Convention

I didn't post last weekend because Molly and I went to the Stamp Convention in West Springfield and this past weekend I went to a Stampin Up workshop. I am very behind in reading posts and leaving comments.  This card was started on Thursday and I must confess you are seeing my second attempt at watercoloring this image.  I still am not happy with the coloring, but wanting to finish a card before midnight, I decided to cut around the petals and pop them up, somewhat disguising the fact that I need practice with watercolors.

We haven't been to the Stamp Convention in a couple years for various reasons.  I was a little disappointed to see that it is down to only twenty eight vendors making it very crowded on Saturday.  I think next time I may only go on Sunday, a much more relaxed day.  My favorite find was the Peerless Watercolors sold by Technique Junkie. I have been wanting them for a while and I used them on today's card.  Best new product (to me at least) were the new StazOn pads.   They are smaller and the lids click on.  I used Cloudy Sky to stamp the Artful Stamper (Stamp On It) image on watercolor paper.

I die cut the pink layer and the watercolored piece the same size, then cut down the one on the inside line by hand. A line of washi tape and some brown leaves on an embossed olive layer to keep it from being too centered; a butterfly and some gold dew drops to embellish; all mounted on a white card.

No time to find a challenge to enter....you were kind enough to visit anyway.... thank you for stopping by.

Merci

Exciting news today; I was promoted to supervisor in my unit at the Post Office.  I don't know whether to be happy or scared because this is a step in another direction.  I had been a Union officer for sixteen years, but now am crossing the line to the other side.

Talk about a step in another direction, this card is not my usual fare either. Compared to the card I made a few days ago found here, it is a bit grungy.  Lola die-cut this Eiffel tower in white for me that I didn't use on for my earlier card. 

Once I distress inked it - sort of old, rusty metal, I drew criss-cross lines by hand.  Then I found this gold patterned paper to use for the bottom half of the card.  The top part is a cream paper stamped with the SU French word background in Creamy Caramel.  The leaves overhanging are the stamp from  SU Thoughts & Prayers again stamped with Mellow Moss. 

The skunk, are you thinking Pepe le Pew, was probably the first stamp I purchased years ago from Dots (Close to My Heart).  The birds are a NBUS die by Memory Box that I received as a gift recently.  The sentiment is another gift and from the Hero Arts Paris set.  A few well-placed black gems finished the card.  All is mounted on a Mellow Moss card with black trim.

I am linking this at the Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe challenge 247 since I have the bottom line: die-cut, pattern paper, and shade of yellow (gold).  There is a little blue and a tiny flower, too.

A warm welcome to my thirteenth follower, Therese.  Thank you for visiting... or "merci de m'avoir rendu visite". 

Happy Birthday Susanne!

My friend Susanne, the talented author of the blog Keep in Touch is having a birthday on Monday.  I can show you the card I made because the Cardologists had a party tonight complete with ice cream cake and presents for Susanne.

I started with an idea for a CAS card that involved embossing a strip from Stampin Up and adding lines on either side with the score board.  I even put the sentiment on before I decided on the stamp to use for the focal point. 

This is the Sweetbriar Rose from Stampin Up, that was one of two flower stamps sitting on my desk waiting for their first use, stamped on watercolor paper.  The flower petals were painted with distress ink, the leaves with an Elmers watercolor brush. The leaves were a little dark so I took some of the color off with a waterbrush.  I then had to fussy cut the flower because it needed to overlap the embossed strip, added the mulberry paper underneath, and touched it up with Wink of Stella and yellow pearls.  Finally I decided to make the white card front into a layer and mounted it on a blush card.

I am going to link this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where it is "Anything Goes" this week.

Happy Birthday, Susanne!

Bonjour

Just a quick post because I finished our Thursday card.  We all stamped the Penny Black 'bonjour!' stamp three times, colored, fussy cut and layered.   Lola brought her Sizzix Eiffel tower die and while some went with sparkly pink or distressed red, I chose glossy black.  That was as far as I got after two weeks.    

Today, after organizing some of my new stamps and putting them away, I found the motivation to finish the card.  First,  I found the "Paris" in a Hero Arts set to be stamped in the corner of a quarter sheet of white.  Then I added parts of the tree branch from the SU Thoughts & Prayers in Pear Pizzaz kissed with Forest Foliage.  Since the tower was so solid, I die embossed the layer with diagonal lines. 

The final embellishment was the flower for Mimi's beret.  Alas I had only pink gems; but no worries, I colored over with a red sharpie.  Everything assembled on a red card.

Mimi is now ready for her Paris adventure.   Au revoir.

Anniversary wish

What a beautiful day we had today.  I woke up to sprinkles, but they went away quickly, and it was quite a bit warmer than yesterday.  I finally went out and replaced my ailing mailbox - it had quite a swivel going since it was hit by the plow.  This time I made it higher too so I, and the mailman, can reach it better.   I also pruned my forsythia back - although I can never remember if it is better to do it in the spring or fall. 

After that, I was off to my craft room to play. My calendar shows many birthdays and anniversaries around the corner in June, so I have to get creative. 

Here was a card I finished today using a retired Stampin Up French flair background that I bought at a yard sale. Since it is 5 x 6 inches and I didn't want to cut it down it makes a big card.  I just happened to have some 5 x 7 inch white cards left over from a Christmas project to use as a base.

I embossed the image on watercolor paper intending to use my watercolors.  While the card was in process,  I decided my distress inks needed reorganizing.  (That means there were too many on the desk in my way!)  While I had them out, I decided to sponge distress inks over it instead. 

I diecut the word 'happy' from the Stampin Up Hello You thinlits using the same purple paper that is the layer.  That didn't look firm enough so I cut it again in white and glued the layers together.  I found this little anniversary tag in a Studio G set, stamped and layered it. It is tied to the happy with a white string and popped up.  The finishing touches are three epoxy hearts added to the ends of the swirls. 

This anniversary card is the closet I will get to a wedding card this month, so I am cheating a little and linking it to the Just Add Ink Wedding Challenge.  It is a better fit for the Inkspirational Challenge 83 where the color is purple and the theme is love/wedding.

Thank you for stopping by.  Your comments are always appreciated.