, then matted it with So Saffron. Both of those went down on the Certainly celery folded 5.5x4.25 cardsotck. I took some ds paper and some Orchid Opulence Cardstock in the Butterfly die making sure that my fold line was in the right place. Then I ran the large butterfly through my Texture folder to add more interest to the butterfly. Then I took 3 little half back pearls from my new Pretties Kit and applied them to my butterfly with crystal effects.

I stamped Happy Easter from my Teeny Tiny Wishes, although almost any saying from that stamp set would work well here, on a scrap of DS paper left over from my smaller butterfly dies and punched it out with my word window punch. Then I used dimensionals to pop every other tiny butterfly. The largest one went inside the card as a nice surprise.

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

I would like to try and stretch myself a little more, so I am going to start participating in weekly challenges. I will also start hosting some of my own probably in August, so be ready to post your results here! Today is my first time trying the Mojo Monday Challenge. They are pretty popular, so we'll see how I do.

Tonight I used Embrace Life, a favorite set of mine. I decided to use the single stem, which I rarely use. I also texturized the background Kraft Card stock using my wonderful Big Shot. I colored in the images using the new In-Color Markers,and then highlighted them with Crystal Effects. The sheen on the flowers might not becoming through in the photo. I popped the images using various layers with Dimensionals. I really like the combination of Dusty Durango, Kraft, and Soft Suede

I will probably revisit this again during the week, but for now, here is my Challenge Entry.

Crazy for Cupcakes

This sweet birthday card was cooked up at a recent workshop.

Ingredients
Crazy For Cupcakes
Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper
Whisper White cardstock
Kiwi Kiss cardstock
Rose Red cardstock
Big Shot Top Note die
Scallop Edge Punch, and Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" Circle Punch
Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects
Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red Classic Ink, Black Stazon,
Stampin Up Markers
Two Way Glue
Dimensionals
Snail Adhesive

The Card
Trim a Rose Red cardstock to 5.5x8.5. Fold in half. Stamp the edges of the card with Rose Red Ink. (Versamark would also work if you have that instead) Cut a strip of DS Paper and a strip of Kiwi Kiss cardstock an half inch wider than your original. Scallop the edge and adhere the ds paper on top so the scallop shows on the bottom. Mount on the card.

Run the Whisper White & Kiwi Kiss Cardstock through the big shot with the Top Note. Cut both top Notes in half. Trim along the dotted line of the white top note and stamp the cupcake tower with Stazon. Let it dry then color in the cupcakes with markers. Dot the cupckes with Two Way Glue, and apply the Dazzling Diamonds. Apply that to the Kiwi Kiss top note.

Stamp the cupcake again on Whisper White and cut it out. Color it in with markers. Stamp the happy birthday phrase tightly so that it forms a circle and punch it out. Adhere the cupcake to the stamped circle with a Dimensional, and then apply that to a Rose Red scallop punched circle. Then fill in the cupcake with Crystal Effects. Let that dry then adhere to the card.