A little message

Okay, okay I know I should be working on my oral presentation, my group isn't gonna be happy with me if I have nothing done. But, but, I just couldn't focus until I made this card. I promise I will spend the afternoon reading about nurse executives.

This card was inspired by the challenge at The Male Room, a challenge site that asks for cards with  a masculine bend. This weeks challenge was to make your own background.

I have had this idea poking around in my head for a bit. I stamped wide stripes with Simon Says Stamp  ink on craft paper. Then using the same khaki ink I stamped Hero Arts- Newspaper background . It makes a really cool background, huh? I stamped the pool base card with Simon Says Stamp sea glass ink using Hero Arts Envelope Pattern background stamp to add some texture. These big background stamps are the perfect way to create quick and easy backgrounds.

I thought the typewriter from Lawn Fawn's Just My Type. They have the cutest typewriter. I colored it with matching copic colors, some enamel dots and there you have it. The message inside can be anything, birthday, thank you, get well, congrats. A perfect guy card to have on hand for any occasion.

Check out the other backgrounds at The Male Room and maybe you will play along too.

Brilliant!

I have a confession to make, unlike most women, I happen to find very smart guys sexy. There is something about intelligence that just grabs me. It was one of the first things I noticed about my husband. Although it didn't hurt that he was 6'2, blond and handsome too.

So when I saw this set from Mama Elephant- Lights Out and My Sunshine, I knew I had to make a card for my brilliant hubby.

This month at House of Cards, the challenge is to use a die or a punch. That certainly makes it wide open huh? No excuses everyone, come on over and play along!

The same but different

Hi everyone. Does this card seem like deja vu? Does it seem the same but slightly different? If you answer yes, then you must have seen last week's challenge card for Just Us Girls. 

I used the same technique on today's color challenge card that I used for the watercolor challenge last week. I really like the look of the watercolor through the stencil. I kept the card simple and let the background be the star.

Pink was always my mom's favorite color. She just loved it, so much so that when she died we buried her in a pink coffin and the family all wore pink to the funeral. I know my mom was looking down and smiling.

My mom would have loved this card. Please join us for this great color challenge at Just Us Girls!

Design Team call at Just Us Girls!!

This has been an absolutely crazy week. I have been busy working between two departments at work and staying late most nights and school is in full swing. ( I have just started grad school for my Masters in  nursing) Today was my day off and I ended up going into work to help out. The gist of this rant is that I have been behind in everything I had to do this week.

Luckily, this week's challenge card has been made for weeks. Remember my crafting weekend? I worked way ahead on many of my challenges because I knew September was going to be trying.

 This week at Just Us Girls, we have some exciting news- we are looking for a new DT member. Here are the details:

If you are interested, just play in this week's challenge and when uploading your card, put a DT after your name.  The Team will then discuss and vote for the chosen new JUGHEAD.  We will announce the new member on Saturday, September 20th.  The new member will officially start in the October 4th challenge.  Good Luck!

This weeks tend challenge by Vicki is right on point- water coloring! Most of you know I have been all over this especially since I took the online water coloring class with Jennifer Maguire and Kristina Werner.  My card today is a technique I learned from the class using stencils. 

The quick version is that you make a very wet watercolor wash and then press your stencil into the wash and let it sit till it dries and then pull the stencil off.

I think the saying is perfect for the challenge because- "Yes you all can do anything!!" 

I hope many of you will considering applying as a DT member. I am the newbie at JUGS. I have been with them for a year this month and not only are the challenges fun, but the DT are wonderfully creative and supportive women! 

I hope to see your watercolor creations this week at Just Us Girls!

Autumn Splendor

September's challenge at House of Cards is a color challenge. What beautiful colors huh? I made one card, but I just wasn't feeling it, so I nixed it for this colorful fall card. This card makes me happy, happy for fall and everything fall means.  

The leaves are Paper Smooches, Leafy Greens. I used a variety of inks, distress, Hero arts and momentos. Whatever worked. It was the old ink and spritz technique. The saying is from My Favorite Things, Vertical Greetings. Please check out all the CAS inspiration this week at House of Cards

Curtain Call is hosting a "lovely leaves" challenge and I thought my card fits right in with their challenge. So I am throwing my hat in the ring with them too.

I can't wait to see what you create from our inspiration colors this month at the House of Cards.

Duo of Butterflies

Ahhhhhh, Sue V. is hosting a great color challenge at Just Us Girls this week. Well if you know me, you know that I think green is the most beautiful color in the world (sorry Margarita- it isn't pink!) and pair it with blue- well what can ya say- I am in heaven!!

I had made another card, when I wasn't sure I was going to have time to create this week. It was kinda crappy and a cop out. I came across this video from Dawn at Wplus9 and knew I had to try this technique. I didn't have the butterfly from Wplus9, but I did make do with this stamp from Hero Arts- an oldie but goodie that has always survived my purges.

There is something so zen about watercoloring especially when its dawn and the house is quiet and some soft music is playing in the background. I couldn't screw it up with all those peaceful and creative vibes going on around me. Check out Dawn's video, she really makes these butterflies look easy and they are.

While I was surfing the net before I started on my project, I remembered today is the August release day at Papertrey Ink. I came across this card by Nicole Heady and loved the look of copics on the kraft paper. I pulled out another oldie but goodie from Hero Arts.  I stamped and embossed with white and just colored the image in with the required colors. Easy- peasy.

If you ever watch any of those cooking competitions, many of the cockier chefs will try to make a duo of something and it often turns around to bite them in the butt. I hope that this isn't the case with my duo.

I hope to see your creations this week at Just Us Girls!

Stretch your stamps 2 homework- 2nd post for the day

I have been watching all the videos at the new online card class Stretch you Stamps 2, but today they had another no-line coloring technique by Melania Deasy that totally intrigued me. There was no video just some quick instructions which I read carefully.

I like how the technique turned out, but can still see some lines. They don't distract from the finished work though. I think the next time I will stamp off first, so the image is lighter.

Being a bit nervous this first time around, I used the copic colors that Melania suggested.

Sooooooo, other then learning a great new technique, I learned I don't always need a video to learn from.

Can't wait to try some of the other techniques offered today. 

If you have never taken any of the online card classes, you should. They offer so many techniques and ideas for a great price point and the classes are always available.

Cool flora

This week's challenge by Vicki is a cool and refreshing color challenge. Just perfect for inspiring cool thoughts on a hot day!  We are looking for creations using turquoise, green and lime. 

The BIG news though is this is the 250th challenge from Just Us Girls!!!  Can you believe that!! 250!!! WOW!! In honor of this event the Chic of the Week will win their choice of stamp set $14.99 or less from Dare 2B Artzy.

I loved these cool colors so much, mainly because I think green is the most beautiful color in the whole world!! (Sorry, Marguerita, I know you think the best color is pink.) I had to make two cards I liked this challenge so much. Both, are floral in nature. Are there green flowers out there? I am sure there are but if not- there should be!

I could not decide which card to post to Just Us Girls, so I had do a "meeny, meeny minny, moe" to pick which one to use. Which card do you like?

Be sure to join us at Just Us Girls for our 250th challenge and play along and you might win an awesome prize!!

Stamps used- Paper Smooches,  Bold Blooms, Reflections
                      Simon Says Stamp, Flower Friend

Orange is the New Challenge

This week's color challenge at Just us Girls just breathes hot sunshiney summer days with a tall glass of lemonade in hand. Orange yellow and a neutral color. Just perfect for this time of year.

I went with my favorite trend right now-ombre. I created a yellow orange ombre card. Please disregard the ink smudge. I do not know where that came from. I didn't even have a black pad out!! Don't you hate when that happens!!??!

Anyway today's card uses two Memory Box products. The "floating butterfly background" die and the "garden peony blossom" stencil. I cut the butterfly twice, save both the positive and negative pieces.

 I colored the butterflies with copic markers using yellows and oranges, creating an ombre effect.
The negative piece, I put through my big shot with the peony stencil to emboss the design. See this post for a how to.  Then I put the whole thing back together with foam tape.

Here is another look in pinks. this time I embossed the butterflies and not the background.

 Hope you enjoyed my creations and will join us at Just Us Girls for this week's color challenge!

Homework

Do you know the saying- "saving the best for last"? That's how I feel right now. My last class before I graduate was a one credit art class. The class was two days and involved a lecture on the Wyeth family and watercolor techniques, with hands on instruction. The next day we went to the Brandywine River Museum.

I have never taken any "formal" art classes and while this class was geared to the completely inexperienced person, the class was full of useful information on watercolor technique. By the end of the first class we were asked to choose a painting from either N.C., Andrew or Jamie Wyeth to replicate. This was rather daunting since none of us were really artists. I know my limitations so I chose Long Limb by Andrew Wyeth painted in 1998.

We were given a rather large sheet of watercolor paper to work from. The first thing I wanted to do was cut it down to card size! I didn't, but there was no way I was going to fill that 12x9 sheet of paper, so I just worked in the middle. I think I missed the yellow aspects of the original, but I think I at least achieved the same tonal qualities on my representation.

The next day we toured the Brandywine River Museum. I am fortunate to live in the back yard of the Wyeth's and to have a museum dedicated to the Brandywine School of Art within driving distance. Our teacher took us on a tour of the museum and talked about the various works of art and how to look at each of them. I thought I knew about art, but I learned how to really look at a painting from the movement to the use of color and perspective.

Half of our homework was to create another painting from a Wyeth painting. As usual I bend the rules. I decided to stick with "Long Limb" but to recreate it in the four seasons. I really wanted to pull out my branch stamps and leaves etc etc, but I stuck to my own art work. I used ink and watercolor  and brought it into my world by making a card set.

Here is a picture of the start of the process. The well loved and used watercolor set in the lower right corner I have had since I was a kid. I will be bereft when it is used up.

I began with creating the four season backgrounds.

Next, I laid in the branches for each season. I wasn't completely happy with how they looked, so I  pulled out my copic liner 0.1 and accented the work with ink. It just seemed to add the definition that the work lacked. 

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

I am pleased with all of them but summer. Summer just seems to lack the verdancy one sees in summer and the patch of flowers seems rather blob like. I have to remember I am new to all this and practice makes perfect. Winter I added splotches of paint by flicking paint onto the work to mimic snow. You can really see it in the photo, but I also added some Mr. Huey's white spray ink.

I hope you all enjoyed my watercolor explorations and might be tempted to try them yourselves.

Now off to write yet another paper!!