A Fall Arbour

It's time for the Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog.  I did a little masking this week using 5363 - WC Arbor Set:

I started stamping in the foreground and worked backwards, masking each item as I went along.  The fox from 5016 - WC Mini Critter Set was colored in #947 Burnt Sienna, as were the two pumpkins from 5059 - WC Harvest Set.  I cut my arbor out of masking paper, and pressed it firmly onto my watercolor paper (you don't want paint to seep underneath!).  I used the Daisy Bunch from Flower Set - 4052 in #933 Orange to add my bright flowers to the arbor, then added all of my greenery from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4: the long branch in #076 Green Ochre/346 Sea Green, the vines in #177 and #346, and the grasses in #076.

I softened everything with a damp brush, then picked up #933 and #947 from my palette to paint several layers of colour on the pumpkins and fox.  With #177, I added in the green hillside and painted my grass, then with the bullet tip, I used my #533 Peacock Blue marker to sketch in the mountains, and to outline the arbor after I removed the mask, which gave the suggestion of shadows.  I used #N65 Cool Grey 5 to paint in some clouds, and added the sky around them in #526 True Blue, leaving some cloudy white areas.  I added a few shadows around my images with #565 Deep Blue, and stamped the sentiment from the Exclusive Daisy set before die cutting my image with the A2 Stitched Rectangle die.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Dot & Tricia have to share.

I am entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

Quick & Easy

 I made up twelve cards this week, ready to donate to a local charity!  I am using up papers that I've had on hand for years, to make some cards with a positive message.  I did variations on these four:

Rustic Wedding Card

 I made a special wedding card for an upcoming family wedding next month.  The wedding will have a very rustic outdoorsy feel, and I thought this would be perfect for them:

I used my Art Impressions Watercolour stamps with Tombow Dual Brush Markers to put this together using the following sets: 5378 - WC Stone Creek Set, 5373 WC Lg Tree Set, 5372 - WC Mini Foliage Set, and 5262 - WC Mini Cabins Set.

The Greetery Thank You Cards

 I have a niece getting married in a few weeks, so I decided to make her a set of thank you cards to tuck in with their gift.  I used lovely stamps and dies from The Greetery to put them together:

I chose my colour palette from the two colours of brown cardstock that I used to make the wood slice, and stuck with Distress Oxide inks in Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint, using the pink and green to blend a soft halo of colour on the white rectangle.  The browns are Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain.  The stamp set is Budding Beauties - Autumn.  I spattered some brown paint lightly on the back ground, and then adhered the wood slice down with 3D foam adhesive.  I managed to get five of each made to send!

Ai Vintage Car

  Here's my project for the upcoming Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog!  I have really been loving all the purple that I've seen recently in a lot of fall cards, and decided to incorporate it into my scene using 5416 - WC Vintage Card Set:

I coloured the car with Tombow markers #969 Chocolate/565 Deep Blue, and then did the same with the barn from 5371 - WC Barn Set, using my Stamp Positioner to get the placement right.  I also used it for my fence, as I wanted it to appear along side the car - and I only coloured a portion of it.  I sketched in the hillsides, the path to the barn and the roadway, then after masking the barn, I stamped the trees from 5372 - WC Mini Foliage around it, and used the foliage stamp in the set to add the leaves using #933 Orange, #177 Dark Jade and #126 Light Olive.  I painted a wash of #177 on the hillsides, then masked them off and stamped the pine tree from the set in various heights to create a line of trees in the distance.

I used my damp brush to pull the colour out from the lines on the car, and then picked up #493 Reflex Blue from my palette and painted several layers on it to look worn and a bit faded.  I followed the packaging from the stamp set for most of my design as it works so well!  Using the daisy bunch with #933 Orange and #856 Chinese Red, I stamped flower clusters around the car, and then did the same with the vine from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 using #177 Dark Jade and #636 Imperial Purple.  After dabbing everything with my brush, I added some rocks from 5415 - WC Rocks Set in the foreground, shading them with greys & blues.  Using the grasses from Foliage Set 4, I filled in around the base of the car and fence.  I added shades of #969 Chocolate and #565 Deep Blue to the fence to darken the wood.  The barn was painted with #856 Chinese Red with a little brown mixed in to dull the colour, and the grey tones were added to the roof.  Some #493 was painted in as the sky.  

Dim Sum cards

 I got the Catherine Pooler stamp set "Hey There Dumpling" a few months ago, and I made up a couple of sets of 4 cards with it.  One set was given to a coworker, and the other I'm sending out to a few different friends, one at a time.  Here's a group shot, and then scroll down to see them individually:

This is a paper pack from Close To My Heart that I've had for a few years, and I had just enough left to squeeze out my 8 cards.

The little faces on the dumplings just crack me up!  Each card has a few elements that have been popped up with 3D adhesive.  I have a whole pile of fussy cut little images from this set, so you'll be seeing more dim sum cards from me down the road.

Stamptember with Art Impressions!

 Simon Says Stamp is celebrating "Stamptember" by releasing an exclusive collaborative set with Art Impressions that is available starting today, September 6th - only on the SSS website.  This is only available while supplies last, and they often sell out in a few days or less.  Check out  the Art Impressions blog, here and the SSS blog to see some wonderful inspiration by both Design Teams!

Fall Wreath

I've been playing with more of my new product from the Pigment Craft Company this week.  This is the Fall Wreath set.  I've just used the die that matches the stamp set today, it works beautifully on it's own to cut out the different wreath shapes.  I pulled out the years-old Chloe's Closet papers from Making Memories, and die cut a bunch of different patterns:

A bit of a softer, muted palette for me!  I used one of the ledger style papers in the set as my 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" card base, and cut a smaller square out of the middle that I mounted on kraft cardstock and adhered back down with 3D adhesive tape.

I cut the full wreath out of 4 different patterned papers that I layered over each other to form my wreath (and I had enough leftovers for a 2nd smaller version).  The sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio.  I'm adding to my stash of cards to keep at work for retirements, special occasions etc. - so I'm hopeful this would work as a masculine card?  Great to make something a little different.
 

Ai Foundations Door

  I've created a fall scene with the 5433 - WC Foundations Door set for the upcoming Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog:  

I began by cutting my Canson XL Watercolor paper with the largest of the 5063 -A2 Stitched Rectangle dies, and put it into my Misti.  This allowed me to place the large Foundation stamp exactly where I wanted it on the paper, and then I coloured it with my Tombow #969/565 combination and stamped it.  Being a large stamp, it's easy to miss an area, so any part that didn't stamp completely, I could stamp it again while it was still in the Misti.  After pulling out the colour with a damp brush, I then added the pumpkin from 5059 - WC Harvest set, masking off the pot, and colouring it in #228 Gray Green, and again in #946 Gold Ochre.  I used the cluster from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set to fill the upper left pot in #565/228.  The wheat sheaf from 4763 - Southwest in #991 Light Ochre filled the tall pot, and the leaves stamp from Flower Set - 4052 in #565 filled the rounded pot.  The two foliage stamps from 4605 - Spring Basket were stamped in #228 over the door in all directions, sometimes colouring just half of the stamp to vary the lengths.  I used the daisy bunch from 4605 in #946 to add clusters of flowers over the door, and in the smallest pot, then used two of the branches from 4964 - WC Branches Set with #969 to add branches over the door and to the tall pot.  With the tiny green from 5009, and #228, I added greenery to the small pot, and then used it with #312 Holly Green to stamp the heart shaped wreath on the door.

With all of the stamping done, I now painted in all of my images, pulling colour from my palette to paint the terra cotta pots in #947 Burnt Sienna, #N57 Warm Grey 5 to the pots and watering can, and #312 to the rounded pot, going back several times to add layers of colour.  The door was painted with #992 Sand and #969, first with a wash, then streaks of colour to imitate a woodgrain.  The walls of the house were painted with a wash of #990 Light Sand.  I used #565 to add shadows around all of the images, under and around the door, and on the stairs.  I used my Twintone Navy marker to draw the ribbon to hang the wreath, add lines to the door, and to darken areas that had been painted out.  I added a little grass, and a few dots with a marker to finish my scene.  Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Dot & Tricia have created!