New Front & Back

I have a very different card to share for this week's Watercolour Weekend on the Art Impressions blog - mostly dies!

I stamped the little 5780 - FB Sitting Dog onto some Bristol Smooth Cardstock using Tombows 565 & 969, and painted him with N55, adding layers where he needed to be darker.  I went over his features with my Black Twintone marker, then cut both the front and back out with the matching dies.  I did the same with the bird from 5261 - WC Large Birdhouse Set, painting him with 533 and fussy cutting him out.

To create the window, I cut the window frame from 5770 - FB Farm Fence Die Set in white cardstock - twice, and cut the shutters out in black.  It's a little hard to see in the photos, but I cut 1/2" strips of pale blue cardstock, and glued them all together to mimic the wood siding on a house.  I ran this panel through my machine with the 5063 A2 Rectangle Double Stitched Die, then cut out two black & white polka dot rectangles as well.  The black one was glued inside my card to be the 'inside' of the house, and the white polka dot piece was glued to the inside of the window.  Once I had created my layers for the front of my card, I used the rectangle die that cuts out the window, then glued the two window frames on the inside and outside of my card.

The pup was glued together and placed with his head sticking out the window to look up at the bird.  The dies that cut him out also cut out under his paws, which allowed me to let them perch on the windowsill.  I cut out my Memory Box Twig die in some kraft cardstock and glued it to my card so that there would be a good spot to have the bird standing on one of the branches.  The sentiment from 5734 - Friend Sentiments Set was stamped in Versafine Onyx Black ink.

Even though this is an easy card - it required a lot of planning!  You have to think before you glue things together, making sure you're not missing a step.  It's also important with a Front & Back card to have the inside look nicely finished - so I made sure to have some patterned paper on the reverse of the front panel to not have the dog sitting there on his own.

Check out the Ai blog and instagram on Saturday to see what Diane & Tricia have to share!

Stamptember with Art Impressions!

 I am excited to be participating in the launch of Art Impressions' collaboration with Simon Says Stamp to have this sweet stamp set as part of their Stamptember celebration!  Here is SSE23A Apple Cider Set:

I started by stamping her on masking paper and cardstock, cutting it out, and covering my stamped image with the mask.  I used Candied Apple, Squeezed Lemonade and Mowed Lawn Distress Oxide inks to blend my background - then sprinkled it with water, as well as white and grey paint to created a little background interest.  I removed the mask, and coloured up with Copic markers.  For her cute capris, I stamped them onto some Graphic 45 paper, fussy cut them out and adhered them to my base.  I cut the image out with my rectangular die, and added the sentiment with Versamark Onyx Black ink.  I raised the panel on foam adhesive before attaching it to my blue background, and added a few red enamel dots.

This set is only available through Simon Says Stamp - while quantities last!  And they usually go pretty quick, so head over to their site and grab yours now.  The set comes with two images, and four sentiments.  Great for fall birthdays or maybe even a teacher card?  The whole Ai team has cards to share, so check out the Ai blog for inspiration, as well as the SSS site.  

Blooming Floral

I am using a new-to-me stamp and stencil set today called Blooming Floral.  These are from Pigment Craft Company, a Canadian company who has such a unique style - that I recently purchased a number of new products of theirs.  The inks are also from Pigment Craft Co - love their colour palette!

The first of many projects you'll be seeing from me this fall using this company.  Jewels are from Pink Fresh Studio.  The decorative die is from The Greetery.  Happy crafting!

Harvest Gnome

I created a little harvest gnome scene for this week's Watercolour Weekend post on the Art Impressions blog, combining some new and older sets.

I stamped the sitting gnome from 5785 - Gnomes Set, inking up only the gnome, and not the pot he's leaning against - in Tombows #969/565.  I masked him off, and stamped the basket of produce from 5598 Harvest Set that was released last fall - positioning it as though he is leaning up against it, and also added one of the squirrels from 5599 Mini Mice & Squirrel set.  Creating the scene is the hardest part!

I painted the orange pumpkins in tones of #933/905/947, and the blue ones in #228/493/249, painting the large one on the ground in a mottled pattern.  The red apple and his hat are done in layers of #856, and the green one is #126/249.  The spaghetti squash on the ground is painted with #990/991.  For all of the produce, I kept the lightest layers on the top of each piece, as that is closest to the light source, and kept the undersides as the darkest, where the shadows are.  Darkening the crevices also makes each piece seem more 3 dimensional.  His nose and hand were painted in #850/903, his coat is in #993, and his shoes in shades of #977/969.  The basket and squirrel both have light, warm tones of #947, with darker brown shades of #977 & 969 painted where the darker areas are under the squirrel's tummy, and in between the slats of wood.  I used the small grass from 4051 Foliage Set in #126, and painted in out as a wash of grass, then added in darker shades of #177.  #493 was painted on his trousers, and as a wash for the sky.  I made all of the stumps to be tones of brown, and used #565 to add shadows around and under my images.

I added a few dots with my Navy Twintone marker, and cut out the scene with a decorative oval die.  Check out the Ai blog on Sept 2nd to see what Tricia & Diane have created!

Gnomes!

 I have a whimsical scene for this week's Watercolour Weekend post on the Art Impressions blog:

I stamped my sleeping gnome from 5785 Gnomes Set onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, masked him off, and stamped the stump from 4871 WC Rustic Container Set behind him.  I positioned the mushrooms from 5788 Whimsical Mushrooms on either side, and added the leaves from 5795 Berries in various spots.  Three different flowers from 5794 Whimsical Flowers were tucked in behind, and finally my little bee from 5561 - Birds and Bugs Set.  For all of my elements, I used Tombow Dual Brush Markers #969/565.

From my palette, I painted tones of brown (#947/969/899) onto the stump - the image shows you where the crevices are, so those areas are the darkest, while the more rounded areas catch more of the light, so they are the lightest.  For the toadstools and his hat, I started with #856, layering it to get darker tones, leaving the upper areas as the lightest shades.  The yellow toadstools and his shirt were painted with #991/993.  I wanted the leaves to be bright, so I started with #126, then mixed #249/493 to get a teal green shade for the darker areas.  #533/565 were painted on all the flowers - just as shadows on the white ones.  #526 was painted on his trousers, and #N55 on his shoes.  The bee was done with #N55/993 and a touch of blue on his wings.  The small grass from 4051 - Foliage Set 1 was stamped in #177, and painted out as a wash.  Finally a wash of #493 was painted in as the sky.  I added the sentiment from the Gnomes Set in Versafine Onyx Black ink, and added a few dots to my scene with my navy Twintone marker.  I cut out the scene with 5061 Square Double Stitched Dies, and mounted it onto my background paper.

Diane & Tricia will be sharing posts this week also.  Happy painting!

More Lawn Fawn Birthday die cards

 I was able to get 3 of these made up - using up patterned paper that is in my stash, and building up my Birthday card supply at the same time.

Altenew Dies

 I was lucky enough to win a gift card to the Altenew shop, so had fun picking out some new dies.  I'm using two of them on my card today, the Dotted Tile Debossing Cover Die is my background - love this!  The design is gorgeous and delicate - a perfect background.  The flower and leaves are all Craft-A-Flower: Rose, cut in various cardstock colours and layered together.  I added some gold paint spatters, plus a few pearls and a sentiment from Pinkfresh Studio.