ice cream cone cards

I copied this idea from my friend Diane . I loved her card and so I made two similar ones. I love both the folding and the ice cream cones. Perfect card for anyone, kids and adults alike.
I used glitter on these cones- heat embossed glitter. It gives a wonderful shine.

Happy Crafting! And stay cool! 

a mix of stamps and dies

I used an old die for these cards, the Trellis die from Heartfelt Creations. 

 Its bigger so these cards are 5"x 7", which is perfect for weddings and such.  The roses are from Altenew. The words are Stampin' Up! and like I said, the trellis die is from Heartfelt Creations. A real mix!  I added a little glitter and bling here and there, but it doesn't show up on the photos.  

Happy Crafting!

Black red and yellow card

I've been seeing this color combo a lot in the card making world so I thought I would try it. It reminds me of a cozy home kitchen for some reason. 

The stamp I used is by Rubbernecker and it called "Wildflowers in the Breeze", #713. Its a 3-part stamp. I used markers and misted the stamp with water before stamping to get that watercolor look. Then I used a dot background stamp with gold pigment ink for the background. The black dots I made using a product I've had for years, Black Enamel Dots, but Ranger. 

The black polka dot base is from a card stack I found at Tuesday Morning, by Mambo. The cards are while in the inside and are pre-scored, so easy to use. And the Get Well Soon stamp is by Tim Holtz.

Happy Crafting! 

New watercolor sketch book

Sketch book I made

8.5" x 5.5" 

Front of sketch book

Back of sketch book

For many years I have kept journals- for travel, favorite sayings, sketching, painting...all kinds. Recently, I've been thinking I'd like a combo sketch book- one where I can both write and paint. But I was not able to find such a product...so I made my own. :-)

I used the ever beautiful Graphic 45 paper for the cover. This paper is from the "Nature Sketchbook" paper stack- PERFECT! On the inside, I made one signature with alternating writing and painting paper. For the painting paper I used a full sheet of Arches 140# cold press that I cut to size. For the writing paper I used a Strathmore 100# paper Colored Pencil acid free paper. I alternated each piece so when the book was finished, there is a writing paper next to a painting paper. That way I can keep notes, or write descriptions...whatever I choose, next to a painting.  There are 24 pages in all, as I don't like huge painting journals. 

My sketch books are usually one or the other, painting OR writing...so combining them is new for me. I look forward to using my new journal.  Happy Crafting!

watercolors and embossing powder

This is old school stamping! But all things come back around, yes? Embossing seems to be back.

To do this, I started with a small piece of watercolor paper. I stamped the poppy image (Heartfelt Creations) using versamark and then embossed with white embossing powder. Then I wet the watercolor paper and sprinkled Brusho watercolor powder around, one color at a time. I used a water filled brush to help things along. Then when as I liked it, I dryed it with a hairdryer- NOT a craft heat tool, as I didn't want to re-melt the embossing powder.  Then I took a piece of 110 pale blue card stock and using a square the new Stampin' Up stitched die set, I cut out the square. (Ill use the stitched square in another card). I used glue to adhere the watercolor paper to the blue card.  

Urban Sketching at the beach

Beach from the boardwalk by the clock.

watercolor in my 5.5 x 8 journal.

This week was a bad weather week, but just before all this rain and wind, I went to the clock on the Bethany Beach boardwalk and set up my travel sketch one early evening.  I sat at a bench and painted this. The angle was interesting because the sand dune in the front hides the actual beach and you just see the water. I hope I was able to convey that. I find drawing and painting the ocean HARD! So I keep drawing and painting it. I admire those on YouTube who, in a few swishes with their paintbrushes, create a realistic ocean painting. There is a lot of time and practice behind that seemingly fast painting.

Urban Sketching class

Dolles, Rehoboth Beach on the boardwalk.

I focused on the sign- a close up.

Sitting in the gazebo on the grounds of the Rehoboth art league. 

This is a bench made from logs. And I was looking at an arbor.

These are just two of several sketches I completed this weekend on my Urban Sketching at the Rehoboth Art League. It was a fun class, 6 + the teacher, Rosemary Connelley.  The idea of Urban Sketching is to record the world around us. Whatever we see- record it...the picture and writing about it- date, time, smells, sounds.  We used pen and ink with watercolor.  Doing this kind of sketching forces you to slow down and observe, something I forget to often do because I get caught up in the minutia of the day. There is more information on this worldwide movement here.