September Christmas card: Watercolor lights

September has been a challenging month for me. I'm anxious about basically everything, I'm tired and on edge, and I just haven't been feeling very creative. I get excited about the idea of card making; I look forward to having days off work so I can sit in my craft space and make a bunch of cards. But when those days come, I get stuck, nothing seems to work, and I'm just not into it.

So for my September Christmas cards, I made literally one card. Here it is:

Supplies:
Paper: Watercolor paper (Strathmore), Real Red card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Watercolor paints (Beam Paints), Stardust glitter Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), ultra fine point black permanent marker (Sharpie)

One beautiful afternoon last week, I gathered up some basic painting supplies and decided I was going to watercolor in the back yard. (Actually, now that I think about it, it was the first day of autumn, but the weather felt like summer, and I was painting something wintery. Funny!) The first thing I wanted to try was painting a string of lights. I chose a few bright colors from my palette and painted three oblong bulb shapes for each color. (I need more practice to make them the same shape!) I tried to space them out across the paper and have them pointing different directions, and I also left a little white spot on each one for a highlight or reflection.

I set aside the paper to do some other watercolor painting (some successful, some not), and once the paint was dry I used an ultra fine point permanent marker to draw a base on each bulb and then the loopy string connecting them all. To make it into a card I trimmed the panel just a bit and adhered it to a red card base. This card is about 4-1/2" x 6", so it's larger than the traditional A2-size card. Maybe the bigger size makes up for it being the only one.

I debated for a long time whether I should add anything else to the card. Maybe a little stamped sentiment tucked into an open space? Or a large die-cut word across the middle? Some sequins? I finally settled on using a sparkly gel pen to draw a few tiny lines at the end of each bulb to make it look like they are shining. I'm not sure I'm in love with that detail, but it's done.

And there you have my one and only Christmas card for September. I really only need to make a few more cards to be set for this year, so I'm not too concerned. I'm doing an online card-making event next week, and I think we'll be making a few holiday cards then, so that will probably be enough for me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kangaroos and tigers and elephants, oh my!

Earlier this week I took a little time to try to organize all the card photos I still need to share on my blog (there's a lot!). I grouped them into different categories, and today's cards feature a variety of wild animals.

Supplies:
Kit: April 2020 My Monthly Hero kit (Hero Arts)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Lemon Lime Twist card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up!); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Clear droplets (Pretty Pink Posh), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

These two cards were made with the April 2020 My Monthly Hero kit, which was full of Australia-themed images and sentiments. I decided to use a bunch of the animal images to fill up an entire panel for a fun guy-friendly birthday card.

To create the stamped panel, I set up a two-step process in my stamp positioner. First I cut a piece of white card stock to the size I wanted. I placed the card stock in one corner of my stamp positioner and started arranging the stamps on the card stock. (I knew I wanted to use the "hoppy birthday to roo" sentiment, so I made sure to put the kangaroo near the lower right corner.) Once I was happy with how it looked, I closed the lid of the stamp positioner to pick up the stamps. I test stamped the images on scratch paper and then removed the kangaroo stamp. I inked up all the rest of the images with the colored ink and stamped them on the white panels. I re-inked and stamped a couple of times to get good ink coverage and then cleaned off the stamps. I repeated the process with another piece of card stock and the second ink color.

Then I moved my white card stock to a different corner of the stamp positioner and set the kangaroo stamp on the card stock. I picked it up with the lid of the stamp positioner, inked it with black ink and stamped the image, repeating to get good ink coverage.

Once both panels were done, I matted them with black card stock and adhered them to coordinating card bases. I stamped the sentiment on two strips of white card stock and used foam tape to attach each one just below the kangaroo image. I finished the cards with a few clear droplets (nothing too girly).

Supplies:
Kit: June 2019 My Monthly Hero kit (Hero Arts)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Shaded Spruce, Crumb Cake card stock (Stampin' Up!); Solar White 110-lb card stock (Neeneah)
Ink: Colored pencils - PC1063, PC935, PC918, PC1003, PC912, PC909, PC946, PC945, PC939, PC901, PC995, PC908 (Prismacolor); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Garden Green, Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Princess sequins (Craft Medley), blender brush (Picket Fence Studios), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute), gamsol blending kit (Taylored Expressions)

To make these two cards I broke out another My Monthly Hero kit that I hadn't used yet. I'm not great at coloring realistic animals, so I was a little intimidated by this kit. But I looked up some sample cards made with the kit to get some coloring ideas and then went to work with my colored pencils and gamsol. Overall, I think they turned out pretty good.

I colored the elephant first because that seemed the most manageable: mostly gray with a little pop of purple. I also colored two flowers so I could bring in more purple. For the background I used the leaf stencil included in the kit and blended two shades of green ink. I matted that pieces with black card stock and added a strip of white stamped with "happy birthday" across the bottom half of the card. The strip acted as the ground for the elephant and flowers, which I attached with foam tape. I mounted the whole panel on a white card base and added three purple sequins for a little sparkle.

For the second card, I colored and die cut several pieces: a toucan, monkey, tiger, branch, and three grass clusters. I used the leaf stencil for the background again, but this time using Crumb Cake ink on a Crumb Cake card base for a subtle textured look. I die cut a few fancy vines and arranged them to look like they were hanging from the top of the card. I arranged the rest of the pieces to create a scene and added the sentiment on a strip of white card stock at the bottom of the card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Moroccan Nights, Lucky Elephant, Itty Bitty Birthdays
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake card stock
Ink: Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Gold Glitter Enamel Dots, Dimensionals

There's not much to explain for these cards; they're both made with basic stamping, a layered sentiment, and some enamel dots. I had wanted to try using the Moroccan Nights and Lucky Elephant stamp sets together for awhile, and I think they complement each other well. I will note that for the medallion stamp in the background, I stamped the image on scratch paper before stamping it on the card panel so the ink was lighter.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple, stunning silhouettes

If I want to make a clean and simple card that looks impressive, one of my favorite designs is to use nature silhouettes in black over a colored background. Over the years I've posted quite a few of these cards with all kinds of backgrounds, from watercolor (evening sky, sunset) and Color Burst powders to alcohol inks and even pieces of different colored card stock. Well, I hope you're not tired of them, because I have a few more to share today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Organic Set #2, Organic Set #4 (Rubbernecker)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Island Indigo card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Color Fuse Set #9 (Rubbernecker), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Rectangle masking stencils (Taylored Expressions), blending brush (Picket Fence Studios), Mermaid Mix sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), clear droplets (Pretty Pink Posh), Moonshine Confetti (Hero Arts), shimmer spray made with Shimmer Liquid Watercolor (Taylored Expressions), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

For the background on these silhouette cards, I used rectangle masking stencils to cover the white border on the card fronts and then blended a few different shades of blue ink in the opening, starting with the lightest shade on top and moving to the darkest on the bottom. (My blending at the bottom of the cards is definitely a little splotchy, but I don't think that detracts from the cards too much.)

Once the backgrounds were done, I stamped the silhouette images and sentiments using black ink. I placed the images so that they extended past the edges of the blended panel just a little; that technique probably has an official art or design term, but I just really like the way it looks. To create a bit of sparkle on the cards I added droplets of shimmer spray (see photo below), and then I adhered the panels to card bases. The final touch was a different type of embellishment on each card

For the last couple of cards I used a similar background technique but switched the silhouettes to die cuts instead of stamps.

Supplies:
Paper: Very Vanilla, thick Very Vanilla, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Color Fuse set #9 (Rubbernecker)
Accessories: Rectangle masking stencils (Taylored Expressions), Wildflowers Thinlits dies (Sizzix), blender brush (Picket Fence Studios), Sparkle Silk (Fun Stampers Journey), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (3M)

It's hard to tell in the photo, but I used vanilla card stock for these cards, which has a slightly softer feel than white. I also used a different size masking stencil (both sizes come in the package) to make a smaller blended panel. And my blending is much smoother and less blotchy on these cards!

I used Sparkle Silk to add some shimmer on the panels and then adhered the black die-cut silhouettes. Again, I let them extend past the blended panel. I used foam tape to attach the panels to vanilla card bases and keep the clean look.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shana tova!

This year Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, starts at sundown today, Sept. 18. I'm not Jewish, but I think it's important, this year especially, for everyone to learn and understand more about other cultures, races, and religions. So I decided to make a Rosh Hashanah card to send to one of my Instagram friends.

Supplies:
Stamps: Fall Fun, Make a Difference (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Real Red, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Layering Mini Stencils Set 40 (Stampers Anonymous), Nested Banners dies (Simon Says Stamp), jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), blender brush (Picket Fence Studios), Box of Chocolate sequins (Craft Medley), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

Since I don't have any specific stamps related to Rosh Hashanah, I had to look through my supplies to see what would work. I learned that apples and honey are common symbols of Rosh Hashanah to symbolize wishes for a sweet year, so I kept that in mind.

I thought I had a large apple stamp, but after multiple searches through my stamp bins and boxes, this was the best one I could find. (I must have given away or sold the other set.) The woodcut style wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but I made it work! I used markers to apply ink to the stamp since I wanted the stem and apple to be different colors. I stamped several red, yellow, and green apples and then cut them out by hand.

I don't have any stamps that include images of honey or honey pots, although I do have quite a few bees. But I wanted a monochromatic pattern for the background, so I decided to use honeycombs instead. I have a honeycomb stencil, but it is a narrow tag-size stencil, so to create this background I positioned the stencil at one side of the white card base, applied ink with a blender brush, then moved the stencil and applied more ink. I repeated that process until I was happy with the background, and then I used a marker to doodle a frame.

To make the sentiment, I chose one of my alphabet sets and spelled out "shana tova," which means "good year" in Hebrew. I die cut the sentiment with a small banner die and used foam tape to adhere it to the card base. Then I added the apples, some with foam tape and some glued directly to the card. I added a twine bow to the stem of one of the apples and finished off with a few brown sequins.

If you celebrate Rosh Hashanah, I wish you a sweet new year filled with joy, peace, and good health. Thanks for stopping by!

A crafty life

Do you ever find yourself buying new craft supplies -- ones that you really like and are very excited about -- and then never using them? I know I do. Sometimes it's because I have other projects I need to finish first. Or maybe it's patterned paper that is just too pretty to cut up. And other times I'm just not sure what to make.

For the past several months I've been trying to make a point of playing with ten unused craft supplies each month: stamp sets, papers, embellishments (sequins, ribbon, etc.), dies, or whatever. Several of those unused supplies have included past My Monthly Hero kits from Hero Arts. I love subscribing to the kits, but sometimes life gets in the way, and they just seem to stack up. 

One of the kits I finally used this summer was from May 2019 (yikes! over a year ago!) and featured all kinds of crafty images and sentiments. Perfect to make cards for crafty friends!

Supplies:
Kit: May 2019 My Monthly Hero (Hero Arts)
Paper: Solar White 110-lb card stock (Neenah); Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); alcohol markers - Flirty Flamingo, Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up! Blends/Blendabilities)
Accessories: Sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I'll admit, when I first pulled out this kit I wasn't entirely sure what to make, even though I think it's adorable. But I'm really happy with how these cards turned out.

For the first card I cut a panel of white card stock to 4" x 5-1/4", just slightly smaller than an A2 card base. I placed the card stock in my stamp positioner and masked off a strip near the bottom of the panel for a visual reference. Then I chose several of the stamps from the kit and placed them on the exposed strip of card stock until I had an arrangement I liked. I closed the lid of my stamp positioner to pick up all the stamps, applied the ink, and stamped the images on the white card stock. I removed the masks, colored the images with alcohol markers, and stamped a sentiment in the lower right corner just below the images. I rounded the corners of the panel and adhered it to a white card base using foam tape. Since this is such a clean card, I didn't want to add to much embellishment, so I settled on three clear sequins for just a touch of sparkle. (How could I make a crafty-themed card without sequins?!)

For the second card, I stamped a bunch of the images from the kit on white card stock, colored them with alcohol markers, and then cut them out with the coordinating dies. I love all these fun little pieces! I used a white card base again, but this time I added a black die-cut scalloped frame. I arranged the die-cut pieces inside the frame, and once I was happy with how they looked, I glued them in place. I used foam tape for the little "for you" card in the middle to add a little dimension and finished off the card with three clear sequins.

This layout would be fun to try with other themes, too, such as flowers, leaves, or different holiday-themed images. (Pumpkins, bats, and ghosts would be so cute for Halloween!) Here's a tip: color and cut out a few more images than you think you'll need. That gives you more possibilities for your card front, and if you do end up with extra pieces, you can always add them to the inside of your card. (That's what I did, although I forgot to take a picture.)

Thanks for stopping by today!