I will be honest, I am a bit sarcastic. I never intend to be mean, just my twisted humor. The Bird Crazy stamp set by Tim Holtz has a bit of sarcasm too in my opinion. I was able to combine my sarcasm with my love for watercolor and came up with this beauty.
I normally don't create a card to fit more than one challenge. As I was looking in blogland,four challenges came up that it just seemed natural to make one card for all four. When I made the video, I only saw three, but soon found the fourth one.
The sketch is from Sketch Saturday #351. I like the simple lines of it. For the colors, I absolutely fell in love with Color Throwdown ctd332. The color choices certainly got me out of my comfort zone. I would never have put the red and light blue together. It turned out fantastic! For the splash of fun, I went with Just Us Girls #283 word week. This week's word is Masculine. As a extra bonus for me, Seize the Birthday Topping is Masculine.
Here is the video on how I created this watercolor Hot Air Balloon Birthday Card.
It's early March and warm in S. CA. The kids are swimming in the (non-heated) pool. I personally think they are crazy. Kids will be kids, right?
I am looking forward to using these lovely, cheery, bright colors. I must admit, I did try to make a video making this card. Let me just say, don't ask. I will try again tomorrow (or tonight, who knows!).
The circle scribble and sentiment are from Papertrey Ink. The stitched circle is from Lil Inker (absolutely love these!). The pink with white dots is paper that I purchased at Michael's. It's thin paperweight and crinkles easy. I say that because I don't always have success putting on adhesive to thin strips of paper. I actually cut this 2 inches wide and laid the orange and pink cs on top. Can't tell, huh? I'm tricky that way! I would love to say that I know the name of the sequins I get from Pretty Pink Posh, but I don't. I do know that I got these from Paulina. She has an awesome selection and outstanding customer service. I felt the card needed just a little more black to balance it out, thus the line next to the pink and white dot paper.
Received a wonderful package this week from Germanyfrom Christine Drogt of Create a Smile stamps. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get my goodies from her, but now I know...3 weeks. And so worth the wait. I am loving the Botanical Love stamp set, perfect for watercoloring.
Two weeks ago I sent Munchkin off to Ireland for 10 weeks to study abroad. This card is in honorof her, that lucky girl! She is staying in Dublin, poised to a prime spot to see the ultimate St Patty's Parade.
This card has some fun elements, dry embossed edges, cute tag by Pretty Pink Posh (as well as the sequins). The shamrock is a heart die. The stamp is from Lawn Fawn after doing a little stampectomy (Lucky Stars set) and it's a shaker card.
I feel almost guilty to saying this because so much of the East Coast has been buried in snow (2 winters in a row!) and I sit here in the sunshine in Southern CA. I so enjoy getting sunflowers for the home, to brighten the whole place up. These stamps are by Penny Black, white embossed. I used what I like to call my palette paints (the ones that come in a tube). So many colors to blend. I cannot stress enough to use watercolor paper for your watercolor projects. No sentiment on this beauty. I'm letting the flowers do all the talking.
I wanted to compare the watercolor papers that I have on hand. The stamps and colors are the same for all three with different background wash techniques. I used Reeves Paints that come in a tube and put in a palette. With the 12 colors in this set, there is countless combinations of colors. I used Med Yellow, Crimson, Sap Green and Viridian Hue. For this first card, I used Strathemore 300 Series. Very little warping, a nice paper to work with. I added lots of water to the flowers and dropped the color in. With a clean, wet round brush, I went around the flowers while they were still wet and drew out the colors from the flowers. Once the background and flowers were dry, I painted the leaves and stems. This card was the most fun to make. Love seeing the paint expand in the water. There was very little warping even with all that water. Very nice paper to work with.
This Happy Birthday card is my favorite. This is the Strathmore 400 Series paper. I added minimal amount of water to the flowers, dropped the color in and painted it in. Once the flowers were dry, on to the leaves. For the background wash, I combined all four colors and made this beautiful sage color. This paper had no warping, but then again I didn't use much water. This card is my favorite. I like the crispness of it even for a watercolor.
This final card, I used Hobby Lobby brand watercolor paper. It was very inexpensive and is absolutely terrible. The only thing I like about it is that it's white. The other two is off white, even though it's hard to tell. The card peeled up while applying my tape runner, YUCK! I used the same sage color and did the background first, not being too careful with staying out of the lines. It looked terrible, even after adding the other colors. So I added this Heidi Swapp Mint spray. Added some sequins and the sentiment to salvage it.
If I could leave you with this, if you are going to watercolor, use watercolor paper. Using cardstock, even the heavy duty (110 lbs weight) is not suited to be used with water. I have only used the ones mentioned as well as Tim Holtz watercolor paper. I am certain Canson and Arches paper are fantastic, but I am very happy with Strathmore.
I am very excited and pleased to present my first video on this topic. I would be tickled pink if you would subscribe to my channel. If you found it helpful, a thumbs up would be great.
I am a bit frustrated attempting to post this to my blog. This is my third attempt and I am most certain that it is much shorter than my two previous attempts that seemed to just disappear. To get more info on this card, look at my Instagram and follow me to see the other two cards I made using the same stamps, same paints but different papers and techniques.
If you saw my stamp collection, you would find a large number of word sets and not much else. I am addicted to word stamps and dies (don't let me get started on all the dies!). I have to make myself look for anything other than words. There are so many wonderful sets and stamps out there. Because of my love for watercolor, I feel that Penny Black makes some beautiful stamps that are perfect for watercolors.
I am entering this card into The Card Concept #29 Get Well Soon. My cards tend to be Clean ans Simple. I used Derwent Inktense pencils/ The light blue background is Distressed Ink. Sprinkled with sequins.
I am trying to be more consistent with posting my cards. Time has a way of getting away from me. I know that I am not alone in this. Luckily, I am able to create more in the evenings and I post those on Instagram. Look for me as #ranciert
I got up early this morning, starting my day getting those pesky chores out of the way. Munchkin and I cleaned the apartment yesterday in preparation for our annual Valentine's Day party. So this morning is more straightening up, do laundry, put party remnants away. That gave me time to look online for a few challenges. I am a big fan of Kim Hughes and Paper Smooches. I knew that I wanted to watercolor some of her birds. I used Staedtler watercolor pencils for the bird and Distressed Ink for the balloons and background. I used watercolor paper which makes all the difference. I embossed Hip to be Square background stamp in white and then used two shades of pink for the wash. I wanted the bird to be the focal point so I didn't add any purple to the background or anywhere else on the card. To see more of the watercolor birds, look at my Instagram.
I recently joined Instagram at the encouragement of my daughter. It is so full of cardmakers! Wowser! So much inspiration. I got my inspiration for this card from #daisyprincess. I am so in love with watercoloring. The stripes were made by loading up my brush with watered down Distressed Inks and brushing it across the card. I find that using watercolor paper is best. I use Strathmore 300 series (but am loving 400 series more). The butterfly and scribble circle are from Papertrey Ink.
Where can you find me on Intagram you ask? Look for ranciert, see my cards that I don't have time to post on this blog. Tell me on Instagram that you saw this on my blog. That would be so kind of you :).
I am entering this in Less is More Pink and Gray challenge. And it's their 4th birthday. Congratulations on 4 years!
I can't seem to get enough watercoloring. For this, I used distressed inks. As for the flowers, I embossed them in white. Once the ink was dry, I ironed off the embossing. The flower is from Stamps of Life, the stripe on the side is from Papertrey and the sentiment is from Avery Elle. Used a fun foam sheet to pop up the flower panel. I like this for large areas. I cannot thank Jennifer McGuire enough. I purchased several sheets of white fun foam, cut them into front panel size (for A2 and 4 Bar size cards). They stack up so nicely on my desk and ready when I need them.
If anyone is an Instagram fan, I recently started uploading my cards there (more than on this blog). Look for ranciert.
I often send a personal note to the families of the patients that I've cared for while on hospice. I like to build a stash of cards, This is a 4 Bar size, which is very fun for a change. The smaller format lends itself to be less fussy. This watercolor is with Distressed Inks over white embossed flowers (Avery Elle). I cut a diagonal strip making sure that I cut the flowers for added interest. I used fun foam under the strip for this great dimensional look. Sprinkled it with sequins by Pretty Pink Posh.
I love this balloon setfrom Lawn Fawn. Since I had my watercolor palette out, I decided to watercolor some stamped designs. The background is a wash that I started darker at the top and make lighter at the bottom, but of course I had to turn it around. I lifted out some color with some kleenex for the clouds. The two smaller balloons are stamped second generation in black to give appearance to be in the distance and in the clouds. I didn't want them to compete with the large balloon. The sentiment is by Papertrey Ink. I used fun foam for the dimension, which is my favorite way to add dimension. Entering this into just one challenge this week:
I wish I had more time to do all the crafty things I want to do, don't you? Thus explains the long lag between posts. I recently got this gorgeous butterfly stamp set from Papertrey Ink. Now I wish I got the die cuts at the same time. The sentiment is also Papertrey Ink Wet Paint. I stamped the butterfly in Strathemore watercolor paper using Versafine black ink. I used Orange Marmalade Distressed Ink for the watercolor on wings. The sentiment is also cut out of watercolor paper.
Over the holidays I decided to check out some watercolor artists YouTube videos. These are non-stampers, truly artists. I wanted to make sure I was going in the right direction with watercolor. My first realization that I was not was the paper I was using. I am using Strathmore 300 series, which is okay for cards but I think next time I will get the 400 series and possibly the 500 series. They all assured me that the paper is commonly the problem. Since I just purchased a new pack of 24 sheets of the 300 Series, it may be a while. Of course they use the watercolor that comes in tubes which is something I am not interested in. I own several watercolor mediums: Derwent InkTense pencils, Staedtler Pencils and the inexpensive watercolors from Michael's and I can't forget the Distresed Inks. I am looking in to get some other mediums that other stampers are using. Can you guess what I used on this card? The inexpensive watercolors from Michaels. I am impressed with my uneducated eye how nice is looks. I know I need to work on some shading and depth, but that will come with practice. The branch and leaves were drawn in. The owl is from the Little Bear set from Neat and Tangled. This is my first time using this cute little owl.
I am entering this into another new challenge for me: K and R Designs .
She is celebrating 200 weeks of collecting inspiration on her Pinterest. The challenge is to find one to CASE or be inspired by. Mine is an inspiration from Isha (hobbyandideas.blogspot.com). Her card was a winter/Christmas card, which mine is very generic.
I was impressed with her Pinterest file that I had to follow. I am sure you will agree.
I have been having quite a bit of fun with this impression plate from Papertrey Ink. It's not new by any means but for some reason it was calling out to me to try some new techniques. I love watercoloring and made several cards using different color of cs and inks. I like this one the best.
4 Bar size cards are new to me and I am having great success in creating cards in this smaller format. I was inspired to use this size by Debby Hughes (Lime Doodle Design). The bottom layer is a gray cs. The modern cross was die cut in white. I popped out all the crosses and played around with which ones to replace, which ones to leave open and to watercolor the rest. I used Distressed Inks in 4 different colors. The hello die is in a blue gray cs and of course I used by Pretty Pink Posh sequins.
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