Stretching Two Cards from One...

Hello and welcome. I hope your week is going well. As promised, I wanted to share the card I created from the left over die cut word from THIS card. I LOVE getting more mileage out of one card. Why not make two cards instead of one when you've already done most of the work?!

This card was inspired by Julie Ebersole on Day 4 of Watercolor for Card Makers Class. 

I started to create this card by masking the center of some Watercolor Cardstock with a heart punched from Masking Paper. Then I stamped different size circles (from a "vintage" Hero Arts set) using Peacock Feathers, Squeezed Lemonade, and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. I love these inks because they activate with water just like watercolors. I took a paintbrush with water and "colored"each circle to get it to spread out and achieve a watercolor look.

Once dry, I removed the heart mask and adhered the left over "love you" die cut word, after cutting the word out of white cardstock several times to get a raised embellishment look. I finished it off with glossy accents and adhered it to a green card base.

I also punched out some hearts out of my practice paper to include on the inside of the card for a finishing touch...

That's all I got for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Getting the kids involved...

Happy Mother's Day! I have a quick share today that shows how you can get your kids involved in card making. You've probably noticed from my last few projects that I've been loving to watercolor on my cards. So, I thought it would be fun to get Aiden involved to make my mom's card for Mother's Day this year. He had so much fun...

I broke out his Crayola Jumbo Watercolor Set that he received in his Easter Basket and let him paint several pieces of Watercolor Paper. I took one of the pieces and punched out six hearts to create a Mother's Day Card...

I finished it off with some dry embossing to the background and a sentiment from Hero Arts. A simple and fun project for both mom and son!

I hope this inspires you to get your kids involved in your crafting. Have a great Mother's Day!

Watercolor for Cardmakers- Day One

Hello! Today I have a card share just for fun. I recently signed up for the Watercolor for Card Makers Class over at Online Card Classes and as usual, it is full of inspiration. Today's card was inspired by the amazing Laura Bassen on the first day of classes. Here is my card...

In class, Laura showed us how to create a watercolor background using an acrylic block, some distress inks, and water. I wanted to do a bright rainbow pattern so I used Barn Door, Wild Honey, Mowed Lawn, and Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. 

I wanted to keep the rest of the card super simple to keep focus on the fun background so I inlaid the love you die-cut into the background piece and added a few black hearts punched from cardstock. I also added a little shimmer to them with my Wink of Stella Pen...

If you want to get some inspiration or learn more about incorporating watercolor on your cards, check out the class info HERE.

I'll be back soon with another card I created with the leftover pieces from this card! Stay tuned...

Mint and Peach Color Combo (and tutorial)...

Hello and welcome. It's the first Thursday of the month so I'm back with a new challenge from the Little Tangles Blog....

I love mint and peach together. It's such a fresh color combo. Here is the card I created...

I took some photos for a tutorial on how I created the mint and peach embossing paste. 

Here are the tools I used to create that fun background...

-Ranger Craft Sheet

-White Embossing Paste

-Palette Knife

-Stencil (I used Tim Holtz- Dot Fade)

-Hero Arts Inks-Mint Julep and Fresh Peach

-Neenah Cardstock cut to card size

-Washi Tape to hold stencil in place

First, you need to smoosh (very technical term LOL) some mint and peach ink onto your craft mat. Scoop out a small amount of white embossing paste next to each ink color.

And start mixing! If you want it lighter, add more white embossing paste. If you want it darker, mix in more ink.

 Next smear it on top of your stencil like icing. I wanted a thin coat. It will look like this...

 Remove the stencil and you will be left with this awesome background...

 I did another extra one in mint...

(The two examples shown here were just extra backgrounds I created since I was making a mess anyway. For my final card I mixed the two colors on one background.) 

You can create your own embossing paste color with many mediums besides ink. You can add in acrylic paint, alcohol inks, ink refills, markers. Anything goes. Experiment! 

To finish off my card, I adhered my background to a grey card base and  stamped the sentiments from THIS stamp set onto some die-cut banners. I also added some of THESE yummy sequins.

I hope you can create a mint and peach masterpiece and enter it HERE. Can't wait to see what you create. The winner from this challenge will not only get a stamp set of their choice, but also a pack of mint and peach sequins. Yay! 

Thanks for stopping by. Be back soon...

Pandamonium...

Hello! I hope you're enjoying your weekend. I wanted to hop on and share some cards I recently made with THIS adorable set from Mama Elephant.

I made a bunch of cards...

...but this one is my favorite...

I'm loving the pandas. Such a sweet image. 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon...

Stamping Royalty 2014 Rejects...

Hello! Today I thought I'd share a few cards I made for the recent Stamping Royalty contest. I didn't win. I guess my cards weren't as good as I thought they were. LOL However, I thought you might want to see them anyway...

Card #1-

 Card #2-

 A closer look...

 Card #3-

 Yep... that balloon die-cut image is covered in glossy accents. looks so cool in real life...

Oh well. You win some you lose some. There's always next year.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Mini Cards Challenge...

The new challenge was announced over on the Little Tangles Blog today is all about mini cards. I immediately thought of creating mini lunch box cards. ..

To create these mini cards, I punched some patterned paper in different colors using THIS new favorite punch. (I love that it punches a 3x4 rectangle so it fits perfectly with the Project Life photo pockets.) Then I stamped THIS speech bubble stamp on some kraft cardstock for each card. I cut them out and then stamped various greetings along with a coordinating image. I loved how fast these were to create!

Well, I hope you have a chance to play along. I would love to see what mini cards you can create! You can enter your mini card(s) HERE. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!