Seasonal Flowers

I picked out this stamp set--A Flower for All Seasons--as one of my free Sale-a-bration sets earlier this spring. Its such a happy stamp set! You can find it on page 107 of the new catalog, $14.95. I stamped each image in staz on ink on watercolor paper, then used blender pens and watercolor wonder crayons to color each one. To finish the cards, I used a 3x3 piece of coordinating card stock and punched a hole in the center, then used dimensionals to pop it up off the card.
I used misc pieces of dsp that coordinated with the way that I colored the images. The first card uses the island oasis paper (and colors) which is in the summer mini, page 27. The next one uses wild wasabi, crushed curry, and bashful blue. The tulip card is done in certainly celery, bashful blue and almost amethyst and the Christmas card uses old olive, pretty in pink and bravo burgundy. I like how these cards coordinate into a set, by using the same layout instead of the same colors. I gave a set of these cards to my neighbor to thank her for giving me plant starts from her garden, earlier this spring.

More Teddy and Train

This is a much simpler card than the teddy bear one in the last post. I'm in Lutherans for Life, and we put together layettes for the first boy and girl who are born (each month) at the hospital here. We always enclose a hand stamped card that we make at our meetings, but we've run out so I had to whip up a few to have on hand and this is what I came up with. I stamped the train on whisper white with stazon ink and then used blender pens and water color wonder crayons. The train image is too detailed for the chalk technique. Since the spaces to color are small, I used the blender pen to pick up color off of the crayon instead of applying the crayon directly to the paper and then blending it. Supplies used: Teddy and Train stamp set (p 77, $1795), almost amethyst, lovely lilac and certainly celery for the boy; apricot appeal, pretty in pink and barely banana for the girl. Also used up some "old" organdy ribbon and the scallop trim border punch (covered up by the watermark!). I'm using up some of the soft subtles that are retiring June 30th. Just a reminder--Mother's Day is coming up quickly and I do have gift certificates available if you need a gift for your mom, or you'd like to drop a hint to your children! You can post a comment with your contact info and I'll give you a call. Have a great weekend!

Starting to watercolor......

It has been quite some time since I have stamped anything! I didn't even want to spend time looking at other blogs because all that inspiration from others was wasted when I couldn't go to the basement and start working. Do you feel sorry for me??? Last night I worked for awhile and got out my new aquapainter, watercolor wonder crayons, and watercolor paper. As a demonstrator we can earn points off of our sales, save them up and then buy products at the end of the SU! year. This year I chose the aquapainter and the cutter kit. Let me know if you want to see them or try them out for yourself!

Anyway, I used the Bundled in Love stamp set (stazon ink on watercolor paper) and then started coloring. These are pretty simple figures! I started with light pink and then added darker pink for the shading. Same with the green bow, then I added some light blue under "her" feet and up around the back of her body and tail. Gaugeing the water flow out of the aquapainter takes some practice, but I like the way this hippo turned out. This is a simple card, but the texture of the watercolor paper adds a nice touch. Pretty in pink, almost amethyst cardstock, certainly celery designer paper, gel pen and white taffeta ribbon, ticket corner punch.

I also made a 2nd card with the bunny, but I don't think he turned out quite as well. I had difficulty blending the crayon over the bumps in the watercolor paper. But here he is anyway.....Bashful blue, certainly celery cardstock, almost amethyst designer paper, gel pen, white taffeta ribbon, ticket corner punch; all products (C) Stampin Up! 1995-2007.

One more card for today: I needed to use up some cut cardstock from a workshop, but I wanted to make a little different design that what I had already done. Here's what I came up with....Remember that you can click on any of the pictures to see them better. The card base is so saffron, layered with ballet blue; also used Cutie pie designer paper and wild wasabi stitched ribbon. The stamp set is Fun and Fast Notes. I didn't put a greeting on it yet so I can use it for whatever comes up next! I colored the hedgehog with markers and a blender pen.
Notice that all 3 cards used the same basic layout!

Tomorrow....card kit inspiration for all those in stamping clubs!