Watercolor workshop with Colleen Balija

 Hi friends!  I hope you are enjoying your weekend!  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to participate in another virtual workshop with Altenew Educator, Colleen Balija (@irishrosecreations).  This time, we focused on watercoloring, and I had an amazing time, as always. 

Colleen provided us with some pre-work, prepping our card panel, and selecting a color palette.  I found an open source photo of a tropical sunrise or sunset, not sure which, and took my inspiration from it.  My color combination turned out much more bold than I had originally envisioned, but it is so striking! 

During the workshop, we started with some basic techniques- focusing on wet on dry application, and wet on wet application.  Once we were comfortable with that, we moved on to painting our card panels.  

I chose to work with the Fairy Tale Florals stamp set again, because the flowers are quite large, which is great for watercoloring.  I had embossed my image prior to the class, as the raised edges make it much easier to stay inside the lines. 

To start, I laid down a wash of water,, followed by Mountain Mist on all the petals, one at a time.  Once the petals were dry, I went back with Lagoon to add detail to the petals, followed by blending with water.   This is when I discovered that I didn't choose a stamp set that provide some artist drawn lines for shading.  And, since I am hopeless with drawing (or painting) those details in, I decided that I would just work with the loose watercoloring.  When the petals were dry once again, I followed up with some Persian Blue, using the same process.  I love how the colors blended together!   For the leaves, I used the same techniques - starting with wet on wet to add a wash of Limeaid, and then wet on dry to add Emerald. 

I had originally envisioned a soft, muted background, but as you can see that is not what I ended up with.  I used Autumn Blaze to add a wash to the background, and then came back and added more color around the image to provide some shadowing.   Once the background was completely dry, I added some splatters of Jet Black. 

I adhered my panel to a black card base.  I took a small piece of black card stock, backed with an adhesive sheet, and die-cut my sentiment,  and then placed it on my card front.  I finished up by adding some Obsidian Rhinestones.  

I am so glad that I was able to participate in this fantastic workshop!  Thank you, Colleen!  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110 Card Stock:  Black
• Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper 300gsm/140#
• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamp Set
• Altenew Signature Words Dies
• Altenew Watercolor Brush Markers:  Mountain Mist, Lagoon, Persian Blue, Limeaid, Emerald, Autumn Blaze, Jet Black
• Honey Bee Stamps Obsidian Rhinestones

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy crafting! 

Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #492 - Beautiful Friendship Card

Good morning, crafty friends!  Happy Friday.  Here in the US, we are getting ready to celebrate our Independence Day.  It is usually a weekend of picnics, barbecues, block parties and fireworks. In our area, fireworks are banned due to the risk of wildfires.  I am relieved, honestly, as the fireworks always upset the farm animals, and the dogs too.  

Today, I am sharing a card that I made to enter into the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #492.  I love square cards, but rarely make them, and I am not sure why.  I was really excited to see the sketch was a square!  

When I saw the sketch, I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use.   I started by embossing the poppy outline images in black.  I then stamped solid layers.  This was tricky, as it took some work to fill in the entire image, because the embossed edges interfered.  TIP:  Start with the colored layers and embossed the outline last.  This will ensure complete coverage of the stamped layers. 

Once I was happy with my floral images, I die-cut them using the coordinating dies and set them aside to work on my background panel.   I placed my largest white panel in my stamping platform and lined up a few of the small flower images, taking care to ensure that they were partly off the edge to give a more random background.  I then rotated my panel 90 degrees to make sure that the images would line up where I wanted them on all sides.   Once I was satisfied with how they would stamp, I inked them up with embossing ink and black embossing powder and heat set them.  Doing it this way made this a quick process.  I then lined up my images again to fill in the rest of the space and repeated the process.  Note:  Because I knew I would be placing a panel over the center of my card, I did not bother with embossing the center space, saving time and materials!  

I heat embossed my sentiment in white on a left over strip of black card stock and then trimmed it down just a bit.  When that was complete, I set about arranging my elements.  

I adhered my embossed panel to a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" black card base.  I also adhered a 3" x 3" white panel to a slightly larger black panel and then attached them to my card front.  I struggled a bit with arranging my floral images (this always seems to be a challenge for me), so I looked at some card samples for inspiration and decided to focus them in the lower left corner.  I then attached my sentiment strip with foam tape.  Lastly, I added a few black rhinestones to draw the eye in.  

I really love how this card is simple (but not), yet makes a HUGE statement!  The coral flowers really stand out against the black and white backdrop! 

Products Used: 

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  Black
• Neenah Crest 80# Card Stock:  Solar White 
• Altenew Build A Flower:  Poppy Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Forest Glade, Pink Pearl, Heart Beat, Industrial Diamond, Pure Graphite
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Stampin' Up Embossing Powder:  Black
• WOW! Embossing Powder:  Opaque Bright White
• Foam Tape

I hope that you have found something to inspire you and get the opportunity to spend some time getting crafty today.  Thanks so much for popping by.  Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think!  

If you are celebrating this weekend, please be sure to have fun and stay safe! 🇺🇸

Old You Are Slider Birthday Card

 Good afternoon, crafty friends!  I am so excited to share my first card made with some incredibly cute images from Kindred Stamps!  You probably don't know this, but I am a total Star Wars geek!  Best day ever was the day that I got to hug Chewie!  So, when I saw this stamp set, I HAD to have it! 

I stamped the adorable images, colored them with my alcohol markers and set them aside.  Next, I went to work on my galaxy background.  This is a technique that I learned in one of my AECP courses and thought it would be perfect for this card.  

Using Distress Oxide Inks, I started blending my background, using the lightest color first, and building it up gradually.   Once I was happy with my colors, I blended black ink over the top of the colors, leaving it lightest in the center, and heaviest on the outer edges.  I set the panel aside to dry.  Once dry, I added some splatters with metallic silver spray and again set it aside to dry. 

While waiting, I cut out my images and set them aside.  I die-cut a strip for my sentiment and then heat embossed it in silver.   When my galaxy panel was dry, I started arranging my images to determine how I wanted to place them on my card.  I felt like the top corner needed something to balance the card out, so I cut an SVG image of the Millennium Falcon out three times and glued them together to create a nice raised image.  

Once I was happy with my image placement, I die-cut the slider bar and then I used removable adhesive runner to adhere my background panel down to a silver panel.  I added glue to the die-cut piece and placed it back into its original spot so that the galaxy background remained intact and then pulled the galaxy panel back off.   I adhered my characters down to the card front and put a slider mechanism behind Yoda.  I then added foam tape to the back of my galaxy panel and adhered it to my card base.  I finished my card by popping my sentiment tag up on some foam tape and adhering it to the front of the card.  

I am over the moon with how this card turned out!  I hope you are too! 

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock:  White
• Recollections Shimmer Card Stock:  Silver
• Neenah Crest 80# Card Stock:  Solar White
• Kindred Stamps Galactic Sidekicks Stamp Set
• Kindred Stamps Sentiment Strips Dies
• Recollections Slider Cutting Dies
• Distress Oxide Ink:  Squeezed Lemonade. Shaded Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo, Mermaid Lagoon
• Altenew Pigment Ink:  Obsidian 
• Versamark Watermark Ink
• Altenew Metallic Spray:  Antique Silver
• Stampin' Up Embossing Powder:  Silver
• Foam Tape

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy stamping!  ❤

Beautiful Details - AECP Level 2

Hello and Happy Sunday!  I hope you have had a wonderful weekend.  Our weather has been amazing, so I have spent as much time as possible outdoors.  I have to take advantage of it when I can! 

Today, I am sharing with you several cards that I made for my next AECP course - Beautiful Details.  While I really loved this class, it is all about stepping up your project and adding additional details,, I procrastinated something fierce when it came to doing my assignments.  This was a huge struggle for me.  It is by far the most technically challenging course so far, in my opinion, and I found myself doubting my ability. 

For my project submission, I focused on Lesson 1 - Artistic Flowers.  This lesson was so far outside my comfort zone that it is not even funny!  Marika challenged us to look at our stamps in a new way, and so that is what I did. 

I pulled out my Watercolor Wonders Stamp Set and decided to use one of the smaller leaf images to create some abstract flowers.  I stamped off my image on a piece of scrap paper and stamped it several times on my card panel to get varying shades for the petals.  

Once I was happy with the placement of my petals, I added some doodles with a black pen to add shading and detail.  This step was brutal for me, but I tried to take Marika's advice to not think and stay loose.  

To complete my card, stamped my sentiment, added a thin strip of gray card stock and adhered some Dew Drops.  I actually made two cards that are very similar, but I didn't stamp off one of the flowers, and I found that I prefer the softer petals.  

I did make a card following along with Lesson 4 - which focused on no-line coloring on vellum using markers and pencils.  I have not used pencils before so this was difficult, as I really had no idea what I was doing.  

I stamped and heat embossed my image on vellum.  I then added details using alcohol markers and pencils.  Once I was happy with my image, I die-cut it using the coordinating dies and set it aside.  I decided I wanted to keep the card front simple so that the vellum flower cluster stood out.  I cut a stitched rectangle out of the same card stock as my card base and popped it up with fun foam.  I cut a strip of gray cardstock and embossed my sentiment in white.  I adhered the sentiment strip to the vellum flowers so that I would be able to identify where I could hide my glue on the back of the vellum.  I also added a few tiny dots of glue behind the centers of the flowers and adhered my flowers to the card panel.  Lastly, I added some clear sequins to draw the focus in to the flowers. 

Overall, I am happy with my cards, and glad that I stretched myself to try some very new techniques.  I have a lot to learn about adding details, but I look forward to doing this more so that I can improve.  

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# Card Stock

Card 1:

• Altenew Watercolor Wonders Stamp Set
• Altenew Beautiful Quotes Stamp Set
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Pure Graphite, Grape Agate
• Altenew Fine Liner Pen:  005
• Honey Bee Stamps Dew Drops

Card 2:

• Vellum
• Stampin' Up Card Stock:  Basic Gray
• Altenew Fairy Tale Florals Stamps and Dies
• Altenew Sentiment Strips 2 Stamp Set
• Stampin' Up Stitched So Sweetly Dies
• Altenew Artist Markers:  WG01, WG03
• Spectrum Noir Illustrator Markers:  TB1, TB2, TB3, CT1, CT3, 
• Prismacolor Pencils: PC906, PC1102, PC904, PC1068, PC1063, PC1065
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad 
• Wow! Embossing Powder:  Clear
• Fun Foam
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you found something to inspire you!  Happy stamping!