Summer Bloom

Happy Friday! I'm in the middle of painting a bathroom closet, but wanted to post a card while I'm resting. My sweet hubby is off work today and he's building some new shelves for me. When we had this house built over 14 years ago, we chose the ventilated shelving. You know, the wire kind? Well, it's good for some storage situations, but it's the pits for things like bottles and such. The shampoos and conditioners I have stored in there never want to stay totally upright, and if one falls over, the whole bunch fall over like Dominos. And things fall through the grates. I've lived with this annoyance long enough and it's time for real wood shelves! I can't wait! Next will be my pantry. Same issues! I want good old-fashioned wood shelving like my grandmothers had!

So in between applying coats of paint, I've been sneaking in some creative time. There hasn't been a lot of that this week, but I did manage to make one other card I will set up to post soon. (Yes, Doris, I knew about the pre-posting option on Blogger and have been taking full advantage of it! Praise God for such blessings, yes?) I still have lots of chores to do today, unfortunately. But tomorrow looks pretty free (for now). We'll be having company over.

Anywho, when I want to relax in a creative way, I watercolor. So this card and the next one are the results of that.

I used one of the papers from the Recess pad for this card, in fact. I also found out that Archiver's carries THE best black ink removing cleaner I have ever tried (and I've tried just about everything, including Simple Green):



It's the only cleaner I've tried that completely removes Stampin' Up's Basic Black ink from my stamps; it's the hardest ink I've ever tried to remove. Normally, I have to buy it online, so I was very happy to see it in the store! It's $5.99 for 2 oz., but there were no 8 oz. refills on their shelves just yet (I might just have to beg for them to carry it!).

NIFTY TIP ALERT! I found that if I spray a little quarter size amount of the Ultra Clean stamp cleaner on a rag and rub the stamp with it I use a lot less of the cleaner up. Since it's a bit pricey, I also only use it for black or very dark inks because the other cleaners all work fine with all other colors. It's just the black that is so stubborn. I've not tried it on StazOn Jet Black ink, so I can't report on that one, but I'm extremely happy with the results on every other black ink I've tried it on!

End of commercial! Now, back to the card.

Here's a close-up of the paper. Cool patterns so small, you almost don't see them (click to enlarge).



I'm running out of free time so I had better get to the recipe! Have a lovely day and a great Independence Day, for all my American readers! We Americans need to grow in appreciation for our freedoms before they are lost! We are so blessed and we need to work hard to protect those precious freedoms we so often take for granted! We need to care about what our politicians are doing. It affects us whether we like it or not. We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights! And we must remember that our Creator is the One Who has given us these freedoms! Pray for our nation!

Blessings!

Recipe

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Summer By the Sea, Purple Onion Design "4 Seasons"

CS: Black, Basic Grey Recess "Academy", glossy white

Inks: SU Basic Black, Versafine Onyx Black, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel

Markers: Sage Shadow, Brocade Blue, Old Olive, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Basic Black (to extend line on the ground on the left)

Other: Cuttlebug Floral Screen embossing folder, Nestabilities Labels Two dies, ticket corner punch, amber gems, black grosgrain ribbon, Sticky Doos, 3D Dots, Inkssentials opaque white gel pen (for white dress accents), sponge daubers (used for applying ink to sky and sand)

For You Floral

This will be known as my Hurricane Gustav card. I spent all day yesterday watching and listening to a Louisiana broadcast online of the coming hurricane while I was stamping (still watching). I had a hard time focusing on this card as my mother-in-law and brother-in-law are in Louisiana weathering the storm (they're doing fine, though). So please forgive its imperfections. My mind was quite distracted, but I needed to do something with myself. So I stamped, of course.

I began with a black cs base, but the Mellow Moss cs is where the card opens. I stamped the SU Hand Stitched background stamp in VersaMark ink on the Mellow Moss. After stamping the "For You" sentiment in Basic Black ink on Real Red, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots folder.

I punched the edges on the floral Anna Griffin paper and the black with the Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch and ran the floral paper through the Cuttlebug using the Traffic Jam folder. I was careful to line it up above the lacy edge. I used Dimensionals between the floral and the black and the red. Probably too many Dimensionals! lol

I used the Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes and set the eyelets. That was a bit tricky and they aren't lined up perfectly. I added the plaid ribbon and adhered the whole mess to the Mellow Moss cs.

For the girl, I stamped her in Basic Black ink on Vanilla cs. Using a water brush, I painted her dress with Ruby Red ink, going over it several times in some places to add depth. I used a white gel pen to whiten her collar, sash and sleeve edge. I used Mellow Moss and So Saffron inks to paint the grass. The flowers and butterflies are in So Saffron (marker). I used the Blush Blossom marker to paint her skin and Close to Cocoa to do the tiny bit of her hair.

I ran the girl piece through the Cuttlebug using a plain oval Nestie. Then I dry embossed the edge. I ran the black cs through using a scallop Nestie. I paper pierced the black scallop using a straight pin and the mat pack cushion after attaching the girl piece with Dimensionals (I find it easier to paper pierce the scallops that way).

Close-up of paper piercing:

Thanks for looking! Be safe if you're in this hurricane or are waiting it out elsewhere. God be with you!

Stamps: SU Hand Stitched, SU Summer By the Sea, CTMH Spunky Greetings

CS: Black, Mellow Moss, Real Red, Anna Griffin floral (AG 024), Vanilla

Inks: VersaMark, Basic Black, Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, So Saffron

Other: Cuttlebug Traffic Jam and Swiss Dots embossing folders, Martha Stewart "Doily Lace" punch, Oval plain and scallop Nestabilities, Crop-a-Dile, Black eyelets, Dimensionals, Water brush, Plaid ribbon, Straight pin, Mat pack cushion, Blush Blossom marker, Close to Cocoa marker, So Saffron marker, White gel pen

Summer Joy

Two cards in one day! Whoa! I'm doing a little stamping therapy as I've got some heavy issues on my mind.

This card is for a challenge on SCS that involves picking ribbon first and then picking all the other elements for the card afterwards. I'll admit that I don't usually operate this way, but I'm glad for the challenge. It helped me use ribbon I might not have picked had I done it my usual way.

This one is a fairly simple card with no sponging at all! lol Nope, went much cleaner this time. I needed a cheerful, upbeat card and this one fit the bill. Who can't be cheered up by orange and lime green?

I chose 5 ribbons that were coordinating colors and decided to let this card inspire me. I liked the way she used her ribbons.

I used my new Nesties circles which I just love. I thought this image from SU Summer By the Sea was a perfect choice for a circle. I stamped it in Basic Black and colored all but the grass with markers. For the grass I used Gable Green ink and a water brush so it would look soft. After coloring all the flowers with Summer Sun I glittered them. Just a little something to oomph it up a bit. I also oomphed the ribbons up by cutting the ends in a forked pattern.

As you can see, I used the "Swiss Dots" embossing folder on the Only Orange cs. It worked out well because I could repeat the pattern since the folder was narrower than the card (5" x 5") and I needed something that would line up.

The circle is popped up with Dimensionals to raise it off the ribbons. Oh, and I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to put the sentiment in place.

That's about it. A fun and cheerful card. Thanks for looking!

Stamps: SU Summer By the Sea

CS: Green Galore, Only Orange, Summer Sun, White

Inks: Basic Black, Gable Green

Markers: Only Orange, Summer Sun, Gable Green, Blush Blossom
Other: Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder, Nestabilities regular and scalloped circles, Various ribbons, Iridescent glitter, 2-way glue, Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Water brush

Summer By the Sea - Bliss

This card is the same basic design as this one I did the other day. I liked it so much I decided to play with a different image and colors, but kept the original sketch design. I'm planning to do one more after this, so I hope I don't bore you with the repeated elements! ;)

The only thing I'll say about this one, since I already described the making of the card similar to it, is that I messed with the main image a bit. The boat normally doesn't extend that far back, so I extended it with the narrow end of my Basic Black marker. The water line was added and I realized it was crooked (!!) after I finished it. I hope it's not too noticeable. I was NOT going to start over! Too much work involved!

For the streaks in the water I used a mostly-dry brush and some Night of Navy and CTMH Dutch Blue inks to get the lines after coloring in the water with Bordering Blue and Bashful Blue. It was a blue fest! ;) I just kept layering colors over each other until I got the desired effect, adding more Night of Navy under the boat. The same with the boat - layer upon layer.

I love these sketchy images, don't you? I hope to see some new ones in the new SU catalog next month!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamps: SU Summer By the Sea, SU Canvas, SU By the Sea wheel, "Bliss" stamp from Jody Poesy

CS: Creamy Caramel, CTMH Dutch Blue, Black, White

Inks: Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Night of Navy, CTMH Dutch Blue, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Bordering Blue, Bashful Blue

Markers: Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, CTMH Dutch Blue, Blush Blossom

Other: Cuttlebug embossing folders "Spots and Dots" and "Swiss Dots", Nestabilities, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, Water brush, Black ribbon, Plaid ribbon

Watercolored Flowers Card

I did some stamping yesterday afternoon as I had been wanting to play with the Cranberry Crisp cardstock ever since I bought it. It's not very impressive by itself, but it takes VersaMark ink very well and really comes alive under its influence.

I'm really liking the combination of Canvas and Print Pattern stamps. They really look awesome together. I hadn't played with my Petal Prints set in so long. I love that set. I need to play with it more often.

I did some more watercoloring with markers and a water brush, once again, layering and layering the colors for a richer look. Since Cranberry Crisp doesn't have a marker to go with the ink and cardstock, I used a combination of colors to achieve a good match. I used Really Rust, Baroque Burgundy, Ruby Red, and Chocolate Chip for the pseudo Cranberry Crisp tones. I used Pumpkin Pie over those colors to warm it up a bit more. (If you try this, you've got to wipe off the tip of the PP marker as you go because it picks up the darker colors. Or just use your re-inker and a water brush if you like. I prefer the marker and the water brush together.) I used Apricot Appeal and Pumpkin Pie on the lighter flowers and in the middle of the darker flowers.

For the tag, I ran black cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the tag die and then ran the tag I created through with the Script embossing folder.

Recipe:

Stamps: Petal Prints, Summer By the Sea, Print Pattern, Canvas, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper: Black, Cranberry Crisp, Glossy white Inks: VersaMark, Basic Black

Markers: Really Rust, Baroque Burgundy, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: Dimensionals, Cuttlebug tag die, Cuttlebug Script embossing folder, sm. rectangle punch (for notches), 1" square punch, black hemp cord, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Technique: Watercoloring