Freshly Made Sketches Christmas card

I haven't made any Christmas cards for a little while, so I whipped up four this weekend, using some old Bella Blvd papers in some lovely holiday pastels:

I've used the current Freshly Made Sketch:

As The Deer - Watercolor Weekend

Art Impressions recently released five new Bible Journaling stamp sets, and they make up into beautiful cards!  Today I'm using 5128 - As The Deer Set:

 Since I knew that I wanted to use my oval Spellbinder's die set, I started by marking it's shape in pencil on my watercolour paper, so that I knew where I wanted my images to be placed.  I coloured all of the images with my N57 Warm Grey marker, and other than the stones (where I pulled out the colour a bit for shading, with a damp #4 brush) - I didn't touch the lines, just painted within them.

 I used 947 Burnt Sienna for the deer and the tree, layering the colour to get the deeper tones.  Using the floral cluster from 5074 Bible Flower Set, and my 856 marker, I stamped clusters of flowers and dabbed them with a damp brush to intensify the colour.  I used the tiny leaf sprig from the set to add some foliage under the flowers and to the tree branches, using my 177 Dark Jade marker.  I also used the 177 with the large and small grasses from the 5073 Bible Foliage set, and then pulled the green colour out to fill in the green areas.  I darkened up their hooves and noses with the N57 Warm Grey, and then picked up 565 Deep Blue from my palette and painted in the flowing river.  I went back in and added a few ripple marks around the rocks, and added shadows under the deer.

This is another card that I think would make a wonderful Try-fold!  The stamp set also includes three lovely script sentiments, perfect for journaling.

80 Easter cards

We recently moved my Mother-in-law to a nursing home, and I got the bright idea that I'd like to make each of the residents an Easter card!  So while I haven't been posting much this month, I have been crafting.  I made them simple, bright and happy - using up all kinds of supplies that I've had in my room for a while (especially all those paper flowers!).  So here's what a small assortment of them look like:

 Anybody recognize some of those older Close To My Heart papers?  I made up to 10 of some of these - it all depended on what supplies were available.

 It felt great to use up some supplies, while hopefully putting a smile on someone's face.  I'm ashamed to say that I haven't done much of this in the past - so hopefully I can do another round of cards for Christmas.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter - enjoy the time with friends & family :o)

Sugar Pea Mix-It-Up Challenge

I bought this lovely London Scape die from Sugar Pea Designs a few months ago, and finally pulled it out to use this afternoon!  It's the last day to play along with the March Mix-It-Up Challenge on the Sugar Pea blog, so I did a little ink blending and made birthday card:

I went with just the colours for my card - couldn't resist the pretty spring shades.  I used Squeezed Lemonade, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxides.

 I used a sentiment from Verve's Simply Amazing set, and a sprinkling of Verve sequins to finish it off.  I kept the negative from the die, and will be making another card from it in the near future.

Garden Shed

This sweet garden shed is from one of the recently released Art Impressions Watercolor stamp sets, and I've paired it up with the lovely flower cart to create my watercolor scene:

I've used seven stamp sets in my scene today!  I started by placing one of the sheds from 5121 - WC Garden Shed Set and the 4703 Flower Cart together on the same block, which allowed me to control exactly where they were placed to achieve the right perspective.

I coloured them both with 969 Chocolate, stamped, and softened the lines with a damp #4 paintbrush.  I used a combo of 969 and 992 Sand to paint in the roof, shingles and cart.  Using N57 Warm Grey, I coloured and stamped 2 of the stepping stone images from 5018 Cobblestone Set, and pulled out the colour to create some texture and shadows.  I used the two trailing greenery images from 5126 Foliage Set 4 coloured with 177 Dark Jade to stamp foliage falling out of the cart, and dabbed them with a damp brush to activate the ink.  Next I used the floral cluster from 4052 WC Flower Set 1 coloured in 676 Royal Purple to create the pink flowers in the cart, and after masking the shed, I stamped them on either side of it.  I coloured 565 Deep Blue onto the tiny bluebell image from Flower Set 1, stamping it three times in an upward direction to create tall stalks of blue flowers.  After softening all the flowers/foliage with a damp brush, I went in with the tiny leaf image from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set (oops! that's an 8th stamp set!!) to fill in around the flowers where needed.  I also used it around the shed to create some bushes with the flowers.

I used both the small and large grasses from 4051 - WC Foliage Set 1 in 177 as well as 126 Light Olive to add the suggestion of grass around the shed, stones and cart.  I pulled out the colour from the grasses, and painted in and around the images to create a wash of green grass.  After masking off the shed, I coloured two of the tree images from 5010 WC Tree Set 1 in 177, varying the heights - then softened them with a damp brush.  Finally, I scribbled 565 onto my palette, and painted in the sky and the door, and then used it to add shadows to the window, stones and cart.

New Ai Bible Journaling Sets

If you're a fan of the Art Impressions line of Bible Journaling stamp sets, today is your lucky day!  I am helping to launch the five new sets for 2019 by sharing 3 projects made with 5130 - On The Sparrow Set.  I wanted to show how you can use these sets for so much more than journaling - so I have two cards and a bookmark to share:

When I first saw the On The Sparrow set, I immediately thought of using it for a Try-fold card (Art Impressions style!) so I played around with the stamps to create a Try-fold card in a size that worked with the images.  I'm using a smooth watercolour paper that scored well and doesn't create a bulky card when it's layered three times.  It measures 10 1/4" x 5 1/4" and is scored 3 3/8" in from each side.

 I used three of the lovely script sentiments that come with the set, putting a different one on each layer, because they worked so well together.

 And finally the card opened up:

 I created a simple card using one of the bird/branch images, along with the nest and the fourth sentiment "Sing".  *I'll list the colours I've used on all the projects at the bottom of my post.

I've used Tombow Dual Brush markers, starting by colouring the birds/branches with 969 Chocolate, then softening the lines with a damp brush.  I used N57 Warm Grey for the robins, scribbling the marker onto my palette, and picking up the colour with my paintbrush, layering a few times to build up the darker shades.  Their red breasts are 856, and I used the 993 marker directly on the paper to add a bit of colour to the beaks and feet.  I used the medium leafy sprig from 4867 WC Foliage Set 2 New to stamp the leaves in 177 Dark Jade, stamping multiple times without reinking to get both light & dark foliage.  I added a touch of robin's egg blue to the eggs in the nest, colouring directly with my 451 marker.  And finally, I watered down 565 Deep Blue to paint a blue wash suggesting the sky.

Head on over to the Art Impressions blog to see what the rest of the Guest Designers are sharing today!  And Happy Stamping!

Most Days Require Chocolate

Using a bunch of old stuff today, to put together a couple of fun cards for a friend.  Verve's Chocolate stamps and word die were perfect for what I had in mind, and these ancient Close To My Heart papers with the chocolate accents made them even better:

 I couldn't resist adding a little zigzag detailing with chocolate coloured thread... and the new Art Impressions Tag Die is amazing!  Notice the little ring around the hole?  Yes, it's a separate die that comes in the set - there's a wonderful attention to detail, that let's you add the perfect finishing touch to your card (you're going to hear me go on and on about these dies!!)

Enjoy the day!