CraZy Mini Birds ATC & Cards

I have been playing with the Mini Bird Crazy & Things set.  It is a great set for creating more masculine cards and just plain fun because of the great expressive faces.  My latest passion is working with watercolor so all of these were done using that medium.

All of the work here was done on watercolor paper that I cut to ATC size, 2 1/2" X 3 1/2".  I found a watercolor paper that I like to work with that is available through Amazon that is of good quality and a 6" X 9" , 100% cotton, 140 lb. at a very reasonable price. It is from the Bee Paper Company.  

The beauty of this size is that they are ATC's that I can keep or trade and they are perfect size for card creations.  All of my flowers were just free hand watercolors.  

The little scene behind the crazy bird on the lower left is done using stamps from the Hero Arts monthly kit from November 2016.  The sentiments are from a Stampendous "Spring Sentiments" SSC1239.

Using some of these same images and ATC size cards I did make a couple of cards as well.  This one is embellished with a doily and some washi tape.  I also added a tiny butterfly from my stash and a few gems as a finishing touch.  This card will be entered in Paru's Card Making Challenge for the month of April.

I thought this one would be a great card to have on hand for a masculine birthday card.  The sentiment on this one is from Penny Black "Sprinkles and Smiles" 30-297.  I love this set and use it a lot.

Thanks for dropping in and checking out my blog.  Comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.

Supplies:

Kuretake Watercolor	Mini Bird Crazy	Stampendous Spring Sentiments	Archival Ink Black	PB Sprinkles & Smiles
Bee Watercolor Paper

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Critter Fun

The cards I am showcasing today are both images from one of the Penny Black clear sets released in February.  This one is called "Critter Fun".  I think the title says it all.   I used water colors for both of these cards but these cute critter scenes could just have easily been done with either copics or colored pencils. 

My first card was mounted on a A-6 cardbase that was first stamped with Simon Says Stamp "Diagonal Stripes" SSS101532 using Versamark Ink and heated embossed with WOW! "White Pearl" embossing powder.  The sentiment is also from Penny Black "April Showers"  30-172. 

The second card is for the April CCC challenge.  The color scheme and the layout were both selected as part of the challenge.  If you haven't tried this monthly challenge I would strongly encourage you to check it out.  The "Hello" die is from Simon Says Stamp, "Painted Hello" SSSD111486.  The sentiment is Hero Arts CL173 " Simple Message".  Patterned paper is My Mind's Eye "Mabel Papers" 6X6 pad.  These last two are older and are probably no longer available.

Water coloring cards is my way of getting in more practise time with the medium.  All of the tutorials and classes I see say that to become familiar with how they work you need to just use them.  If practise does make perfect.... I am giving it a try.   It also helps to encourage me to use watercolor for my projects, if I already have card sized pieces of watercolor paper die cut and ready to go.   Both of these images were stamped using  Jet Black Archival Ink because of it's waterproof properties.

Thanks for dropping in to check out the blog.  Your comments, questions and suggestions are always very welcome.

SUPPLIES:

PB Critter Fun	PB April Showers	SSS Diagonal Stripe	WOW Pearl	SSS Hello Die
SSS Stitched Circle Die	Ranger brushes	Lil Inkers Designs Dies	Arches Hot Press	Kuretake Watercolor
Multi Meduim Matte	Versamark WATERMARK	Archival Ink Black	Scor-Tape 1/4" Crafting Tape

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SSS Monthly Card Kit for April

 I am back to share three of the cards that I created using the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month for April 2016.   One of the things I love about the kits is that it stretches my own creativity.  For example, I don't think I would naturally choose this color palette for my cards.  Then I put it together and there is an "oh yes" moment when the cards are different from my norm but so nice.   Everything for the three cards comes in the kit with a few embellishments.  The ribbons, enamel hearts and sequins are from my own stash.

As always, thank you for dropping by.  Your comments questions or recommendations are very welcome.

Supplies:

SSS Card Kit April 2016

Scor-Tape 1/4" Crafting Tape

MEMENTO tuxedo black

Multi Meduim Matte

Misti Stamp Tool

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Easter Peeps!

These are three of the cards I created using the Card Kit of the Month for March from Simon Says Stamp. 
The first is a shaker that uses the sequins from the kit and the smaller peeps that I stamped and die cut to add to the mixture for fun.  Love this pretty pink gingham patterned paper included in the selection.

This second card is a completely different color palette in the bold green apple and orange peel cardstock from this month's kit.  It worked beautifully with the cute carrot print paper for a bolder and pretty Easter card.  I used an enamel bow that I had in my stash but you could just as easily used the little bow tie that is part of the stamp set.

My third card uses a bit of the patterned paper combined with the soft lemon chiffon cardstock.  

Almost everything I used was included in this kit with the exception of a few bits of ribbon from my stash, the acrylic for the window and the enamel bows used in the first two cards.





As always, thank you for dropping by.  Your comments questions or recommendations are very welcome.

SUPPLIES:

SSS March 2016 Card Kit

Lil Inkers Designs Dies

MEMENTO tuxedo black

Scor-Tape 1/4" Crafting Tape

Multi Meduim Matte

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Hello "Tweet One"

I created this card to enter in two different challenges.
Usually don't do it this way but, this one was a perfect fit for both the March Card Chain Challenge and Paru's Card Making Challenge. 

The monthly CCC is wonderful fun. I try to play it every month.
Like most chain challenges, you sign up to send a card to the person whose name appears above you in the link.   Deborah Nolan aka hostess of Society of Stampaholics gives us guidelines within the challenges to apply to our card each month.  You are given 4 choices that include a palette of three colors, a card template, a technique or material and a theme.  You can choose to use only one or you can try to include more.  I think it is most fun to try to get all four into my card.  This month I used the color palette (deep fir, dusty teal and pale sage), the card sketch template, the theme of Spring or Friendship and watercolor paper for my entry.  The CCC is international with many cardmakers playing each month.  There is a random prize selection if your card reaches it's recipient by the last day of the month.
The second challenge I am entering is Paru's Card Making Challenge .  This month's challenge was to use masking and color. I used both to make this card.  My color for the card is my new favorite, watercolors.  The stamps I am using for my card, is a set I selected with the gift certificate from Winnie & Walter ,  I won the certificate in Paru's challenge in January.  Couldn't wait to show it off!

The first thing I did to create this card was to mask off the design using micro pore tape.  I then applied a watercolor wash. After removing the mask, I used the same color to add some striping across the entire bottom edge.  I put this aside to dry and repeated the masking process for my focal image.    

Winnie & Walter makes this a bit easier in that they have digital cut files available for many of their stamps.
I used the cut file for my set and my Silhouette to cut my masks from masking paper.  Of course,this could  also be done by fussy cutting a mask. Then it is only a matter of adding the image, sentiment and color to the little birds.

Last and most fun is to bring it all together. Added a bit of twine below the birds to anchor them and a few enamel hearts as finishing touches.

As always, thank you for dropping by.  Your comments questions or recommendations are very welcome.

Supplies:

W&W So Tweet	Kuretake Watercolor	SSS Stitched Circle Die	TH Distress Watercolor Paper	Ranger brushes	Masking Paper
micropore tape	Misti Stamp Tool

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