Happy shark week!

Yes, it's a shark popping up to say, "Hi".  The inside reads:

The shark and front sentiment are from Avery Elle's "Hello Chum". The wood grained panel is cut with Avery Elle's Wonky Rectangles, as is the wavy banner.

The cup is an older die from My Favorite Things.

The inside sentiment was created from The Alley Way Stamp's "Gabfest" and Lawn Fawn "Milo's ABCs".

This card was a mess. I actually dragged the back of it through my Versafine ink and had to use a sand eraser on it. I didn't notice the smears inside until I was editing this photo.

Birds love tea, too!

I'm loving these adorable birds from Your Next Stamp's Love Birds set. They are colored with Spectrum Noir Markers, and high lighted with Distress Oxide ink splattered die cuts.

Let the coffee cards begin!

It's that time again! Time for the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop, gotta love it!

My first card for the hop is a stack of cups cut with a no-name die. I cut the die 4 times and hand trimmed it so that each cup could be it's own pattern.

The sentiment is from My Favorite Things. and the scalloped panel is cut with a die from Gina Marie Designs.

Archaeology project, part 2.

I used a stamp so old it had its own whiskers. Well, maybe not that old since it is clear and not red rubber, but still...

The stamp is "Caught Out" by Woodware, and I got it from Jo-Ann's online. The kitty is water colored with Zig Real Brush Clean Color markers, and his eyes and fish bowl are coated with glossy accents.

It was cut down and backed with X-stitched ovals from Gina Marie Designs.

The sentiment and tiny flowers are from My Favorite Things' Catitude set.

Pawsome in every way!

More fun and funky cats from My Favorite Things' Catitude set. I still have a few more to use, so this isn't the end, my friends!

I stenciled the brick wall and setting sun with stencils from MFT and Distress inks, onto Bristol smooth card stock. The cats had been colored previously with Spectrum Noir markers.

I may go and get a little bird for the top of the fence. Maybe.

Floral Bliss, Part 4

For this floral wedding card, I used (again!) the large spray from the Simon Says Stamp June card kit. I used the barely beige ink from the kit, but the stamp still had Versafine from the previous stamping, so the lines were somewhere between in darkness.

I used the Daniel Smith watercolors for most of the flowers and all the leaves. The small pink flowers were water colored with the Worn Lipstick Oxide ink that came with the kit. I gold embossed the sentiment onto a strip of dark Kraft card stock and mounted it to the center between the 2 sprays.

I cut the panel out using a Gina Marie Designs die and mounted it to a Kraft card base. I used a white gel pen in the centers of the flowers and finished off with some large no-name iridescent sequins.

I'm ready to move on to different images now, I think.

Floral Bliss, Part 3

Today's edition of the floral bliss card is simple watercoloring using the stamp, paper, and paint from the June Simon Says Stamp card kit. I used Versafine ink and heat embossed the image, painted witht he Daniel Smith water color sample in the kit, and cut the panel with a cross-stitched rectangle die. I used a white gel pen to highlight the center of the flowers, too.

I got the idea to cut the big leaves and raise them up a little from Vicky P. on YouTube. I foam-mounted the panel on a royal blue card base.

You're kinda pawsome!

I thought I'd try my hand at a challenge today. In fact, two challenges from My Favorite Things and one challenge from myself.

I'm doing the MFT Color Challenge # 71, and the Wednesday Sketch Challenge.

The colors from the color challenge are Orange Fizz, Daffodil, Blu Raspberry, and Pure Plum.

I struggled with these colors. I only had one card stock that was even close to Pure Plum, and I didn't like it with any orange in my stash. Just, no.

Oh, the challenge I put upon myself? Well, I wanted to use an image I had already colored and cut out. I have quite a few of them in a little bowl on the top of my desk, and quite a lot more in a plastic box under my desk. 

This little kitty is from MFT's Purrfect Friends set, and yes, I did him in turquoise deliberately. That's as close to the Blu Raspberry I could get.

My reaction to this card? Meh.  Oh well, I have plenty more cats to go. And seagulls. And dogs. And fish, sharks, dinosaurs, and lots and lots of quirky birds.

Floral Bliss, Part 2

Once again, I used the Simon Says Stamp June 2017 Card Kit, and tried my hand at no-line water coloring. I'm not thrilled with it, but I pushed on with it.

I started by stamping the image with the SSS Barely Beige ink that was included in the kit onto some Ranger watercolor paper, also included. This was my first experience with the Ranger paper, and I was surprised at how lightweight it was. The 140 lb paper I've been using is quite a bit heftier. I think if I ever want to cut more water colored images with the ScanNCut that this might be the way to go.

I then colored the pretty flower spray with the Daniel Smith watercolor samples that were also in the kit. After blundering my way through the painting I had to walk away from it for a while. When I came back to it I had a plan of action!

I fussy cut the image and mounted it to an oval of light yellow card stock that had been cut with a Gina Marie dotted oval die, and embossed with a Darice script embossing folder. 

I chose a very bright stripe background from a My Favorite Things paper pack called Fun and Frolic, and mounted that to an eye-watering bright yellow card base. I chose a sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Sketchy Banner, and used the matching sketchy banner die.

Finally, I used my gloss white crystal Nuvo drops to highlight the center of the flowers and the upper right and lower left of the card. 

Floral Bliss Part 1

I was thrilled to get the Simon Says Stamp June card kit, featuring the Floral Bliss stamp set.

Many of the crafters on YouTube are embossing the main floral spray image in gold on black and water coloring it with Finetec Mica watercolors.

I'm working with what I have, which is Artist's Loft iridescent watercolors.  

I heat embossed the image twice with generic gold embossing powder onto heavy black cardstock and painted the images with my cheapo watercolor set. 

I used some patterned paper from the card kit, and a banner die from Avery Elle. I messily embossed the edges of the banner, too. Finally, I splattered the whole thing with gold watercolor paint from my Gansai Tambi set. 

You know, I don't know anyone who's getting married. But at least I'm prepared!