Sunday stampers challenge

Surprise! I didn't use the bonanza buddies stamp set! Yes, I decided to switch it up a little today and use a set that I have not used in a while, tea together stamp set. I love to color and this gave me a great chance to play with my stampin blends. I also used a few strips of the new best dressed dsp. This paper is so lovely! So soft and sweet. I thought that is went well with a piece of the bird ballad dsp. (something else that had not been used in a while) This sketch from the Sunday stampers really is a terrific layout! Make sure to check out what the design team did below.

Check them out here!

I had so much fun making this card. I love the color palette of this dsp. I needed a thank you card and so I added a small thank you to the middle of the cup from the free as a bird stamp set. I thought this font went really well the card.

Thank you for stopping by and taking your time to look at my card. I really appreciate all of your encouragement and kind words.  Have a blessed week!

Enjoy Just Add Ink #472

Isn't technology crazy? My little crafty brain has a hard time wrapping my mind around the whole world wide web (as they used to call it, maybe I am dating myself). The challenge that I submitted today is from  a group of stampers from Australia.  Isn't that just so cool! I am all the way in Southern California! Amazing! I just recently found their website and I am so glad that I did!

Check them out here!

Isn't this a fun challenge?  I always love finding new layouts for making cards. I find that I tend to use the same few layouts so frequently. This one was very different then my usual style. That is another reason why challenges are great opportunity to grow.

The flowers I put in this cute little tea cup are from the bird ballad DSP.  I cut out the flowers that were on the edge of the paper and they fit beautifully into the rim of the cup. So don't throw away those little scraps on the ends.  ( Confession. Can you tell that I have a hard time throwing things out?) It actually becomes quite addicting when you start cutting the paper apart.  I have been using these flowers on everything lately. Join in the fun and check out the great just add ink website! Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!  And I would love any comments and letting me know where you are joining me from. Enjoy!

Celebrate Spring

Hello!  Thank you for joining me on my blog today! I really appreciate you taking your time to check out my latest card.  I am really in love with coloring the small flower from the tea together set. So I thought why not color them in several different colors? The flowers in California are so beautiful with all the rain we had this winter and so I decided to make my own super bloom with all my flowers. 

I really like the natural highlight that leaving the center of the flower petals white gives. It really goes quick with the stampin blends. 

Hopefully you are enjoying the beautiful signs of spring where you live. If not make your own super bloom today coloring your own flowers in colors that make you happy! Enjoy!

Tea for Mothers Day

Hello, I hope you are having a great week and getting ready for Easter.  The card I made today has a spring feeling to it, I think it is because of the bright, pink tea cup!  I love bright, bold colors, you can tell by looking at this card. I stamped the tea cup in momento ink so that I could color it with stampin blends. After I finished and used the framelits to cut it out I thought about doing the same with the tea pot, however I liked the idea of the tea pot just being in the background. I didn't think that it needed to also be pink. I decided to stamp it on gray granite and cut it out. I added a few highlights with a white gel pen and decided that was good enough.

The sentiments in the tea together stamp set are beautiful and I love the fonts that are used. I stamped the greeting in gray granite and then used the stitched label framelits for a beautiful, dainty look. Mother's day is still a while from now, but I love to make cards so I have an option. Plus you know how crazy life and get and before you know it, it will be here.  I better get working on some Easter cards, since that is just in 2 weeks.  Do you send Easter cards? Normally I do not but I was thinking of sending a few this year.  Have a beautiful day! Take some time out to make a card for someone special! Thank you for visiting my blog!

Tea Time

 Time for a beautiful cup of tea!  I love all things coffee and tea. I think it is because they are so warm and soothing to drink. So when I saw the tea together stamp set in the occasions catalog I knew that I would want to order it.

I used my stampin' blends to color the tea pot and cup in shades of blue, I used both the balmy blue and the night of navy colors. I really like the way that it came out. I do struggle with shadows and so I kept it very simple with a highlight in the center. I also stamped a few of the flowers from the stamp set to add to this beautiful place setting.

The flowers I colored with highland purple and blackberry bliss blends and I made the flowers have more dimension using a flicking motion with the pens.  I find this technique so pretty and easy to do. I used a little daffodil for the center of the flowers. I did not want the tea pot and other images to be floating and so I lightly sponged a background as well as added a pearlized doily.

I struggled with where and what greeting to use on the card. I did not want to cover up any of the coloring that I had spent time on and so I decided to stamp the greeting on the cup.  I think that it works and is not to distracting.  I hope you enjoy this card and give me your thought in the comment area below.  Have a beautiful day and enjoy a lovely cup of warm tea!

Birthday watercolor

 Today I have been practicing my watercoloring.  From everything that I have seen or watched online, I have learned that to be a better watercolorer I have to practice.  It is very difficult to figure out the amount of water that is needed to get the effect that I would like to achieve. I have been having so much fun with this medium.  For the card above I used watercolor paper and stamped my flower images with Staz on ink because it will not run when water is applied. I randomly stamped the flowers from the tea together stamp set. I layered the colors that I used, letting them dry in between each of the layers.  This is very important so that you get a layer, if you apply more color when the image is wet the colors will bleed into each other.

 I went in with a wash of balmy blue for the background.  I wanted to keep the background pretty neutral so that the flowers would stand out. I love to color my flowers bright and bold as I am sure you can tell from this painting.  Since the background is so busy and I decided to go with a simple greeting for the card. I hope you try watercoloring with the aquabrush and some of the dye inks. It really is fun and relaxing.  Let me know if you have any other questions.  Have a beautiful day!