The Paper Players: Celebration

There's a can't-miss challenge going on right now - the 400th challenge from The Paper Players!!  Four hundred challenges is an amazing milestone.  They have a very talented design team so, whether I play or not, I always check out the challenge for their inspiration.  I'm hoping as my life has settled down recently, I'll have more time to be inspired and to play long.

The theme for this challenge is Celebration.


I stuck very close to their inspiration photo with a bouquet of balloons in the outdoors - only mine are floating to the sky with some subtle clouds stenciled in the background using Clarity Stencil Brushes to be able to stay as soft as possible.  I used the lightest blue on the outer edges of each row of clouds with the medium blue in the middle.  I did a long row along the bottom, making the row smaller as I moved up so that the upper right is still all white.  (The darkest blue in the supply list is actually a darker tone on the bottom left of the blue balloon which you can't even see after I put it all together.  You can see the two oranges on the orange balloon, also the yellow if you look closely!)


I wanted to add something slightly unique so I added a stitched frame twining it above and behind the sentiment, balloon strings and the balloon.

Congrats to the Paper Players!  I'm looking forward to the next 400!

SUPPLY LIST

Taylored Expressions: Fintastic Day

I have a friend who is an avid mermaid collector.  (She recently found a Christmas stocking in the shape of a mermaid tail!)  Her birthday is next week and the theme was a no-brainer.  I also realized it would give me a good chance to continue getting comfortable with watercolors because what do you need with a mermaid??  Water.  And color!!


I wanted to try a stencil but I quickly realized as I was poking around for some tips and hints that it's a problem because watercolors bleed under the stencil.  But I figured it wasn't a problem for this card since I was doing an ocean and I didn't need totally clean and neat lines.

After taping down the paper and the Go with the Flow Stencil, I added a couple drops of Cookie Monster Liquid Watercolors and a couple drops of Shimmer Liquid Watercolor.  I painted the top part of the stencil, section by section.  I wasn't being totally neat and tidy, but I didn't just color over everything because I wanted to have some definition.  Then I dipped my brush in some water before dipping it in the the watercolor mixture so that the next rows were slightly lighter.  I did this about five times to get to the bottom so that the bottom sections are quite light.  Then I dipped my brush in water one more time and painted the lightest shade over the entire ocean. 

The shimmer is important.  Check out how it looks on the water, plus I painted just some uncolored shimmer on the fish!  LOVE this stuff!!


I am having a lot of fun with the liquid watercolors.  I'm not sure that I would have said that a few weeks ago.  Have I mentioned that I like being in control - and watercolors tend to do their own thing?  But I've learned that there really are ways to use them that are stunning and not particularly hard!  I've stepped out of my comfort zone and feeling pretty good about it.  I can't say they are my go-to coloring method now, but they definitely have a place in my crafting!
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Freshly Made Sketches: A Simple Thanks

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Today we have a sketch by Cécile.

I had a lot of false starts while coming up with something for this sketch.  I ended up using some exciting new-to-me products and not quite following the sketch for sentiment placement. (Sorry!  I'm usually a fairly strict follower of sketches, but I really wanted to use these dies!)


Life has calmed down a lot lately.  We are in our new house.  There are still bits and pieces to finish up, but it's good - and the old house is no longer ours as of this coming Friday.  My youngest son has graduated from high school and then made the big decision to defer college for a year - that's actually good too.  So I get to think about making cards again and the first thing I did was a big shopping binge.  I did a great job of cleaning out my wishlist although some of it dated back years.  That's why I say "new-to-me" as I definitely can't claim that I'm on top of things, but I have some fun new stash to invigorate me and it's done the trick.  These dies are from Frantic Stamper.  I also did three cards earlier this week from that particularly shopping binge and I have a few more dies to play with.  Then I can move on to my binge from Neat & Tangled and from Altenew - all before I get my Stampin' Up order!!  I am having a blast!!

I hope you have a blast too while you are playing along with our sketch!!!

SUPPLY LIST
Dies: Frantic Stamper Modern Thanks, Reverse-Cut Leaves
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Flirty Flamingo and Granny Apple Green plus I used a scrap of black/white to back it with
Sequins: Webster's Pages Party Time

Taylored Expressions: Big Butterfly in Watercolor

Taylored Expressions has recently released a line of liquid watercolors.  I am late to the watercoloring trend although I love what I see from everybody else.  I'm fairly certain it's because watercoloring involves letting go of control and that is way outside my comfort zone.  I had a wonderfully free weekend and a craft room just calling my name so I decided I needed to get comfortable with watercolors.  I want to be able to create soft backgrounds or vibrant backgrounds; I want to be able to create the stunning dimension that you can get with layers; and I want the realistic look of coloring images with it.  Now I'm not going to say one weekend made me proficient - far from it - but I'm more comfortable.

I did it with the help of the Liquid Watercolor posts on the Taylored Expressions blog - starting here.  Day 1 starts with Color Mixing and Painting.  Then if you click to Day 2, it's Color Wash and Shimmer Liquid. Day 3 is Detail Painting. Day 4 is Smooshing and Day 5 is Painted Plaid.

I worked through all of those days and have a lot of cards for my personal stash, but not quite good enough to share here.  However, you have to check out Day 4 Smooshing.  First of all, it's the most beautiful card that I've ever seen.  Secondly, Gayatri has done a fabulous video that walks you through each step and at the level that I need.  For instance, you can see exactly how much liquid watercolor to put down to smoosh with, how different water misters acts, how to build up dimension (both in smooshing and then she adds detailed color later), how to splatter it and more.

I went through the video step by step, pausing it and replaying it repeatedly while I worked on my own card.  Not in a million years do I have the skills set to replicate exactly what she did - but I'm happy with my card.  And more importantly, I'd actually do it again!

 
I do need to continue practicing.  I didn't get the layers of watercolor - mine almost looks more like a wash than a smoosh. (And that's an odd sentence to type!)  I did go back and add depth to portions of it by painting directly as Gayatri did on hers.  I also splattered like she did but for my white I used white acrylic paint, slightly watered down. (The Oreo Liquid Watercolor is fabulous for black speckles.)
 
What I learned this weekend is that while I cannot claim to be a skilled artist, there are tools and lessons and products available to help.  By the time I was done with this butterfly, I truly felt like I would do it again.  I don't think there's any simpler way to get that vibrant color than literally some drops of watercolor, misted with water and smooshing paper on it.  It's quite amazing how it works.
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CAS(E) this Sketch! Good Times

I recently updated my Copic match chart for all the new Stampin' Up colors (see just to the right on the sidebar) but I hadn't had a chance to use it.  I spent this weekend organizing my new craft room.  I'm loving it - but I actually think I have less space than I had in the old house.  Of course, in the old house, it involved a corner in the family room, a large closet in the utility room and an overflow closet under the stairs in the basement.  So no complaints - I now have one room that's bright and cheerful and I am surrounded by the hobby that I love.

However, I had to made some difficult decisions because some of the storage is in a tall built-in and the top two shelves involve using a step-ladder.  One of the things I decided could go way at the top were old stamp sets.  I have Stampin' Up product going back to the 90s.  (Who remembers Mint Melody and Mauve Mist?!)  I am emotionally attached those stamps and colors - it's how I started.  But I haven't touched them in literally decades. I was brutal with my Stampin' Up stash.  I just can't get rid of it but I did put all but the most current productsway up high. (I kept my step ladder is just behind the door for easy access!)

I've used a flower on the next card that went up high.  It's not that old, but it is retired.  I'm already having regrets about packing it away - but then I'd prefer none of it got packed away. 

The sentiment is from the current Waterfront set - it has a coordinating inside sentiment that says "...& the hard times easier".

The lighter colors on each flower are the colors from the Copic chart for Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo and Coastal Cabana.  The darker colors for shading are the next Copic up except for Mango which doesn't have darker shade so I used YR04.  

The current sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch inspired this entire card.  It's what sent me looking for a trio of flowers to color!  I love the way the sentiment is offset.

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Stampin' Up (SU) Flower Shop, Waterfront (sentiment)

Punch: SU Pansy Punch

Cardstock: SU Mango Melody, Flirty Flamingo, Coastal Cabana

Copics: Y38, YR04, R22, R24, BG32, BG34

Miscellaneous: small drops of Nuvo White Blizzard Drops in the center of each flower.

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge

My last post told you how giddy I was to actually be making cards for fun again.  After I finished the card on that post, I was browsing challenges to see what else I could make.  I got to the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge and stopped in my tracks - did you know they are closing down??  Oh no!  I'm so sorry I didn't play the first half of the year. (Life was busy!)

Their theme for their last challenge is "rustic".  Sadly, my Christmas stamps suffered in my recent move to a new house - they were dropped and scattered all over the driveway.  My clueless husband actually had the nerve to say that it wasn't a big deal since I didn't need them until December.  Seriously??!!  I should have started Christmas cards last December 26th.  I just haven't had the energy to try to put them all back together.  So I looked at the Frantic Stamper Stitched Daisy Pair die I had out for my last post and even though daisies don't scream Christmas, I decided I could change up the colors and make it "rustic" and hopefully even Christmasy!


At the top of the heap of Christmas stamps was a set from Verve.  It seemed appropriate to use something from Verve given that's the end of an era also.  Some of my earliest stamps are from Verve and definitely the main portion of my Christian stash is Verve.  I will miss them also.

Perhaps this was cheating - it's exactly the same card as yesterday with different colors.  But I like it.  In fact I like it so much, I went for #3...


This was one is more contemporary so I found an older sentiment from My Favorite Things to match the look. 
And now I have two Christmas cards done.  I have a long way to go but I had fun getting started!
Here's the trio of cards - yesterday's (non-Christmas) and the two from today.


Farewell Verve.

Farewell Merry Monday.

I will miss you both.

SUPPLY LIST

Die: Frantic Stamper Stitched Daisy Pair

RUSTIC CARD:
Stamp: Verve Weary World
Cardstock: Neenah Desert Storm
Patterned Paper: Echo Park Christmas This & That
Ink: Versamark and Antique Ivory Embossing Powder
Miscellaneous: Doodlebug Gold Sprinkles

SWEET CARD:
Stamp: My Favorite Things Hand-Lettered Holiday
Cardstock: My Favorite Things Tickled Pink, Red Hot, Limelight
Patterned Paper: Bazzill Basics Licorice 6x6 pad

Color Throwdown: Sending Hugs

I can't tell you how long it's been since I made a card just for fun.  Actually I can - probably since January when we decided to move after 27 years in the same house.  It's been a blur since then - trying to get our old and very lived-in house "freshened up", figuring out what and where we wanted to live, buying a house, moving, decorating, organizing my brand new craft room(!) - and in the middle of it all my youngest son graduated from high school.  It's all been wonderful, but not so much for making cards.  Don't get me wrong.  I do have various card commitments which forced me to take time to craft (thank goodness for those commitments - the time at the craft table kept me sane.)

Over the past few weeks, I've started to realize that life was settling down.  I also realized that it had been awhile since I had shopped.  So I sat down and made a dent on my wishlist.  I'm using two new-to-me items although probably not new to most people - the flower die has been on my wishlist for around two years!!  The sentiment is quite new though.


As much as I love that die and the sentiment, I probably wouldn't have sat down to make this card without the inspiration from Color Throwdown.  I absolutely fell in love with the inspiration photo.  I'm not sure I would have added the bright blue with their inspiration but I think it's lovely!

This was fun!!  And I made it and am writing this yesterday morning and have an entire day in front of me to craft. Yay for our hobby!

SUPPLY LIST

Stamps: Neat & Tangled No Words
Dies: Frantic Stamper Stitched Daisy Pair
Cardstock: Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green, My Favorite Things Cornflower
Patterned Paper: Bazzill Basics 6x6 Licorice Pad