Monday, November 23, 2009

Watercolor Background

I usually don't think of using watercolors on Christmas cards, do you? I made some cards this week for Christmas, challenging myself to incorporate watercolors. Here is one card using Splitcoast sketch SC255:


I made a large piece of watercolor background, cut a bit of it off and then stamped the image with a deep color of ink. Here is the background paper that I did:



Making a pretty background paper like this is really very easy. You will need watercolor paper, a brush, and either water-based paints or dye ink pads.


For my piece I used the dye ink pads. If you haven't watercolored with these before, here's how you do it. Take your closed stamp pad and and press the lid down onto the pad:


When you open the lid, you will see some ink on the lid:


Take your brush and a little water and mix into the ink on the lid:


To make my background, you just take a wet piece of watercolor paper and paint stripes of different colors across, blending where they meet. Let the paper dry thoroughly before stamping on it. You can heat set if you wish. Go ahead and stamp with dye ink if your paper is completely dry.

Here is another card that I made with the blue portion of my background paper:



I made a third card with Blingz paint instead of dye ink. You can see it on the Cottage Studio blog HERE.

Oh, and by the way, there is a great sale over at Clear Artistic Stamps. Stamp sets that are usually $10.95 are on special for $6.49. What a deal!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

A Quick Card for Sunday


I made this card using Splitcoast SC254 and a cute stamp from Artful Inkables.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

I Know How He Feels

cat
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Friday, November 13, 2009

Brick Wall


This card was made using the Brick Wall Tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers. I like how it turned out, but will probably not do this again. It's even more tedious than it looks!

I used Belinda's gorgeous iris stamp from A Dreamer's Moment. And be sure to check out the envelope boxes that she has on sale this week. They will be great for gift giving.

Happy Friday to everyone!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thank You to Every Veteran

Friday, November 6, 2009

Inchies!


Ever heard of inchies?  If you are a fan of small projects, this is just the thing for you!  An inchie is a one inch square piece of card stock where you do your artwork.  It's kinda fun to challenge yourself to create something pretty with just one inch to work with.

I decided to make my inchies out of paperboard for a little dimension.  I painted them brown and then embossed a design in gold.  Afterward, I put them on some autumn place cards that will be just right for Thanksgiving.

The Cottage Rumble that started today is "Inchies", so why don't you head on over the the Cottage Studio blog and see what all of the designers did for the challenge.  And give it a try yourself--we would love to see what you come up with!

Have a great Friday.

Monday, November 2, 2009

ATC for trade!


I posted on the Cottage Studio blog today with this ATC that I made. Details HERE. The linen and shimmer cardstock that I used is on sale this week.

Anybody want to trade with me for this ATC?