CAS(E) this Sketch! #332

I have been really trying to go outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself with my stamping. So I have been attempting to create for some of the challenge boards online. Today I created this card with the sketch from the CAS(E) this Sketch.

 Here is the sketch for this week. I am hoping that I get my card in on time, I am not the best with the computer so that is an even bigger challenge for me.

I used the bird ballad DSP and cut out a few of the cute feathers to put in my watering can. I slit a small hole in the top of the can to slip the feathers in. I colored the can with my stampin blends.

Cutting out the feather images made this card really fast. Thank you for checking out my card and give a challenge online a try. It is really fun to put your own spin on the sketches. Enjoy!

So Blessed and Grateful

What a beautiful sentiment this is and something so many times a day I take for granted! I am so blessed and grateful for all the time I get to spend creating and especially all the wonderful people I have met during my 20 plus years as a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! I began when I my 4 children were young and I wanted "adult" time. I have learned so much about myself and enjoyed the evolution of stamping.

I love a soft and sweet card. I think that this is one of my favorite cards that I have made in a long time. Starting with a watercolor panel using rococo rose and seaside spray the rest of the card developed.

As some of you who follow me on instagram, pinterest and my blog you know that I have really been trying to improve my watercolor skills. With this card I used a lot of techniques. One thing that I did was for the sentiment I used my aquapainter and dipped it into some of the rococo rose ink refill. I then brushed it over the sentiment and immediately stamped it. I really like the effect that it produced especially on the smaller font. It has a watery feel and compliments the rest of the card.

I used a panel of vellum to dull the watercolor panel down and it made a frame for the main image of the card.

I really had a lot of fun with this card and didn't think to hard when I was watercoloring. I sometimes over think the process and so this time I was able to just let go. Let me know what you think of the watercolor sentiment. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Have a beautiful and blessed day! Enjoy!

Last day to take advantage of the bonus days.  Order $50 today and get a coupon to use next month for $10.  A great time to order paper and adhesive! Let me know if you have any questions!

Light and fluffy clouds

I needed a box for a small gift and so I turned to the cute little pizza boxes from Stampin' Up! I love the cute shape and the convenience of them already to use, just a few simple folds and you have the box assembled. I had colored, with my stampin blends, this bird a few days ago and thoughts it was the perfect size to go on my box. 

After I had put the box together I realized that the upper left corner needed something. I tried a sentiment and many other things but it all was just too much. I had the idea to add a few clouds but wasn't sure how. I did not want to add embossing paste because I thought that would also be to heavy for that corner. Then I had the idea to use my cloud stencil with my colorless blender. I loved it!

Because the colorless blender pushes the color over and makes it lighter the cloud effect was beautiful and just what I wanted, light and fluffy clouds. I am sure that I am not the first person to think of this idea but, I was really excited when I did. I know that the photos are not the best, I tried to get the best shot that I could. I finished the box with using dimensionals on the flowers and the enjoy banner from the country home stamp set.

I kept the box pretty simple other than the main panel. Sometimes you have to look through your supplies and see what might work. Remembering that it is only paper and you can try over if you don't like the results.  You might come up with a result that you are really happy with, like I did today. I would love to hear what things you have discovered while creating. I hope you give my clouds a try. I think that you will really like them. I know that I will try this again with other images and see what other  results I can come up with. Let me know what you think of my pizza box?  Enjoy!

Only a few days left to both of these deals.  Let me know if you need any help or have any questions!

Perennial flower punch

I am so in love with this new punch and coordinating stamp! I know I have used it a lot lately, and I am hoping you like the ideas that I have some up with.  Most of them are pretty basic and easy but I think that is what I like most.  Quick and easy!

I love to white heat emboss images and watercolor them! These images took me no time because they are so small. I stamped them a few times with versamark ink and then embossed them on watercolor paper. I used mostly bermuda bay ink and pool party for the flower colors. Every time I use bermuda ink and paper I wonder why I don't use it more often. I love the color!

For the leaves I decided to stamp the same flower on pear pizzazz. For the card base I used bermuda and swiped my white ink pad across it for a subtle look.  I love this technique. If is kind of hard to see it in my pictures but in person it looks so soft and pretty. The greeting is from the free as a bird stamp set and the die I used to cut that out is from the stitched label dies. This die set has great dies for sentiments. If you have not gotten this bundle yet, I would highly suggest it! The price is affordable and you can use it in so many different ways.  Let me know what you have done with this bundle.  Enjoy!

Try something new!

I love the flower and leaf dies that are in the wild rose die set so I decided to make them the star for this card. I wanted the color to  pop through the dies and so I watercolored with my ink refills and aquapainter the background. I started by placing the dies where I wanted them to go and then added the color.

The first layer of color was so pretty and I was really excited to see what the card would look like when done. I placed my dies on top and decided that I wanted to add another layer of color and make some areas a little bigger. I also added some of the seaside spray to the background to add even more dimension.

Look how pretty is this.  I thought of just keeping this without the dies but decided to make the card the way that I had planned.

The sentiment is from the inspiring iris stamp set.  I really love this sentiment and I am sure you have noticed because I use it all the time!

I wonder if I had made the die pieces with colored card stock how that would look.  Something to try in the future. I love to try new things. How about you? Sometimes you can come up with something that works and sometimes it just doesn't work.  I keep trying to tell myself that it is all just paper and ink. Try something new today and let me know what it is and if you like it. Enjoy!

Love Rococo Rose

I am in love with the new in color rococo rose!  So I couldn't resist using it for the flowers in this background. After I made this card I realized that I made a card very similar a while back. I stamped the flower image from the inspiring iris stamp set. I taped the paper down because I knew that I would be using a lot of water and wanted it to be flat. It really does make a difference when you go to make the card when the watercolor paper is flat.  Since it is so thick it has a tendency to warp the whole card!

I wet the entire paper and then dropped in ink color with my aquapainter, using rococo rose, mambo melon, daffodil delight and grapefruit grove for the flowers. For the leaves I used granny apple green and old olive. I waited for this to dry completely and then did another layer of color. Then I added the small flower with seaside spray and daffodil. I didn't want that to bright and so I blotted it to make it very light. Then a few splatters of color and I was done.

The greeting was white heat embossed and punched out with the pretty label. I am also super obsessed with the new woven threads sequins assortment.  The colors are beautiful! Enjoy!

TGIF Christmas Challenge

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Christmas in July? Well, I don't know about where you live but her in Southern California it does not feel like Christmas but I do love making Christmas cards. They are the most fun! I am looking forward to seeing the new Stampin' Up! holiday catalog. As a demonstrator I will get to see it tomorrow and I can't wait! (one of the great perks of being a demonstrator, preorder) Many lucky demonstrators who earned the Greece trip already have the catalog along with many of the stamps and other goodies. So I have seen lots of things online and they are all so cute, I know it will be a big preorder for me!

So for today I have made a Christmas card for the TGIF challenge. When I decided to join in on the challenge this week I realized I do not have any Christmas sets that are current and so I used my favorite punch, perennial flower punch to make my own poinsettia flower.

I punched out a few flowers in cherry cobbler and then sponged the edges to give it more dimension. Some of the flower petals I cut apart to make the flower look even fuller. I used the same punch for the leaves and scores them in half so that it would look like a vein. 

I added a little white chalk line for small reflection on the leaves and curled the flower with my bone folder. For the center I colored a few pearls with my daffodil delight dark stampin blend.

I used fine lines of wink of stella to add to the flower petals. It was really hard to get a picture of that but, it looks so pretty in person. This card was fun and a challenge to make something new with the punch. I admire all the people out there who are so creative with punches. I look forward to seeing the new holiday catalog and sharing the new sets when they arrive.  If you would like to join and receive the same benefit let me know. I would love to answer any questions you may have and now till the end of August is the best time to join! Check out the special pay only $99 and you can choose $155 worth of product from the catalog plus you will receive a coupon towards $10 to use next month! Give the TGIF a try and join them in the Christmas in July challenge. Enjoy!

All days are beautiful!

The card I have made today I finally got the chance to use the stitched die that I cut out the other day. I don't know about you but I keep all my scraps, some may say I keep too much! I love to use them in creative ways. Although today's way is not that creative, I think that it turned out really cute!  Below is the card that I cut the die out.

The bird ballad designer series paper is so pretty! I have such a hard time cutting it up! But then when I make a card with it, I am so happy that I did cut it.

I really wanted to keep this card simple because the paper is kind of busy.  The perennial essence stamp set has a simple flower that when stamped in the calypso coral looked great.

I stamped the greeting and the leaves before I ran the piece through the big shot with my subtle embossing folder. This folder is good for when you want to add texture but not to much busyness.  Keep your scraps and you will never know what you can create with them! Enjoy!

Purple Power

This card is a whole lot of purple!  I had colored the iris image and wanted to use the purple in the background. To make the background I took a piece of water color paper and after taping it down completely covered it with water. I then added highland heather and gorgeous grape alternating the rows of color. I also tilted the paper a little to try and get the colors to run into each other. 

The color was a little strong for me and I wanted to add some extra texture and so I decided to use the pinewood planks embossing folder. 

The stamps I used are from the inspiring iris stamp set. I decided to color the outline stamps with stampin blends. I hope you get some new ideas from this card and create a purple masterpiece of your own. Enjoy!