You bring me joy .......

All the different challenges over at  The Moxie Fab World  had me wondering how many design principles I could  include  on just one  single card, I challenged myself to get thinking and design something along that thought process and here is what I came up with.....

The colors were inspired by  the Play Date Cafe # 147

I have tried to use 5 different design principles -

focal point with the bird , leaves and the sentiment in the' Sweet Spot'....,

movement  with the leaves angled , I feel the eye starts with left side of card since the bird is looking that way  and then you follow the leaves to the right and out of the card.....

 repetition with the sentiment stamped in a lighter grey on the background and the bird and the 3 grey branch die cuts

 and  the asymmetry principle

I guess it fits the Gallon- pink , Quart - grey and Pint- greens,  design element but I was not too sure!...might have pushed it too far!...(edited..... after kelly left me a wonderful comment   ..I have gone ahead and shared with that challenge too.)

Did I achieve it ? you tell me!

 also sharing with The Moxie Fab World- Focal point challenge

 Supplies: Memory Box dies- branch and bird, Sizzix - branch, with leaves,  Stamps-Wplus 9

and The Moxie Fab World- Movement Challenge

and The Moxie fab  World- Repetition challenge

 and The Moxie Fab World - Gallon/Quart/pint challenge

edited to add...... The Moxie Fab World -Asymmetry challenge

 also with Simon Says Stamp- Anything Goes.

Thanks for stopping by.

You bring me joy .......

A Quick Tutorial

After I posted this card here, I was asked about the technique used and how I achieved that washed look, and I had promised to do a tutorial, so today I thought of sharing a photo tutorial with a promise of a video coming soon!

......... step by step directions to a card I posted here..

Warning- photo heavy!

Step 1- A few simple supplies..some blendable colors like watercolor paints/watercolor pencils/gelatos ( as you can see my watercolor sketchbox has seen a lot of love! ) a brush, spray bottle of water, watercolor paper- I prefer 140 # since they hold up more water before buckling up 

Step 2- Dampen paper by spraying from the mister, you can soak it wet dripping with water or just damp enough to see a sheen..depending on the moisture the paints will bleed and blend ..that's why no two will be the same!

Step 3-Drop in your colors and let them blend naturally..do not use a dry brush to move your colors around since it will act as a sponge and pick your color off the paper ..always use a moist color laden brush ..I prefer to just drop my colors and hold the paper in my hand and move the paper ..that way wherever there is moisture there will be color and no hard edges.
You can see below how the colors start to merge and blend and in the next step you can see how much they have spread by the time they dried. 

 Step 4-Let the paper dry well before stamping your images. Always remember watercolors dry lighter ..so if you are looking for a vivid color start darker than you would like your final result to be.

 Step 5- Die cut image using a Die cut machine( I used a Big Shot here)

Step 6- using walnut stain distress ink ..distress the edges and  finally mount onto card base using foam adhesive

Supplies: watercolor paper, watercolor paints, stamps-Crafty secrets, PTI, distress ink, ivory card base

I hope this was useful and  you will give this technique a try ..  thanks for stopping by.

A Quick Tutorial

Celebrate Life.

A card for CASE study #105, this week we were challenged to CASE another player, and I chose this card by Stempelomi , her card had stood out in the gallery when she had posted for an earlier challenge and I so wanted to try the silhouette feel against a watercolor background..so here we go with my take on her card....

Also sharing with Runway Inspired #18

I saw black and orange  with a hint of blue and green around her waist ...so I went with those colors on my  card.

Stamps : Crafty Secrets and PTI

Thanks for stopping by.

Celebrate Life.

You color my world......

Today I am sharing a card which is different from my usual style..
.........I rarely stamp my background or use patterned paper, but today I decided to got for it and I am quite pleased with the end result if I may say so myself!

Used Lawn Fawn- Stay tuned set

Lawnscaping challenge -Make your own patterned paper

sentiment is by PTI

Sharing with Moxie Fab world- Repetition Challenge 

Moxie Fab world- Focal point Challenge

Thanks for stopping by.

You color my world......

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

Time again for PTI fun hop ...

 This month it's all about textures and patterns and Autumn....

Here is my card.......

 So many patterns to choose from .....

  I went with Argyle and used some yellows and oranges and blues for a feel of Autumn on the card. Also embossed the silhouettes using an argyle folder to add some interest and texture to the images.

Sentiment and silhouettes by Papertrey Ink and Argyle image by Studio G

 
Thanks for stopping by.

Papertrey August Blog Hop Challenge

The Holidays..........

UPDATE: this card is a winner over at Sweet Stamps ...thank you so much for picking my card!


As I had mentioned in an earlier post , I have started on the Holiday cards that I had a request for and here is the first of many  more to come!

 
This year I decided to go with stamps for the images, it makes the entire process a breeze!... thanks to PTI who have trademark stamps, it's also easy to stamp the back of the card, but for the rest I will have to write by hand!

On this particular card, I used a stamp from Sweet Stamps  and the sentiment is from PTI And the musical background is a tiny stamp from Lawn Fawn.

I had got this stamp at an expo because they had reminded me of my favorite movie-Sound Of Music!, Yesterday when I searched this company to see if they had copyright stamps, I found that they have a blog and a challenge going on  right now and the theme is guess what!.......Watercolor!!!!!

So here we go with my entry -Sweet Stamps- Challenge #79- watercolored

Thanks for stopping by.

The Holidays..........

May your wishes.......

A kiddy card today...
.......and whenever I make one I try to make something that looks childlike ...something that might inspire the child to try their hand at making something similar.

.... tried my hand at making patterned paper for  Lawnscaping Challenge -make your own patterned paper using stamps.

 
Started by stamping  the  castle image twice on white cardstock and then using  the tiny stamps - heart and star from the Lawn Fawn  Critters ever after set,  filled the image randomly and colored with watercolor pencils. Fussy cut the door and adhered to the main image

The hill is stamped with another image from the same set and colored.

Also sharing with The Moxie Fab Challenge- Focal point challenge

and Moxie Fab world- Movement challenge

Thanks for stopping by.

May your wishes.......

Just Married!

I have been blog hopping and have found a couple of blogs which I am hoping to share my work with,.......starting  with....The Crafts Meow.

This month they have a sketch challenge..and here is my take on the sketch..

      Stamps- The Crafts Meow-Vintage Rides

.... Truth be told...sketches are not my favorite as I kinda feel restricted with my thought process..but time and again I feel like I should take up one to get me out of my comfort zone !

Also sharing with Moxie Fab Challenge-Movement challenge

Hopefully  I have achieved that with  this card...I added the twine with hearts in different angles to suggest wind and movement because of a moving car and also the sentiment is curved which keeps the eye moving......and as an added interest,  I introduced some  tiny little hearts and splatter in the background.

On a different note.....
... some of you might observed, lately, I have started to use watercolors on most of my cards and that's because primarily  I love  the artsy look it gives in an instant and  also because ever since I took up blogging and card making for challenges , I had started to neglect these precious friends of mine( watercolors!) and was feeling guilty every time I saw them on the desk sitting unused!

Also last week I received a request for handpainted  Holiday cards from a close friend of mine , so I set to work yesterday and came up with a few samples  for her to see . I shall share some of them  over here later  this week.... today's card was my way of loosening my hand and getting ready for  the 45 Christmas cards!..... yup that's how many she sends out each year! and this year she wants to send something which can be framed later on like a permanent keepsake....am so excited and can't wait to get started !

Sorry for the long post and thank you for staying with me this far.

Thanks for stopping by.

Just Married!

Animal Antics- Take Two

This is my second post for today..click here for the first one

and here is my second card using the same stamp set as the previous card..

sharing with Moxie Fab World- focal point challenge

and one last one ...

 Stamps- TLC Studios

Am sharing these cards with..Simon Says Stamp- Animal Antics.

Thanks for stopping by.

Animal Antics- Take Two

Animal Antics- Take one...

As I organised my stamps this afternoon , I" found" a stamp set ...yes, deep down somewhere in the dark closet!
To give it some love and make it feel wanted I immediately got my inks and colors out and totally forgot the organising!
I made one then another and another,....I fell in love with the set!

Here is my first....

Sharing with Simon Says Stamp- Animal Antics

and Color Q #151

and Moxie Fab World- Focal Point Challenge

Stand by for Take 2.....

sharing with Runway Inspired

Thanks for stopping by .

Animal Antics- Take one...

Thankful.......

 Update: This card was chosen as Color Q courtier !!!!!...Thanks Color Q!


With Fall at my doorstep, I decided to make a card to celebrate it's arrival!
....am I glad for the cooler weather!!!!!

This was inspired by Erin's card , - click here  to check out her beautiful creation!

I had bookmarked her card for a long time now, but never got around to using the stamps and dies to their full potential,  so today I made  time to die cut all the different elements and color them with watercolor markers and came up with this card.

Although this card did require a bit more time , it was totally worth it, I love the way it turned out!

Sharing this with Color Q #150

Also sharing with  a new to me blog which has caught my eye for all the right reasons( tons of inspiration there!!)

Oozak # 5- Fall theme

Also sharing with The Moxie Fab world- Autumn Awaits- Tuesday Trigger

Sharing with Designed To Color

Thanks for stopping by.

Thankful.......

Make A wish !

A simple one layer card for Lawnscaping Challenge ...

 I used the ink pad technique as shown here, after having tried it before here, I am amazed by the ease and convenience of ink pads as my palette of watercolors!

 I used the Lawn Fawn - Critters Ever after  Stamp set .. and a couple from  PTI Movers and Shakers set.

Thanks for stopping by.

Make A wish !

Boards and Beams....

  Simon says Stamp has a BINGO challenge and I chose Die cuts/free/ glitter.

 Also sharing with The Moxie Fab World - Minty Fresh Challenge

Supplies: Stamps -Papertrey Ink Boards and Beams, Dies- Memory Box,Watercolor pencils, stickles

Thanks for stopping by.

Boards and Beams....