Watercolor Florals

We've made it to my absolute favorite day of Online Card Classes Watercolor Intermediate Techniques! We're learning to play around with floral images today and I'm having a blast! Here's my favorite piece from today.

I can make brush marks with the best of them! If I try to purposely make a flower, it just doesn't happen. This, however, I can do! After I finished the piece, I trimmed it down the a Stitched Rectangle die and then added a greeting from Simon's Big Scripty Greetings set. I'm in love with how this turned out!

I'm going to enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Flickr Challenge and the Simon Wednesday Challenge. Both are anything goes right now!

Big Scripty Greetings

Stitched Rectangles

Canson XL Watercolor Paper

Smoky Slate Cardstock

Winsor & Newton Watercolors

Memento Tuxedo Black

Cotman Size 10 Round Brush

3M Foam Tape

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Watercolored Cornflowers

I'm currently participating in the Online Card Classes newest class, Watercolor for Card Makers Intermediate Techniques. I still don't quite feel like I'm exactly "intermediate" yet, but there's a lot of great information and I'm learning so much just by practicing. Today I'm going to share with you a piece that I turned into a card!

I learned how to make simple cornflowers by using a round brush. This was a practice piece, but I decided to slap it on a card base and add a sentiment. I actually really like how it turned out. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it's really grown on me.

As you can see in this picture, I used a green card base to tie in those green stems. It's so cute!

I'm still scared to try out my homework for today, which is why I'm procrastinating by sharing yesterday's efforts with you! Hopefully, I'll be back to share something else!

I also wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you readers. I've been working on some upcoming super sercret projects, which is why I haven't been updating as frequently. Don't worry because February is going to full of fun updates and projects!

Friend Stamp and Die Set	Stitched Fishtail Flag STAX	Canson XL Watercolor Paper	Green Leaf Cardstock	Black Cardstock	Vellum	Gansai Tambi 24 Color Set	Cotman Size 6 Round Brush
3M Foam Tape

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Birthday Friends

I needed a card for a friend whose birthday is coming up in early February, so I let the Simon Says Stamp Monday and Wednesday Challenges help me out in the inspiration department. Monday's Challenge is "best friends" and Wednesday's is "use critters". What better friends than cats and dogs, am I right? Well, maybe that's only in my house!

This is a really simple card. Just some stamping and then some coloring. The friend this card was made for is an animal lover, so I know it's something she'll really like.

 

You're Purrfect	Playful Pooches	Surprise Sentiments	Stitched Rectangles
Neenah Solar White 80 lb	Smoky Slate Cardstock	Memento Tuxedo Black	Midnight Violet
Copic Sketch Markers

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Birhday Flowers

I was feeling lost and mojo-less until I saw the beautiful inspiration photo for this week over at The Challenge. It led me to this beautiful card for my mother-in-law's birthday in early February!

I needed something simple and basically flat because it has to go through the mail and I've found that layers tend to get crushed in the mail (even when I use fun foam!). I'm a clean and simple crafter by nature and necessity! I took the beautiful pink flower from the photo (below) and created a small garden in the left corner. I then heat embossed the sentiment in Princess Gold over the whole panel. It looks pretty flat in the picture, but in person it's absolutely beautiful and shiny! I finished it with a few of my very favorite Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Painted Flowers	Birthday Wishes	Wonky Stitched Rectangle STAX	Neenah Solar White 80 lb
Neenah Desert Storm	Versamark	Memento Tuxedo Black	Pink Pirouette
Blushing Bride	Sahara Sand	Crumb Cake	Princess Gold Embossing Powder
Sparkling Clear Sequin Mix

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A Duo of Gems

I still had the stencil on my desk from my last post when I saw the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge was to use Ombre. Seeing as how I used it for my last card, I decided to try it again with a different color and a different theme.

I cut down the panel this time and framed it in black. I used the MFT Stamps Diamonds dies in order to create my gem. I covered the bottom portion copiously in clear Wink of Stella so it has tons of shimmer! Then I laid the faceted portion over the top to complete the look. I finished it with a simple sentiment in white on black and added a few Sparkling Clear Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

I actually created this next card first, but wasn't entirely satisfied with its composition, so I played around a little and got the one I posted first. Now that I've had a little time to reflect, I actually like this one a little more, but still prefer the other.

The technique was the same for both cards. I used the stencil to create the background and then added the dies (with so much Wink of Stella!) with a bold sentiment in white on black. I do like the stacked diamonds now that I've had time to think, but I still prefer the black frame from the other card.

Bling It On	Diamonds	Bold Paisley	Neenah Solar White 80 lb
Black Cardstock	Versamark	White Embossing Powder	Milled Lavender
Seedless Preserves	Dusty Concord	Mini Round Ink Blending Tool	Clear Wink of Stella
Sparkling Clear Sequin Mix

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