Laugh A Little Louder

I have a friend who is having a 'milestone' birthday next week, so I thought I'd think about making her card.  I knew I wanted to do some watercoloring again, but this time I just wanted to play with a background, not colour an image.  So I decided on two colours, I used my Distress Inks and smooshed them on my craft mat and then added some water with my brush.  Before adding the watercolour to my card, I made sure to saturate it with clean water first.  I loved how the ink spread when I touched the paper with the brush!!  This was fun, and I can't wait to play some more.

I added a tiny bit of sparkle with my Wink of Stella pen and flicked a bit of my new Hero Arts Silver Metallic Spray onto my background.

I used another Unity Stamp, this one is from the Far Better Things Ahead grab bag of stamps.  It's one of a bundle of 5 stamps that I received free with one of my Unity orders :)  Gotta love that!!!!  And I loved this sentiment.  I think it's perfect for her, we've been friends a long time.  The flower and stem is from the KOM - Warmth of Winter.

Turns out I can enter this as well in Unity's 'be inspired' Challenge #24 since my colours fit again.  That really wasn't intentional this time :)

I'm also entering my card in today's Friends With Flair on the Unity Blog

and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.

Stamps:  Unity Far Better Things Ahead grab bag, Unity KOM December 2014 - Warmth of Winter
Paper:  Simple Stories The Story of Us, SU watercolour paper and Pool Party cs
Ink:  Picked Raspberry and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories:  Hero Arts Silver Metallic Shimmer Spray, Wink of Stella Clear, SU Pool Party twine, CTMH double sided tape

Hey Friend

I had some free time this weekend and decided to try a few new techniques.  I played with my distress inks again,  I really love the look of watercoloring and wanted to try a new to me technique I've seen.  For this card I stuck to just one colour for now - I inked up the solid stamp and spritzed water on it before stamping on the paper.  I didn't use watercolour paper and it turned out fine.  After it dried I stamped the detailed stamp in archival ink over top - Versafine Onyx Black.  LOVE this ink, it's so crisp and clear.  After all was dry, I brushed over the flowers with my Clear Wink of Stella pen.

I'm very pleased with how this turned out, love the pink ink with the black.  I'm also loving the cardstock, it's Bazzill Marshmallow.  It coordinates perfectly with the My Mind's Eye Now and Then Mildred papers.  I finally got to play with these Mama Elephant Femme Frames dies too!!

I am entering this in CASology Week 130 - Friend 

Simon Says Stamp June 2014 card kit items:
Simon Says Stamp Favorite Flowers Stamp, MME Now and Then Mildred 6x6 paper and Enamel Dots, Bazzill Marshmallow cs

Additional Items:
Mama Elephant Femme Frames die set, Simon Says Stamp Thinking of You stamp set (from the February 2014 card kit), Wink of Stella clear, Worn Lipstick Distress ink, Versafine Onyx Black ink

Caffeine...it's a girl's best friend

Hi there!!  I'm super excited about today's card.  I finally dug my heels in and tried my hand at some watercoloring.  AND I finally made time to join the Unity {be inspired} Challenge #24.  As you can see, I went with the colour challenge.  I must say that Unity Stamps are my 'thing' these days, I just can't get enough.  It really started because of my desire to do art journalling and dabble in mixed media.

I'm also super excited because I'm putting my birthday present to good use!!  My birthday present this year from hubby was the set of 3 Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities.  Since my art journalling journey began, I have been picking up several paints, inks, stencils, ya - you name it - and so I thought it was time to add the books to my stash :)  And so, now I can join in on the (CC3C) Compendium of Curiosities 3 Challenge.

And now, on to my card - the main stamp image and sentiment are from Unity's December 2014 Kit of the Month - Warmth of Winter.  I stamped part of the sentiment on the front and the rest is inside.  It reads 'Caffeine....it's a girl's best friend'.  The snowflakes inside are from the Like A Snowflake stamp set.  I watercolored the image with my Distress Markers.  Since I'm playing along with the CC3C Challenge #20 - Distress Watercoloring, Part 2 I cannot post the technique, you need your own copy of Tim's book to see for yourself.  This challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

I'm also entering my card in the Simon Monday Challenge - Winter Stamping.  I think this is my favourite winter card so far :)

I am also entering my card in the Mixed Media Card Challenge #7 - New

And last but not least, I'm linking this to Paper Issues New Issue - Say it Ain't Snow Cold Outside :)

Stamps:  Unity December 2014 Kit of the Month - Warmth of Winter and Like A Snowflake
Paper:  Doodlebug Fosty Friends, Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor cs, SU Naturals White cs
Ink:  Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink, Pumice Stone Distress Ink, Distress Markers
Accessories:  Clear Wink of Stella, Doodlebug Winter Sprinkles, Spritzer Tool, Ink Blending Tool, Watercolour Brushes

Art Journal Reveal - Hope Wish Love

It is time to reveal our 2nd Art Journal pages.  The theme was Winter/Christmas.  I chose to do a Christmas Tree.  I have seen the tree done like this in several ways.  I have to say I was very inspired by Christy Tomlinson's canvas creations and her techniques.  I love her doodling, she does it so freely.   I tried to add a bit, very discreetly as I'm not too comfortable with it yet.

There's a lot of layers here - I love looking for them all when I'm looking at the pages.

I started with spreading Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough Distress Paint with a credit card over the tissue wrap which was adhered with Liquitex Matte Medium.  I had a few issues adhering the tissue wrap - there is a couple places where it did not adhere properly, but you can't notice after all the layers.

Here you can see the snowflakes also stamped in Iced Spruce.  

Once the background was dry, I started adhering the tree pieces with the Liquitex Matte Medium.  I used the bone folder to crease the paper pieces into the seem of the book.

This part was really exciting for me - I got to use my new Big Brush Pitt Pens to outline the tree.  I used my finger to blend and this helps ground the image.  See the difference from the photo above?

A little more definition was created by outlining the tree with a black fine tip Pitt pen.  

Here I used some more colours and stamped the poinsettia and added the bubble wrap.

I added the Stormy Sky colour through the stencil.  

Here I added a border with some more stamping to the edges and the I added the rub-ons as well.  At this point I added some gesso with bubble wrap and and thought I was done.  I liked it here a lot and could have left it, but I REALLY wanted to add the chevron texture with the embossing paste and glitter.  

Now hop over to see Tracy's Winter Challenge creation.  It's beautiful and I love how whimsical it looks, I can't wait to see it in person.   Our next challenge is Love/Valentines.  

I am entering my journal page in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #8 - Something New for the New Year, since most of the techniques I've used were new to me :)

Supplies:

Ranger/Dylusions 5 x 8 Creative Journal;
Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap and Remnants Rub-Ons;
Basic Grey Jovial Paper
Distress Paints - Iced Spruce, Evergreen Bough, Festive Berries, Aged Mahogany, Stormy Sky, Pine Needles;
Brilliance Archival Ink Graphite Black;
Stamps:  Unity Stamps Like a Snowflake, CTMH December 25th and Snowflakes
PITT Big Brush Artist Pens
Simon Says Falling Snow and Heidi Swapp Chevron Stencil 
Liquitex Matte Medium, Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste, Martha Stewart glitter, bubble wrap

May Joy Fill Your Home

Good Day - Quick post today sharing a Christmas card I made for family in New Zealand.  I wanted it to be flat and easy to mail - and this is what I came up with.  Super easy, loved this foil paper from the SEI Kris Kringle paper pack.  I added a Unity Stamp sentiment to the inside and off it went.