Honey and Gold

I was working on some posts for my blog and found this post as a draft from months ago! Wow! I think it is time for this project to come out and play :) Thankfully this stamp set carried over into the new Annual Catalog!

I actually made this card for a swap I take part in about quarterly, and I made a couple versions of it.

Ok, bear with me here. I am going to try to remember all the details of how I made this card :)

• Cut a panel of watercolor paper to 3½"x4¾", and a piece of Delightful Dijon to 3½"x5". Stamp the flower cluster in Versamark and heat emboss with Gold embossing powder. 
• Use an Aqua-painter to color the flowers, dry (air or heat tool). 
• Go over the leaves and stamens with the Gold Wink of Stella.  
• Add some watery Delightful Dijon to the background with the Aqua-painter, dry. 
• Spatter with a more intense Delightful Dijon with the Aqua-painter. 
• Stitch the watercolor panel tot eh Delightful Dijon mat, then adhere to the Thick Whisper White card base.

This version has much less going on in the background, but there are some dots stamped in the background instead of being spattered on.

Which one do you like better?

If you have seen something you need for your crafting life, just click the image in the supply list below and it will take you to my store! If you order less than $150, please use this month's Host Code, which can be found at the top of the sidebar on the right.

And be sure to check the box allowing me to contact you when you check out. I can't send you a thank you card if I don't know your address! And I promise to only send you happy mail, no junk mail :)


Product List

Birthday Blooms Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[140658]

$19.00

Birthday Blooms Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[140655]

$27.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

$7.00

Delightful Dijon 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[138338]

$8.00

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$5.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$8.50

Delightful Dijon Classic Stampin' Pad

[138327]

$6.50

Gold Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141898]

$8.00

Embossing Buddy

[103083]

$6.00

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

$5.00

Heat Tool

[129053]

$30.00

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$17.00

Plaid Blooms

I am still loving on this stamp set, although I must admit that I made this card before Christmas when I first got my Gansai Tambi watercolors. I have quite the stash of supplies and stamps as I have been a papercrafter for over 10 years now, so sometimes I really just need to play with whatever I have! And I needed to add to my stash of big cards for work, so this is another 5½"x7½" card. I am so glad I have the envelope punch board, and scads and scads of the DCWV DSP stacks from my pre-SU days. They make great envelopes, white on the outside and patterned on the inside :)

• I chose 3 colors of watercolor to create the plaid, and the trick here is to do the stripes in one direction, dry the paint with the heat tool because I am not patient, then paint the stripes in the opposite direction. Yes, I found this out the hard way :) The flower covers most of the muddied stripes. The Gansai Tambi colors that I used are: #50 Light Aqua, #42 Bright Yellow, and #21 Scarlet Red (I think- or it could have been #30 Cadmium Red- it's been too long for me to remember and I was just enjoying myself, not thinking about future postings :)  )
• I had taped the watercolor paper down to a board while making the plaid, and decided to stitch along the edge of the paint for a nice border. OK, who am I kidding. I've been stitching everything lately, lol! Then I adhered this panel to the Tangelo Twist card base.
• I decided to use SU inks to watercolor the flower. I used Crushed Curry and Tangelo Twist on the petals, laying down the yellow first, then dropping in a little of the orange while the yellow was still wet to get the blending and wicking effect. The leaves are Garden Green. This green is much neglected in my craft room. I think I am rediscovering it lately, and it is about time! It makes quite lovely leaves. After the flower was dry, I fussy cut it out and put a bunch of dimensionals on the back.
• I took a 2"x7" piece of vellum and heat embossed the sentiment (Think Big Favorites: #24) with some glittery gold embossing powder in my stash. At this point, the plaid panel was already glued to the card base, so I had to resign myself to the thought of the stitching to hold the sentiment strip showing on the inside of the card. It generally bothers me to see the stitching or a strip of ribbon from the front of the card on the inside. Just my quirk.
• I made a tangle of gold thread and stuck it to the back of the flower and then stuck that to the card base. 
• My last bits are a few orange and iridescent sequins that I am not sure where I got. I used the Fine Tip Glue to stick those babies on.

For the inside I stamped the flowers in Tangelos Twist, then stamped this greeting from Inside and Out: Birthday in Early Espresso. And of course, I outlined the inside of the card with a Signo white gel pen :)

There it is, one more watercolored card for the stash at work! I wonder who the recipient will be :)

What do you think? Is this a pleasing color combo, and should I have added more sequins? That is always the question, lol!

This is a list of the supplies that I did use, or could have used. If you would like to purchase any of them, just click on the image and it will take you right to my store :)  If your order is less than $150, please use this month's Host Code: PCUN2KHD


Product List

Birthday Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139471]

$19.00

Tangelo Twist 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[133677]

$7.00

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$5.00

Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101856]

$6.50

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[131173]

$6.50

Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

[133646]

$6.50

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

[126973]

$6.50

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[126974]

$6.50

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$7.50

Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109129]

$5.00

Gold Metallic Thread

[138401]

$3.00

Brights Sequin Assortment

[138389]

$5.00

Metallics Sequin Assortment

[138390]

$5.00

Heat Tool

[129056]

$49.95

Aqua Painters

[103954]

$17.00

White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen

[105021]

$4.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Fine-Tip Glue Pen

[138309]

$7.00

Soft and Shiny Sweet Flowers

Do those words really go together? Well, today they do! I made this card with Geoffrey's girlfriend, Amanda. I am so glad to have a family member to share this with again :) She loves to craft and had never done any watercoloring. I thought this was the perfect time to pull out and ink up this stamp set! This was not the first thing I had her do with the watercoloring. I will post that later :)

I used some Pearl Perfect Pearls at the end to add some shimmer. See how shiny those flowers are?! At this angle, they look too shiny as all of the detail in the flowers is lost.

At this angle you can see the detail and colors on the flowers better. This was all colored with Tim Holtz Distress markers, then I used an Aquapainter to blend the colors. I created the background with some distress ink squished onto a piece of plastic and picked up with the Aquapainter. I stamped the Hello greeting with Gathered Twigs ink and the edges are not as crisp as I was looking for initially, but I think the way it turned out is more in keeping with the rest of the work. Except, if it had been crips and clean, it would have tied the die cut word in more with the rest of it. What do you think?

Distress ink colors: Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Gathered Twigs, Vintage Photo, Pumice Stone

If you place an order and the total is less than $150 (before shipping and tax), please use this hostess code:
XA3QREMN

 

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Inside, I stamped the floral branch in Sahara Sand in the corner, then outlined with White Signo gel pen.

Now, I wish I had thought to take a picture of Amanda's work, it was gorgeous! Very soft and delicate. But she had it packed up and was out the door before I thought of it. And she has already given the card to her sister for her birthday!

Stampin' Up! has surprised us all with a fabulous idea. MORE Sale-a-bration goodies! There are 4 new offerings this month, the last month of SAB for this year. Check out the new stuff here!

And in case you missed the original SAB brochure, check it out here:

Check out the Weekly Deals!

If you place an order and the total is less than $150 (before shipping and tax), please use this hostess code:
XA3QREMN

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Retired Stamps Love and Thoughts on Passports

I am back again with more watercoloring! This card is made with a stamp set that is retired, and that I honestly did not play with very much when it was current. I always meant too, and still think it is adorable. Alas, there are many stamps that I think are adorable and this one must find a new home. It is for sale in my eBay account. Here is a link to it. You know, in case one of you all out there decides this set must come to your house ;)

I did not actually use watercolor paper this time. It is Naturals White cardstock, and it handles watercoloring almost as well as the real thing. First, I embossed the flowers in White embossing powder, then I used the fine tip Aquapainter to color the flowers in Coastal Cabana, Blackberry Bliss, and Hello Honey. I love how the colors bled and blended! The background was then watercolored with dilute Crumb Cake reinker. The sentiment is a favorite of mine from PTI.

• Stamps: Time Well Spent (retired SU), Happy For You (PTI)
• Ink: Versamark, Blackberry Bliss, Hello Honey, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake
• Paper: Naturals White, Hello Honey
• Other: 1" Square punch, Embossing Buddy, White Detail embossing powder, Heat Tool, Aquapainters, dimensionals, sewing machine and thread

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 Here is a little closer shot of the card. I don't have this card anymore, but I am seriously thinking of making it again! Silly I know, but I loved how it turned out.

Now, to continue with my goal to share more about me! My hubby and I are going on our first cruise in March. We will be going to Labadee, Haiti, then Falmouth, Jamaica, then Georgetown, Grand Cayman, and last stop before cruising home will be Cozumel, Mexico. Anybody have suggestions on what we should go see and do? We plan on doing some snorkeling for sure.
I was super excited when our passports came in the mail last week. So excited, in fact, that I read mine all the way through! And holy cow, passports are done beautifully! So rich in texture and detail, and they smell like money, lol! Literally, they smell like money! I realize all the detail and texture are forgery prevention, but still. I am really such a geek :)

Now, please share your thoughts with me! Ideas, comments, suggestions are all welcome :)

Stamp Review Crew: Mixed Bunch Edition

It is the third Monday of the month, so that means it is time for another edition of the Stamp Review Crew! This time we are featuring the fun floral set, Mixed Bunch. Ah, flowers. The snowflakes of summer  :)
  If you are following along in order, you just came from Holly Krautkremer's blog. Wow, right!
As always, if you get lost along the way, you can always find the right links on the official Stamp Review blog, and click here for the post for this hop. If you have missed any of the past hops, be sure to go to the official Stamp Review Crew site and catch up!

 I was suddenly inspired to create a card by one of my favorite mugs the other day. I got the mug when I visited Pike Place Market while I was in Seattle in September of 2011. I love this mug. And I think this card turned out pretty cool too :)

There was sponging and water spritzing, heat tooling, and water dropping involved along with stamping and heat embossing right over the watercolor effect.

The inside needs some love too :)

One of my favorite inks to use with watercoloring is the Pear Pizzazz ink. It bleeds out into so many shades of green and brown and has this incredible earthy feel to it. The flowers were stamped right over the dried watercoloring in Pear Pizzazz ink.
Then heat set one more time and wiped really well with the Embossing buddy, and wet embossed the "hello".

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Ok, now off to Beth Beard's blog. I know she will have something fabulous waiting for you!