Clean, simple, serene

I really like how this card came out.  I had colored the flowers and butterfly and was not sure what I was going to make when I started. I knew that I wanted the card to have a lot of dimension. I love dimension on a card. So I stamped the corner piece and then used the matching framelit to cut out the leaves. The framelits only cut out a few of the leaves and I really like how that looks. 

I used my stampin blends to color the images, I wanted to keep the entire card soft and serene. I used the sentiment from the stitched all around stamp set, I really like the fonts in this stamp set.

When I had finished I thought it needed a little something and so I turned to my basic adhesive backed sequins. I love the soft colors of these sequins and since they have adhesive already on them they are so quick and easy to attach! I hope you enjoy this card as much as I do.  Sometimes a simple card can bring such joy and I hope that the person I send this to feels the same serene joy in their day!  Enjoy!

Paper Pumpkin!

https://www.paperpumpkin.com/en-us/sign-up/?demoid=17603

So excited for this kit!  To order yours use the link above!

Love for all teachers!

First off I apologize for the quality of this picture. I am not sure why it is not the best it could be but don't let that keep you from seeing the cuteness in this card.  I love the hostess set, soon to retire, in the current catalog. The girl image makes the most adorable cards. I had stamped this one a while ago and finally made a card with it.

When looking at the teacher image, I thought of making a chalkboard for the teacher. I then continued the teacher theme with the apples from the bike ride set, along with the banner for the chalkboard. 

The greeting is from the picked for you stamp set.  I thought it would look cute white heat embossed on the black cardstock. I then smooshed some white ink on the black to resemble a chalkboard. I wanted the teacher to have a little scene behind her and so this is what I came up with. I had so much fun putting this card together and can't wait to give it to a special teacher!  And thank you to all of you who teach someone everyday!  Enjoy!

Bird at the beach

I hesitate to post this card. I am not really sure that I like the way that it turned out, but then I thought maybe someone would see it and could tell me how I could have made it better. So I would love any comments you would have!

I stamped the scene with versamark and then white heat embossed the entire thing. I then attempted to watercolor the picture. That is what I am not too fond of. I think that the watercoloring it a little flat and I don't know where it went wrong.  I tried to go in with some watercolor pencils to add some contrast. I think that helped a little bit but still not my best work.

Please give me advice on what you think. Also, note that my sailboats are stamped crooked and I tried to work with that as well.  I was not gonna give up on this card.  I think that it is a great idea to post cards that we don't think are our best. What do you think? So maybe someone out there but like this card, or maybe not. But it is what I produced today and I know that I learned things in the process and most important just enjoyed the time I spent creating! Isn't that why we do art? Have a fabulous day and go create your own work of art, whatever that may be. Enjoy!

Jar of flowers

The jar of love stamp set has been so popular! It has so many wonderful images and matching framelits and soon it will be retired. I wanted to use it a few more times before I put it away, however I know it will be used very often even after it's retirement.

This large jar I stamped with momento ink on heavy white cardstock and colored with smoky slate blends. I love pinks and greys together so I stamped the flowers from petal palette (another set I will miss!) and colored those with blends as well. 

This jar will be missed! If you are interested in this set get it now before it is gone. I would love to order it for you or if you have any questions please let me know.  Have a wonderful day! Thank you for stopping by! 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!

Serene watercolor

Do you feel like watercoloring is calming? I sure do.  Even if it isn't turning out the way I had planned I really enjoy the process of watching what the colors do with the water.

For this card I white heat embossed the images and used my ink refills for the color. I used watercolor paper because I knew that I would be using a lot of water.  One of the most amazing things about watercolor is seeing what the color does when you add a few colors. The blend that it creates is always so interesting to me. 

The serene garden bundle will be retiring at the end of May and so if you would like to order it please let me know. I think it has some really beautiful images! Have a beautiful day! Enjoy!

Special paper pumpkin!

Only a few days left to order your special paper pumpkin created in "Shelli" style. If you are not familiar with Shelli she is one of the co-founders of Stampin' Up! She loves all things vintage with lots of flowers. I am really excited to see what the kit will be.  I know it will be amazing and one you will not want to miss! This special kit needs to be ordered by May 10th! Order today don't miss out on this special kit!

https://www.paperpumpkin.com/en-us/sign-up/?demoid=17603

Use the above site to order today! If you have any questions let me know. Have a great day!

Amazing!

Well I am still trying that watercolor thing.  I see so many wonderful artist out there who make it look so easy.  The one thing that they all keep saying is to keep practicing and so that is what I have been doing. Hopefully you wont get to tired of seeing all my attempts at making it better.  For this card I white heat embossed the serene garden large stamp and the butterfly. I used my aquapainter and my ink refills for the watercoloring. It is much easier to watercolor when you have the white embossed area, the colors to not bleed. I was trying to use a few different colors in most images and also tried not to make it to exact. I used the balmy blue for the background color and then lots of splatter.  Make sure to let your painting dry before adding the splatter or it will just blend into the other wet areas.

Here is a close up of the watercoloring. Let me know what you think. I would love all criticism because I would like to improve in any way that I can.  The "amazing" is from the celebrate you thinlits, also sad to see that retire as well. Let me know if you have tried watercoloring and how that is going for you. Have a wonderful day and enjoy! 

Baby in Blue

Who loves to cuddle a sweet little baby in a cozy blanket? I sure do! This little baby is so adorable all snuggled up in his blue blanket! I will be so sad to see this set retire. I have had so much fun stamping and coloring it.

And who can resist adding that precious little bear hat, not me!  I used my stampin blends to color all these images. I thought that the polka dots in the neutral designer series paper went well with the dots on his blanket and I used the coordinating other side to break up the card front. For the congrats greeting I glued 3 layers together so that it gave it more dimension and stood out more. The layout for this card is very simple and you can use so many different stamp sets that you have. Sorry this post is so short. Since I had skipped so many days I thought I would just share another quick card I had made today! Have a great day and enjoy!

Petals and More

I apologize for not blogging the last week or so, with Easter and other obligations I have just been so busy.  I hope you had time to relax and have time with your families as well. I am going to be very sad to see the petals and more bundle retire! I love the images in the stamp set and I use the branches and other pieces from the thinlits all the time. They are great when you just need to fill in a little space.  For this card I had many extra branches from a project that I had made a while ago. So I decided to use them and make it into a card. The greeting is from the incredible like you stamp set, also retiring. The greetings in this stamp set just make me happy and I love to use them. I white heat embossed this one on the black cardstock and then punched out with the starburst punch.

The bird is colored with stampin blends and I used the pinewood plank embossing folder to keep with the outdoors theme.  Make time today to go through your leftovers from other projects and see what kind of card you can come up with.  Enjoy!

We all need a serene garden

Don't we all need a serene garden to spend a few minutes everyday.  The flowers in California are so beautiful right now with all the rain that we have received! It is so peaceful to walk around and see so much color! For this card I wanted a pop of color. I love how bright and beautiful yellow is! It is hard to look at a bright yellow flower and feel the warmth of the color. Since I wanted the flowers to be the focus of my card I kept the rest of the card pretty neutral. I embossed the background with the garden scene framelits. 

I colored the flowers with the daffodil delight and mango melody stampin blends and used a little bit of calypso coral for the dark shadows. I really like how these colors blended on this flower. I tried to keep this card pretty simple and I really like that it will be easy to mail.  I love the images in this stamp set and the framelits that go along with it are amazing. I think this bundle has been overlooked in this catalog. Check it out. It is on page 166 of the annual catalog.

Have a beautiful day and create your own pop of color!

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!