backgrounds and die cutting

Special Reason watercolour effects

Try this: Take the largest daisy image from the Special Reasons stamp set (SU) and color three different colors directly on the stamp. I used Cucumber Crush in the center, So Saffron on the inner petals and Flirty Flamingo on the outside petals. Then using your Stampin' Spritzer, mist the whole thing really well. (I probably misted it too much, but I do love what happened next!)

 

This picture (above) isn't the greatest, but maybe you can sort of see how it turned out. I simply stamped that big flower image three times on three separate pieces of Whisper White cardstock. Each time I stamped I breathed an "Oh-h-h-h!" to myself! Watercolor does that to me every time! You just NEVER know what it will surprise you with.
Using those three images, I created the following cards. See what I mean? From bright and happy to sweet and soft! They cover all moods.
And don't you LOVE how that stem die from the Special Reasons set creates a gorgeous negative space?! I just love everything about this set!

watercolor peonies

Water coloring is so...so......so NEAT! SPECIAL! I don't know HOW to say it I guess! Water color has a mystique to it that other techniques don't. OK! I know that's just MY take on it, but since this is my spot to air my opinions, that's what you'll get! I used my aqua painter and re-inkers dropped onto a clear block as my palette. That's right! A clear block makes the perfect palette! It's washable and smooth enough to mix colors to perfection.

jar of lilacs for you

I tried to get a picture that showed the Wink of Stella glitter paint and this is the closest I got. It adds a subtle glimmer to the lilacs.

just a note

love from us!

kraft, brown, pink birthday

square thankyou and compliments

more sunshine and caring

These two cards utilize the Sunshine Sayings bundle (at a 10% savings). I'm just really really loving what all you can create using these dies and stamps together.

mother's day...belated!

What can I say? I'm late on this one as well! But you could choose a different sentiment!

thank-you circles

Somewhere somewhere somewhere on good ol' Pinterest I saw a card verrrrry similar to this one. This is the one, I'm quite sure!!!  Can't believe I found it again!
I've always wanted to make these for customer thank-you's since they seemed the perfectly easy yet happy card to make a big ol' stack of.  Something different than my usual painted scenes or embossing.
How's that for a bright bouquet to end my six week blogging silence? Ha!

bleech painting

i'm here for you

I just love this sentiment. It's so caring. So this whole post is full of cards that tell you "I'm here for you!"

Besides challenging myself to use DSP, the following card has the added interest of holes punched in it and butterflies on the INSIDE of the card!

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.

pedal pushers saleabration

These two cards showcase two new stamp sets. Actually three! Timeless Textures, Pedal Pushers, and Balloon Celebrations. I soooo hope SU keeps Timeless Textures as it's a MUST HAVE set! I used it to give the illusion of ground and sky on both of these cards. It's a little hard to see, but on the floral card, look closely beneath those flowers and you will see another image from those gorgeous textures. And don't even get me STARTED on Pedal Pushers! WOWWWW!!! And you only have till the end of March to get it ABSOLUTELY FREE with the purchase of $60 worth of SU product (before shipping and taxes). Please do grab it! It's soooo fun especially with spring around the corner.

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!!!

watercolor florals

You know how every now and then you hit upon a genius inspiration and your cards turn out EXACTLY LIKE YOU PICTURED! Well, the card (above) is just such a card. The two below are versions of the original plan. It all happened because I finally decided I MUST have the squares thinlets dies for frames for watercolor prints. Wow! Why didn't I get them sooner? While you can easily copy what I did here, I do have a few extra ideas or tips to acquire just this look.
~I pulled out my trusty Husqvarna sewing machine to stitch through my frame. I'm leaving my machine out now because if I put it away I'll forget what a nice touch those threads give to many different designs.
~Try Basic Gray ink to stamp your image. I love how soft the end result is especially with watercolored designs. Black sometimes is too bold for the soft edges that watercoloring creates.
~Stampin' Up's aqua painters are a must-have for this technique.
~Don't be afraid to stick to all-whites when matting your watercolor images. So clean and fresh.

And the card below is a watercolored image that I used black ink for the outline stamp. It should be fairly easy to CASE by just looking at the picture.

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.

More Botanical Blooms in browns

These are pretty self-explanatory. A few more Botanical Blooms examples for you!

in which we celebrate basic gray and more new stuff!

I know grays are "in". But I've never gotten myself to love gray. It is so, um, GRAY!!! Sorry to all of you who adore "GRAY"!!! I can't wait till the fad is over. But meanwhile....MEANWHILE....here are a few samples of "GRAY" cards I am actually quite proud to show you! I've also managed to use the Bloomin' Hearts die in a way totally unrelated to love and Valentine's and love and hearts and love! (Can you tell I'm also not a fan of Valentines? And I agree that it makes NO SENSE, but that's how it is!)
This card (above and directly below) uses dies from the Circles, Bloomin' Hearts, and Rose Garden I believe. The circle cut-out peeks into the middle of the card. And I LOVE it!! Gray and all!!

I've seen quite a few different versions of the card (below) with the long stemmed flowers. I've only seen it on Kraft and browns so I figured I'd try GRAY!!! It turned out rather pretty, huh? Maybe I'm starting to see a bit of potential in GRAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!