dragonfly dreams water color

This card made itself. Well, after the black embossing was on there. If you've never worked with water color paper, you need to try it! I just sprayed it down really good and dropped reinker on it where I wanted the color. It bloomed out EXACTLY how it should! I did dab a bit of the excess moisture off and tipped and tilted the card so it would all act like I wanted it too.

If you're unsure how to do this, let me know. I'll personally show you if we live close enough so I can!

dragonflies

Stampin' Up has done it again! Designed the most wonderfully perfectly eye-poppingly delicious stamp and die Dragonfly Dreams bundle. I can't get enough of it and so I keep on and on using these dragonflies On EVERYTHING!! The card (above) has a water color background and if you look closely you can see I used Wink of Stella on the dragonfly as well as the Congrats. (Below) Is an example on a single layer direct-to-paper design with an embossed dragonfly and then masking and sponging.

texture embossed whites

Stampin' Up has so many wonderful embossing folder and dies. Check these out! Let me know if you need these toys to enhance your creativity.

love 'n sunshine

The Sunshine Sayings bundle, at 10% off, will get you these two cards!! 

all about roses

These cards are all very different from each other, but they have one common element. They were created with the Rose Garden and Rose Wonder stamps and dies bundle. The card above was water colored after the image was embossed in clear on watercolor paper.

 

Above, is another die-cut and water colored rose card. I love how these images lend themselves to simple elegance. Below is a partial die-cut rose. Again, simply elegant.

wedding rose

In between my other card designs I find myself often reverting back to my favorite Rose Garden Thinlits dies. Here's a quick and clean and simple card created by layering pink and white roses and adding vellum leaves. So easy. So effortless. So VERY elegant!!!

celebration window

I recently got my Circle Thinlets Dies and I can't figure out how I existed before them. This card showcases a hostess set, Best Thoughts. I also tried some hand-drawn circles as well, using die cut circles as my guide. This one came together simply and quickly once the water color part was done.

rose garden (my latest crush!)

Okay! I know I fall in love with every new catalogue that comes out, but surely this one is the best yet! Just LOOK will you? Aren't those rose garden dies THE BEST???!!!  I haven't even used the coordinating Rose Wonder stamp set---yet. But I can't wait. It has such lovely caring sentiments to go along with the images. But about these two cards here: I am so glad I kept my Manhattan Flowers TEF from long ago. It coordinates with these dies as though they were made to go together. Forever....sighhhhh......

I water colored the background by misting the water color paper and then just dabbing on a few drops of reinker with my aqua pen and letting them blend naturally. With the circle dies I cut a large-ish circle into the face paper and embossed it. Then assembled the whole thing. Simple really.

This one's my favorite! I just like the colors better for whatever reason!

May flowers (CYCI#70)

I've been so inspired with this week's challenge over on CanYouCaseIt? that I just HAD to make another floral card! I kept thinking of how I used to design arrangements in my flower shop years ago and the first thing that came to mind was ferns. Back then we started with a base of leather leaf fern. How wonderful that SU has the Butterfly Basics stamp set which includes this lovely fern image. I used a lot of emboss resist on the background and then what else did I use but FLOWERS!!! Flower Shop and Petite Petals with their coordinating punches made this so easy!

Designed especially with canyoucaseit #70 in mind!

The Challenge Spark and CYCI#70

Tara from Country Girl Creates got me interested in a new challenge, Can You Case It as well as our usual weekly Challenge Spark.

This week for CP it was my turn to choose something and I chose an easy topic: bridal. Since most of the brides from 2015 will be thinking wedding already, I thought we could make something wedding-ish or like I did, something for a bridal shower. I did tell Tara and Jane from White Orchid that we could add a picture tutorial for our cards this week IF we found the time, but HA! Time!! What's that??? I never found it, so the tutorial didn't get done!

However, I was able to use this card for both "bridal" from our Challenge Spark as well as "May Flowers" from CYCI.

All product is from Stampin' Up. I'm LOVING this new set Sprinkles of Life, which you can purchase through me from SU as soon as June 2nd. And get this!! It's got a coordinating punch!!!

You will see more of this set next Friday as our Challenge Spark, Jane's choosing this time, is Showcasing New Product, from the new annual catty. Stay tuned, my friends!!

(Need a catalogue? Let me know...)