More watercolors for Day 16 and music print cards

Hey everyone - back for Day 16 of Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge! Since the watercolors were back out for yesterday's print-making, I decided to watercolor the Gina K Designs + Hero Arts Friendship Blooms. I previously colored this image with Copics (see it here) and pencils (here) but hadn't tackled it with watercolors yet until now.

I stamped the blossoms on the Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper (using Antique Linen Distress Ink) since I had half a sheet leftover from yesterday. Watercolored with a combination of Yasutomo (plain & pearlescent) watercolors and Twinkling H20s. This is just a start - I have plenty more work to do on this one but at least I got the basics and some shading done.

Finally, I'll share three cards I created with the print I watercolored yesterday:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV Ms Sparkle A2 cards, Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper

Paper Studio glitter paper; Gina K Tranquil Teal; 

Momenta watercolor patterned paper (banner and scalloped strip)

Stamps - Raisin Boat Feel the Beat (retired);

Hero Arts CG279 Musical Clef

Dies - My Favorite Things various Blueprints & Musical Notes (all retired);

Cheery Lynn Designs Whistle a Happy Tune (retired)

Other - Yasutomo and Twinkling H20 watercolors;

Hero Arts and Distress Inks

I always find it interesting how different you can make the print look by selectively die-cutting it into pieces! I have a few scraps of the print left that I can use on future projects. Still have some butterfly print pieces left too (I did a whole sheet for that one). I see some more butterfly cards in my future!

Well, gotta run - I'm off to shop, then eat a picnic lunch in a park with my friend, Rebecca. I'll stop at the garden store on the way home too - hoping to pick up a new shamrock plant to replace the poor darling who croaked while I did the stay-at-home order in my parents' house. If you saw my photo of Misty sitting near my dead plants, I thought it was time to get them replaced and/or repotted. I also got a new peace plant from a friend so that's gracing the top of my shelves - it's got such a beautiful bitty flower I had to share it:

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!!

A Music themed card and more Print-making coloring for Day 15!

Hello, hello friends! We've made it to "hump day" 15 of Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge - woo hoo!! Today I'm sharing a music themed card then some more print-making coloring per Kathy's Day 1 post (linked above).

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Poptone Black Licorice;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb

Stamps - Hero Arts CG279 Musical Clef &

Raisin Boat Feel the Beat (both retired)

Dies - Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies

Other - Recollections flowers (from Michaels)

I've mentioned that my chorus (City of Lakes Chorus) is relegated to rehearsing on Zoom during the pandemic. To help members connect, my chorus-mate & friend Debbie heads a "Stay in Touch" program. She gives us 8 names every two weeks and we can reach out by phone, mail, email, text etc. I've chosen to make and mail cards to over 100 members over the course of the program. Nuts, I know - that's more than my Christmas mailing list which I work on for 11 months of the year!! The card I shared above is a design I've used with slight modifications (different patterned papers & flowers) for the first 25 cards (Debbie slipped in an extra person one time!!). Another modification is that front row members (I used to be one until I got too slow & fat!) have both words Sing & Dance on theirs. I stamped, then fussy cut, the words and the treble clefs. I'm working this week on my next batch of 8 to be mailed out next Tuesday; then I'll have two weeks to work on the next 8.

I decided for my Day 15 coloring to revisit Kathy's print-making coloring (see it at the 30 Day Coloring Challenge link above which is for Day 1). I enjoyed it so much the first time (see my butterfly print here) that I decided to try again using some music themed dies I own. Here's my print:

I used Cheery Lynn Designs Whistle a Happy Tune and My Favorite Things Musical Notes dies (both retired), cutting from TH Distress watercolor paper. I then watercolored them (using Yasutomo watercolors and some Twinkling H20s), working on a large slab of Strathmore 140lb watercolor paper. I also painted watercolors on a Hero Arts sheet music cling stamp (from the same set as in the card above), spritzed and stamped in a few spots. The red in the corner was a bit too bold so I softened it in other spots by adding more water before stamping. Dribbled paint a couple times so figured I'd add some splatters while I was at it but not too many. The MFT dies were a bit small for this technique. Also, it seems to work better using a large symmetrical diecut. The butterfly I used previously was pretty much the same front and back so it was better for use as a stamp. I didn't want to stamp the music items because they'd be mirrored (did try a few partial clefs). I added extra color to the diecuts (off print) - they seemed a bit light. Figured I'd use some of this paper for future chorus cards.

I got enabled on the Cheery Lynn die by my friend Heather (Stamping and Stitching) who sent me a bunch of glittery treble clef diecuts. Loved them so much I had to buy my own die, though I've saved some of the ones Heather sent (you guessed it, the purples!!). You can see my gift bag project using the treble clef die here, if interested.

That's it for today - happy hump day - day 15!! Color something if you can & thanks for visiting!!

Blending-free coloring with Copics for Day 14

Hey friends - day 14 of Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge. I thought I'd try a technique Yana Smakula shared in her June 3rd 2020 post: Blending-free coloring with Copics. She has a video tutorial on the technique that I watched a couple of times before giving it a go. Some of my friends have tried it, including Betty - you can see her lovely examples here and here and Greta - see hers here and here. Here's my first shot at it:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; Gina K Tranquil Teal;

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb

Stamps - Hero Arts CL443 Good Thoughts (retired);

Gina K Designs + Hero Arts Friendship Blooms (sentiment)

Other - Copic Markers; gold & black pencils;

Hero Arts Intense Black Ink

I picked this 2010 Hero Arts floral stamp out of my stash and thought it might work well for this technique. What do you think? I deliberately didn't use the lines through the flowers as a guide for coloring. Some of my flowers look kinda bullseye but I thought I did ok for the first attempt. Shaded the background with a gold pencil and blended it with E50 Copic. Rest of the colors I won't list - just chose 3-5 shades and don't blend. Interesting technique - may try it again... I did some shading with a black pencil but it wasn't doing much for me so I just quit. Time to move on to the next project - don't you feel like that sometimes?

Thanks for the visit and have a wonderful day!!

Day 13 and counting

Yikes - Day 13, not even halfway, on Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge! But I'm still coloring - yay! I colored Nasturtiums today and put them on a card already:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb;

DCWV A2 card; Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid - Spring; 

BoBunny Bold & Bright Double Dot

Stamps - Hero Arts CM263 Florals Nasturtium (with die) and 

CM351 Hero Greetings Mini Messages

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints (retired);

Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies

Other - Copic Markers, black pencil; Michael's gems; foam tape

I searched the web for some Nasturtium images and used this one for my inspiration; there are so many beautiful colors out there! I tried to get the lines of red per their image but to no avail - guess I press too heavily on the marker tip.... For Copics I used 0, C00 & C1, E50, G20 & YG05, RV69, Y08, Y11, Y19 & YR12.

Next up -  I turned yesterday's coloring into cards - will share the poinsettia at Die Cut Divas Christmas in July for my 4th of 4 and the Santa at Christmas Kickstart Hatty Christmas. Sorry - I only took one photo....

Supplies - Paper - Hero Arts pine card (retired); TH Watercolor paper; 

BoBunny Yuletide Carol 6x6 (patterned)

Stamps - Hero Arts Peace Poinsettia & Holiday Sayings (both retired); 

Art Impressions  Holiday Wishes (also retired)

Dies - My Favorite Things retired Blueprints;

HoneyBee A2 Thin Frames courtesy of Betty

Other - Yasutomo watercolors, black & brown pencil; foam tape

Betty (created by bjk) sent me a bunch of panels of Honey Bees A2 Thin Frames - I don't own this die myself but all those thin frame dies look amazing!! Anyway, when Betty saw Santa she thought he'd look good framed. Well, my reindeer was just a bit too far away, nothing looked right. But I decided the poinsettias could be framed perfectly. Thanks again Betty!!!

That's it for Day 13. Thanks for stopping by - hope you have a great week!!

 

More Coloring (Day 12) and a Scramble

Hey friends! Those on Facebook and wanting to Scramble like we once did on the old Hero Arts Flickr group can contact Cindy C. (Escape to Stamping) and join us!! We're having an open Scramble for the next 2 weeks where you pick your own 90 minute window and create a card, photograph and upload. We use Hero Arts materials (other brands are perfectly fine too, just include HA somewhere). I'm the hostess & in honor of Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge, our Scramble theme is to color at least one item. I made this inspiration card, coloring a Hero Arts poinsettia image. Since you only get 90 minutes, I colored & detailed hastily but am still happy with it:

Supplies: Paper - Paper Studio A2 card; Authentique Glistening 6x6;

BoBunny Tis the Season 6x6; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb

Stamps - Hero Arts CL796 Peace Poinsettia (with matching dies - retired)

Additional die - My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (retired)

Other - Copic Markers; Michael's gems; 

White gel pen; Hero Arts Intense Black Ink

I made this last night so it would be ready for the Scramble start. I'm adding to Die Cut Divas Christmas in July challenge (this is my 3rd of 4 possible). I stamped multiple flower images, including some on watercolor paper. Next I'll share today's coloring:

Supplies - Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper; Yasutomo watercolor palette;

Twinkling H20s; black & brown pencils

Stamps - Hero Arts Peace Poinsettia;

Art Impressions Holiday Wishes (retired)

I was up late last night watching a movie and suddenly it was past midnight - Day 12, so I decided to start coloring! Worked on the poinsettia til about 1:30a then called it quits until 7:30. Finished the flower, leaves (I don't like how they turned out!!), and Santa scene by 10. Well, if you can call it finished - I always see spots where I could add more... Aren't Santa & friends adorable?! I've had this cutie set for YEARS, it's already retired & today was my first play with it - sad, isn't it?! Anyway will add Santa to Darnell's NBUS challenge, as well as link up to Kathy's 30 Day.

Thanks for the visit!!

 

Twofer Butterflies including Day 11 Coloring!!

Hey everyone - having a good weekend? Beautiful day here - can't wait to get outside!! But first, here's my twofer for the latest Twofer Challenge - #29 Butterflies (warning - photo heavy post ahead):

 

My item in common is a beautiful, retired Hero Arts die (DI133 Swallowtail Butterfly Fancy Die). I've had it for many years. I've been planning to do Kathy's (The Daily Marker) print-making coloring technique since she posted it on Day 1 of her 30 Day Coloring Challenge. She used a butterfly and I was thinking of using one from My Favorite Things - just hadn't gotten around to it. Marcia Hill (Marcia's Stampin' Pad), tackled it on Day 8 - see it here. More inspiration and I still didn't jump on it. Then Darnell and crew announced the July challenge to use butterflies & I knew I could get it done! Last night I die cut a bunch of butterflies using the Hero Arts die instead of the MFT one. It was bigger and had an interesting pattern. I cut from pastel watercolor printed papers - beautiful 8x8 pad by Momenta (I have a huge stack because I keep running out of the blue!!). I arranged some butterflies on a piece of white card 4.25x5.5" - it wasn't working for me. Moved to a  5.5x8.5 piece of black card and liked it a lot! Here's a look at my arranging process:

I just took this quickie photo (sorry it was getting dark) so I'd be able to remember the arrangement as I took them off and glued them back down. I used Gina K Connect Glue - worked great. I usually put dots where there's room, then I squeeze glue onto the back of my hand and dab the back of the die to add glue to those teeny spots. Where I trimmed off, I added back in bare spots. Then I cut the background panel in half so I could use on two cards. Here's a closer look with supply list for card one:

Supplies:- Paper - DCWV A2 card; scrap of Neenah white;

Momenta Watercolor prints 8x8; Poptone Black Licorice

Stamps - Hero Arts It's Your Day (retired);

Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental

Dies - Hero Arts DI133 Swallowtail Butterfly Fancy Die (retired);

My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (retired);

Spellbinders Petite Labels One and Labels Thirty-Six (both retired)

Other - white gel pen; foam tape

Thought I share a photo of my print-making coloring process I used for card two:

Sorry, I did this early this morning and haven't had a chance to try and iron out the warping. Did pretty well on the pink side so maybe didn't spritz as much water around?? Anyway, just took a large sheet of watercolor paper (mine is 140lb Strathmore) and used it as a work surface to watercolor two butterflies cut from watercolor paper. After you've colored the dies, leaving various spotches of watercoloring, you spritz them, turn them over and press into the background for more images. I then chose a section, die cut it with a stitched rectangle and made it into card two. Here's a closer look with supply list:

Supplies: Paper - DCWV A2 card; Strathmore Watercolor 140lb; 

Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock; Poptone Black Licorice

Dies - Hero Arts DI133 Swallowtail Butterfly Fancy Die (retired);

My Favorite Things Blueprints 13 (retired)

Stamps - Gina K Designs Natural Silhoettes (sentiment)

Other - Twinking H20s & Yasutomo watercolors; black pencil to shade

Bonus - a threefer! Since I had the other half of my black/pastel butterfly background, I thought I might as well make the second card with it. On this card, I used a smaller stitched rectangle and a scalloped mat with a different style of sentiment. Thus a completely new look, even though the background is similar. This one ended up with almost an entire purple butterfly so I broke that up with the white label.

Supplies:- Paper - DCWV A2 card; Neenah white;

Momenta Watercolor prints 8x8; Poptone Black Licorice

Stamps - Picket Fence Small Ways to Say Thank You

Dies - Hero Arts DI133 Swallowtail Butterfly Fancy Die (retired);

My Favorite Things Blueprints 2 and 20 (both retired);

Other - white gel pen; foam tape; Hero Arts flower gem

Whew - sorry for the long post! I had fun with this print-making coloring technique and will be uploading to Kathy's challenge. Still going strong on Day 11 - yay!!

Thanks to challenge hosts and teams and thanks to you for the visit!!

A Christmas Eve scene for Day 10 Coloring

Hey everyone - TGIF!! I'm still coloring away for Kathy's (The Daily Marker) 30 Day Coloring Challenge! Back with today's coloring, some Christmas bits that I turned into a Christmas card for Christmas Craft Creations. Their theme this month is Christmas Characters - certainly Santa & his reindeer qualify!!

Supplies: Paper - DCWV black A2 card; 

Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb

Stamps - Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow

Hero Arts CM100 Christmas Messages &

Hero Arts CM386 From the Vault Winter Joy (with matching dies)

Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 21 (retired);

Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Dies

Other - Hero Arts Intense Black Ink, Copic Markers,

Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, Picket Fence; 

Ranger Seafoam White ep, colored pencils, foam tape

I first took a 4.25 x 5.5" piece of white card and stamped/white embossed with the falling snow. Some of my snow ended up more clear than white - didn't care! Applied a circle mask for the moon and sponged Distress Ink on the rest of the panel. Removed the mask. Die cut panel with the pierced rectangle. Cut a small strip of white scrap with the pierced rectangle and cut a small hill for the house. Die cut, stamped & colored the house, Santa and reindeer - note: I cut two Santa/reindeer and lopped off Santa on one. The image only comes with 4 reindeer and, hey, he has eight pulling the sleigh most of the time! Added diecuts to panel, adhered to card, stamped sentiment - done!!

Here's a glimpse of my crafty mess (well, part of it...). You can see the uncolored lopped off Santa to the side with some other images from that Winter Joy set.

Funny story - I bought the stamp set on sale at JoAnn last month but they don't carry many matching dies in store. Planned to order the dies with my next Hero Arts order - forgot!! Got an email from JoAnn about an online discount so went to their website and found the dies (and some other stuff); used my discount - yay!! Doesn't it drive you nuts when you want matching dies and they're not sold where you're shopping or out of stock? Hard to keep track of dies you still need! Or sometimes it's vice versa - I have an orphaned Lawn Fawn die set missing its matching stamps....

Besides the coloring challenge & Christmas Craft Creations, this also fits at Christmas Kickstart (Santa has his hat!). I'm also adding to Virginia's July Show & Share and the NBUS Challenge (the Christmas stamps and dies getting their first play). Also adding to Die Cut Diva's Christmas in July challenge. Thanks to all hosts and teams for fabulous challenges!!

Thanks to you for visiting and I hope you have a crafty weekend!! I'm off to the Hallmark Ornament Premiere to get my July wish list items - can't wait!