colorwhimsy

Watercolor Dots

I love to use my Lyra watercolor crayons.  They make it easy to make a quick watercolor card!

For my birthday dot card, I stamped the Dotty Ring (C1252) with black Versafine ink onto a card I made from Canson 90lb watercolor paper.

I colored the outside of the rings with various colors of watercolor crayons.  I then smoothed the color with a waterbrush to dissolve the paint.  Hint...go over the outside color with the brush and then clean of the brush before dragging the color towards the center.  By getting rid of the extra paint, it is easier to make it look like there is a gradation of color from outside edge to the center of the circle. 

When my card was dry, I put it under a heavy book so that the watercolor paper would become flat again.

Olympic Inspiration

I'll admit it, I am a very tired woman.  Why?  Because I can't seem to go to bed without watching every ounce of Olympic coverage.  I am such an addict!  Does anyone else suffer from Olympic-itis? 

I decided to let my Olympic addiction/obsession inspire today's card.  I stamped the Periwinkle butterfly (B1181) five times onto white cardstock using black Versafine ink and then colored my butterflies using watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  I chose the colors found on the Olympic flag and then arranged them in the same order as the Olympic rings.  

For the background, I used some Frond 6" x 6" patterned paper and stamped it using the Distressed Swirl (D1333).  The Distressed Swirl works well with butterflies and birds to give the impression of movement. I then added the Sky's the Limit saying (B1076), which I thought paired well with the Olympic theme.  To finish the card, I added some jewels to the butterfly heads, layered the patterned paper onto Bayou cardstock that was cut with a Nestabilities Labels 8 die, and placed everything onto a Pool notecard.

If you will excuse me, I am off to watch some ice dancing....

Deer Friend

Did you get the Deer Friends image (D1290) as part of the last What's in the Box release?  I used it to make Christmas cards, but it is a great stamp to use for Valentine's Day. 

For this card, I decided to break away from traditional red and pink Valentine colors.  Instead, I paired some of the the Gossamer 6" x 6" paper with some brown cardstock and a green notecard.  To color the deer, I used a variety of watercolor pencils and a Dove blender pen.

It is never a bad idea to tell your friends how much they mean to you!

Scripted Bird

It has been a while since I broke out my watercolor paints, so I thought it was time to give them some attention.  For this card, I stamped the Scripted Bird (E1309) onto 90lb watercolor paper using Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink.  I then added some splotches of pink and brown paint around the bird to create a background and added more pink paint to the bird breast that would match the background paper.  To finish the card, I added some Cotton Candy and Mocha Cardstock as well as some patterned paper from the Gossamer collection. 

On a separate note, have you checked out the new Memory Box Design Team blog?  It is loaded with great ideas and is written by a group of women who will be teaching Memory Box classes around the country.  If you haven't seen it yet, you can view it here.

Have a very happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Birds

The Bird Tree (D1278) doesn't have to be a Christmas tree, but I thought it would make a great holiday card.  All I did was add a triangle of 24K Soiree paper behind the image and a bit of Vanilla Bean cardstock to make a trunk, and voila...instant Christmas tree.

To color the image, I stamped the tree onto 90lb watercolor paper using black Versafine ink.  I then colored the image with Moss Green, Jasper Red, and Chestnut Twinkling H2O's.  I then added some detail to the branches and leaves using watercolor pencils.  Here is a close up of the tree so you can see the coloring:

To finish the card, I added some berry pearls and a gold ribbon and layered everything onto sage cardstock, vanilla bean cardstock, and a kraft notecard.

Here's the Scoop

I can't tell you how much I love the 3 Scoops Bear (C1305) from the new "Brighter Days" Memory Box release.  He just makes me smile.  What's not to like?  Polar Bear....good.  Ice cream....good.  Polar Bear holding ice cream....great.

When I first saw this stamp, the three scoops reminded me of Neapolitan ice cream, so I tried to recreate that in my color palette.  To make this card, I stamped the bear and saying (Here's the scoop B887) onto white cardstock using black VersaFine ink.  I then added some pink and chocolate brown watercolor pencil to the bear and blended/faded the colors with a Dove Blender pen.  I also wanted my bear to stand out from the white cardstock, so I added some gray watercolor pencil to distinguish him from the background.  To finish the card, I added some Mocha, Cherry Blossom, and Vanilla Bean cardstock to a Kraft notecard.

Happy Holly Days

In my opinion, you just can't use enough puns in your stamping, so you can probably understand why I needed the Happy Holly Days (B959) saying.  Plus, it pairs really well with the Modern Holly Bird (E1294).

To make the card, I stamped the holly bird onto cream cardstock using Vintage Sepia VersaFine ink.  I then outlined the edge of the bird and holly with watercolor pencils and dragged some of the color towards the center of the images using a Dove Blender pen.  VersaFine ink really is my favorite when using watercolor!  I then added my saying with the same brown ink and layered some Red Pepper and patterned paper from the Dewfrost collection to a Dill notecard.  As a finishing touch, I added a few red rhinestones from the Christmas jewel pack to make berries.

Happy Fall

I should be finishing up preparations for the Memory Box class I am teaching tomorrow, but the Internet is calling me.  I thought I might as well share one of the cards that we will be making in the class.  The nice thing about the Tree Border stamp (D1277) is that you really can use it for any season you like.  However, since I am using it in my "Falling for Memory Box Class," I thought I better use some autumnal colors!

To make the card, I cut a piece of Mocha cardstock and a piece of white cardstock using my Labels 8 Nestability dies.  I sponged  Brocken Chna Distress ink onto the white cardstock to create a sky and sponged Antique Linen Distress ink to the base of the paper to form the ground.  I stamped the trees on top of the landscape with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and then colored the "leaves" with orange, yellow, and red dye-based ink and a waterbrush.  To add a bit of an accent, I added some faux stitching around the scene with a brown detail pen and finished the card by adding a saying (Happy Fall B946) and some Twilight paper to a Vanilla Bean notecard.

Fall Landscape

I really like the Tendril Collage (D1269) because it looks great using fall colors, but you can also change the color scheme to blue and silver to make a wonderful winter landscape.   Since I could feel a bit of autumn in the air today, I thought I would focus on fall colors.

To make this card, I sprayed a nonstick craft sheet with Butterscotch, Terracotta, and Cranberry Colorwash sprays.  I really like the Colorwash sprays because they give you such vibrant colors.  I spritzed the Colorwash colors with extra water the blend the three shades then placed a piece of 90lb watercolor paper on top of the craft sheet to pick up the color.   I heatset my paper with a heatgun and then stamped the Tendril Collage on top with black Versafine ink.  Once I cut out the collage, I decided to give my scene a bit of sparkle with some gold Twinkling H2O paint added to the sun and the top of the hill.  To finish the card, I added some canary jewels, a piece of Twilight paper, and a layer of gourd cardstock to a licorice notecard.

Has anyone felt fall yet, or is it just me?  Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

A Deer Friend

Have you seen the new reindeer stamps from the "What's in the Box?"  So cute!  Today I am highlighting the Deer Friends (D1290) image.  The best part is that the saying is on the side of the stamp, so it is like you get two stamps in one.  I also used some of the new Christmas jewels to embellish my card because there are two sizes of red jewels in the same package.  Handy!

To make this card, I stamped my deer and saying onto a white heart using Sepia Versafine ink.  I colored the deer with watercolor pencils and a blender pen and then added some flourishes from the Dress Form Clear Set (CL138).  To finish the card, I added some decorative paper from the Spiceberry collection and then layered everything onto a Vanilla Bean notecard.