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Freshly Made Sketches #474

Freshly Made Sketches #474 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #474

Hi everyone! A quick update before I get to my card for today. Starting tomorrow, I will be going to training at United Airlines for about 3 weeks. I’ll have a picture at the bottom of the post (gasp…yeah, I know, I never share pictures of me here). The short answer is that I’ll be going to the Captain seat of the Airbus 319/320. So I’ve been working ahead on DT cards and other projects. Even with that, I’ll be pulled back here and will probably miss a couple of FMS weeks. Hope the team doesn’t fire me! *smile* That said, I will have cards coming late tomorrow for Gina K Designs and also on Friday for Honey Bee Stamps so stay tuned.

Now for our scheduled programming! The sketch this week for Freshly Made Sketches from the wonderful Judy Rozema lends itself to lots of interpretations. I pulled out some favorite things from SugarPea Designs.

I started with Meadow Motifs, because it is a great place to start. I stamped this sweet flower and did a quick watercolor with Daniel Smith paints. I cut it out with the coordinating dies. Using one of the stitched squares from the Card Front Element Builder III dies seemed like a good choice for the sketch and then I decided to pull out some ribbon.

I haven’t played with a shabby bow in quite a while and I thought it was a nice fit the flower and colors. I do love them! I added a few confetti elements and then put the entire layer on an Eggplant base (Concord and 9th).

Now back to the beginning. In January, I went to a Captain leadership training class in Denver. It was a top-notch event which culminated with us getting our Captain wings from the Executive Chairman, Oscar Munoz.

Thanks for stopping in today. The Gina K Designs release goes live at 7p Central Time tomorrow so I’ll share at that time and then again a card for Friday. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Freshly Made Sketches #451

Freshly Made Sketches #451 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #451

Happy middle of the week. I hope yours is going well. I’m happy to bring you the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Our lovely Narelle is the sketch designer and this one is fabulous.

I was in a bit of a watercolor mood and I really wanted to play with my new release products from Concord and 9th. I watercolored the green as a background and then layered color onto the varying die cuts. These leaves are from the retired Layering Leaves and the new Leafy Layers. The sentiment and banner are from the new set too. I just watercolored a panel, cut the letters and used the negative as a guide for setting the letters on the panel.

I hope you will have some time to join us this week. We love seeing all the beautiful creations in the gallery. Thanks for stopping in today. Look for me on Friday for a great Instagram hop with SugarPea Designs.

Erin Lee Creative – Release and Blog Hop + Giveaway

Erin Lee Creative – Release and Blog Hop + Giveaway published on 17 Comments on Erin Lee Creative – Release and Blog Hop + Giveaway

We have been leading up to this through sneak peeks and today is August release day from Erin Lee Creative!

I’m going to be honest. I LOVE the look of hand-drawn watercolor. I have taken classes on how to do it but my efforts are always a bit lacking. So enter this Floral Wreath Stencil. I put a bit of Pixie Spray on the back of the stencil and laid it down on watercolor paper. Using the outline, I started laying on Daniel Smith watercolor paints.

All it really takes is patience. Start with light colors and just build as you go. Leave the stencil in place and let the layers dry. I just worked around on different colors while waiting. The stencil contains each design element and helps keep them from becoming a “blob” as you add color…usually my biggest flaw. Once you get the colors like you want, just remove the stencil and all evidence that you didn’t just magically freehand this is gone. To finish, all I wanted was a simple sentiment. I chose one from another new release set called Fall Critters. I chose a gray ink and love how this has a handwritten look to match the coloring.

Prizes: We are giving away three $25 gift certificates to three lucky winners chosen from comments left across all of the blogs participating in this hop. Please leave a comment on any participating blog by Monday, August 24. Three winners will be announced that week on the Erin Lee Creative Blog. The more you comment, the more chances to win!

Now on to the rest of the hop! I’m thrilled to send you off to visit the wonderful Michelle McDaniel. Here is the entire team if you get lost along the way.

Retro Tree

Retro Tree published on 3 Comments on Retro Tree

The amazing Peace, Love and Happiness Kit from Erin Lee Creative has been so fun for creating 70s vibed cards. But along came my oldest child while I was creating one day and he took one look at the Retro Swirls stamp set and said, hey that would make a cool tree. Yes, yes it would.

So that is exactly what I did. I stamped it in Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with white embossing power on watercolor paper. I pulled out some Distress Ink and just added layers of yellows, greens and a bit of brown util I was happy with it. And added some splatters too, of course.

Using more watercolor paper, I cut out the sentiment with the Big Hello Love Die and colored it with some of the same ink. I love how artsy I feel when creating a project like this and it really is a joy to do! I hope you’ll be inspired to give it a go. Thanks for stopping in today!

Spellbinders – Jane Davenport’s Fairytale Fox

Spellbinders – Jane Davenport’s Fairytale Fox published on 1 Comment on Spellbinders – Jane Davenport’s Fairytale Fox

Today I’m sharing a brand new stamp set from Spellbinder’s Whimsical and Wild Collection by Jane Davenport. If you are familiar with the Jane Davenport style of art, it is beautifully textured and rich with color. The Fairytale Fox set became my focus for two cards that are exactly the same and yet totally different.

I stamped the images in Versafine Clair ink onto multimedia paper. I was inspired by Jane’s color palettes and just simply splattered watercolor paints over the paper. I thought it was fun and, well, whimsical.

Using the same setup that I had on my MISTI, I stamped again on a rougher watercolor paper. This time I played with adding more strategic color and then colored the background too. I added some teal, gold and pearl splatters for a bit more detail.

The whole Whimsical and Wild collection can be found at Spellbinders and you’ll want to see all the fun and fantastic images. Thanks for stopping in today. Back tomorrow with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. See you soon!

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Gina K. Designs + Discount Code

Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Gina K. Designs + Discount Code published on 5 Comments on Crafty Friends Blog Hop – Gina K. Designs + Discount Code

One of the best days of the month is here! Crafty Friends day! My friends and I have a company focus this month on the fabulous Gina K. Designs and I’m so thrilled. Not only do I love her designs, but I have come to see that Gina herself is such a leader in the industry on how to succeed in business and still be amazingly kind and generous. Now THAT is something to celebrate for sure!

I chose the Tropical Blooms stamp set to work with since it remains a favorite of mine. Something about this image and the sentiments just simply works. I stamped the image onto watercolor paper with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with gold powder. The raised embossing helps contain the water and made this quick coloring even easier. I used coral and rose Daniel Smith watercolor paints to create a bit of variance in the petals. Then I played with a couple of greens and a bit of blue for the leaves. Nothing particularly fancy because I wanted the colors to remain pale on the flowers.

To help them pop a bit, I decided to blend on some green Distress Inks onto another watercolor paper layer. I started with Twisted Citron Oxide but it wasn’t the right shade. So I added some Peeled Paint regular Distress Ink over it to get it right. That is the beauty of these inks, they blend and mix and they are not overly persnickety. I cut the panel out with an old Pretty Pink Posh scalloped rectangle (it must be retired, I could not find it to link). I stamped on part of the sentiment and then used the die set for part too. All of the cut outs were popped up using my favorite Foam Squares by Gina K. Designs. For this I used white but they also have black ones that are great for those dark panels and images. Finally, after some playing around, I decided the base needed some ink too so I brushed Tattered Rose Oxide Ink onto it.

I continue to be so thrilled that companies are working with us to give you discounts for our hops. Shop with Gina K. Designs on Feb 20 – 22 and use the code CRAFTYFRIENDS20 at checkout to get a 20% Discount. Click the graphic above to get to her shop.

Now on to the rest of the hop. I’m thrilled to send you to the lovely and talented Amy Kolling. Here is the list in case you get lost along the way:

I hope you enjoy the hop as much as we do. Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Freshly Made Sketches #399

Freshly Made Sketches #399 published on 8 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #399

Wow! That number is getting pretty close to a significant big one, don’t you think?! Yep, me too. Make sure you tune in next week to see what Freshly Made Sketches has in store for you. But for now….we have a new and fabulous sketch by the wonderful Jen Brum this week. It is such fun and lends itself to repeated patterns and small images. Love it!

I thought that the leaves from Weekend Doodles by Altenew were perfect for the sketch. I stamped them three times in black Versafine ink and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder by WOW! (Oh yeah….don’t miss LOTS of fun inspiration in the WOW and Picket Fence Studios collaboration in my second post today).

I cut the images out using the coordinating dies and then watercolored with Daniel Smith paints. I had a little bit of fall on the brain (because the heat is addling mine at this point of the summer) and added a bit of golden yellow to the green and teal. I used a sentiment from the same set on Fog Gray card stock and then cut with a double stitched square die. I added some clear drops that I loved with the shine of the clear embossing and then put it all on a base of Tranquil Tide card stock (SU).

I hope you enjoy this card and all the inspiration from the team. Hope you will consider joining us too! Thanks so much for stopping in today and make sure you come back for the second round too. Have a great day!

It’s In The Bag for Picket Fence Studios

It’s In The Bag for Picket Fence Studios published on 2 Comments on It’s In The Bag for Picket Fence Studios

It is my turn to be up on the Picket Fence Studios blog today and I want to share my card here too. I have to confess that I am more and more in love with many of these PFS “Girls”. I have never been much for coloring people but these images really do make me want to learn more about skin color, hair color and honing my coloring skills. They are perfect for trying new things too.

This gal is BFF Kate and she is particularly stylish, don’t you think?! I gave her a wardrobe of neutrals but decided she needed a statement bag. What better than orange for that? Once she was colored, I wanted to add some splatters but did not want them on the image. So I cut out some scrap paper with the coordinating die and laid it over the colored image. Then I could splatter away without putting it where I didn’t want paint.

I was searching for sentiments that seemed right and stumbled across this one in the You’ve Got This set. I love it for Kate! Hope you have some time to do some coloring and that you have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping in. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #395

Freshly Made Sketches #395 published on 6 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #395

Happy middle of the week! I hope yours is going well. So I have a confession. Last week my family and I were on vacation. I generally don’t mention it too much until we get back for safety and security but it was really fun. And then reality came back with a work trip that went a day over and dealt with lots of unique issues (Newark shutting down a runway, lots of weather, timing out). In any case, all of this has cut WAY into my crafting time. I find that is generally true during the summer. For some people, it is the time to relax. For my job, it is the busy season. So with all that, I am still trying to find time to craft. I need to do it!

So yesterday I forced the issue and stamped one of my favorite images. The Mondo Hydrangea from Ellen Hutson is just so pretty. I also pulled out my Zig Clean Color Markers which had been sadly neglected. I used a light blue and a light purple to shade this flower.

I also would be negligent not to share that Ellen Hutson is having a sale! If you want this set, now is the time!!

Just click the graphic to see more. This takes you to my affiliate link and there is no extra cost to you.

After some false starts, I finally decided to just add a pale watercolor wash to keep with the fun sketch by Jen Mitchell for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches. It looks really light here but is a little more noticeable in person. The sentiment comes from the same stamp set and works perfectly here.

And here is my color inspiration for the flowers. You see, before I got to color yesterday, I had been out weeding around these beauties. My white hydrangeas are anything but dull and always have such pretty and interesting shades.

I hope you enjoy this bit of watercoloring and that you will join us with Jen’s sketch. So many great ways to use it! For those in the US, I wish you a safe and happy Independence Day! Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon!

Freshly Made Sketches #393

Freshly Made Sketches #393 published on 7 Comments on Freshly Made Sketches #393

I’m happy to share the latest sketch for Freshly Made Sketches today. Today our sketch designer is the lovely Lee Ann Barrett and I love this one.

I needed a card for a dear friend who has suffered at tremendous loss. These are truly the worst cards to make. Thankfully I had this new sentiment set called You’ve Got This by Pinkfresh Studios. This set was designed by my friend Caly Person and the script is Caly’s own writing. Elegant and gorgeous. I was even lucky enough to have the set sent to me by Caly…thank you so much!! I chose this pretty little flower from Serene Garden (Stampin’ Up) and did simple watercoloring on it.

The sketch is fabulous and I hope you will join us this week. Make sure you come over to see all the inspiration from the team too. Thanks for stopping in today. See you soon.

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