Sweet Strawberries

A quick post today to share Unity's new Stamp Of the Week ....Berry Sweet!

Sketched the plate for the strawberries to sit on and watercolored!

Some glossy accents for the  shine and wet look...

 a closer look...

Stop by the Unity blog for more inspiration...

Have a lovely Sunday and thanks for stopping by today!

Sweet Strawberries

Depth of life.....Unity Thursday Blog Hop!

Welcome back ...it's time for Unity Blog hop!

We have a new Phyllis Harris release today and I have two cards to share..so sit back and relax and enjoy a picture heavy post!

If you are following the hop then you should have come here from Angeline's blog and if you are just joining in, then I have the complete list at the bottom of this post..join the fun!

Here is the the 'little mermaid'..I went for a complete under water look for this one. Stamped the image using waterproof ink and then colored it. Then went around the image and all over the paper with a damp brush and applied the different blues and greens and let mix on their own ... I know I say that a lot..but then that's all there is to it....

 Do you see those faint white circles...that was achieved by pressing a bottle cap onto wet paint! It lifts just that tiny bit of paint and leaves behind a wonderful textural look...just some added interest!

And now for my second card...

 Isn't she just adorable!
This is another new Phyliss Harris release . I simply love the image and the sentiment in this set!

 Some stamps say so much on their own that little is required to enhance it! I love the Phyllis Harris collection at Unity, in fact even before I was a part of Unity, I had quite a few of her stamps. You can see some of my work using these stamps here and here.

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway.  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog.

Unity Stamp Co - http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/
Angie - http://www.angieblomdesigns.blogspot.com/
Erin - http://www.erinleecreative.com/
Jolande - http://www.justjolande.blogspot.com/
Joslyn - http://hereiswhatido.blogspot.com/
Lisa - http://dahlhouse-designs.com
Shilo - http://papermeetsglue.blogspot.ca/
Stephanie - http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com/
Kary - http://karyg.blogspot.com
Angeline - http://www.scrappyscrappy.blogspot.com/
Swarup - http://sanketij.blogspot.com/

To head back to the Unity blog click here..

Thanks so much for stopping by today..hope you enjoyed the hop!

Depth of life.....Unity Thursday Blog Hop!

The Butterfly Effect

 Crafter's Companion recently released some pretty butterflies and lovely sentiments which really spoke to me. I love butterflies and all the meaning attached to it ..it's pretty close to my heart and come summer, I spend a lot of time in the garden trying to photograph and sketch as many and as 'quickly' as I can.... butterflies seem to have a real serious attention span issue...I have no clue why they need to change their mind so quick..I blink and they are gone!

Last year I got lucky and captured quite a few through the lens and one of them inspired the colors on my card today and isn't that sentiment just  perfect?

The butterfly was colored with Spectrum Noir markers..here are the deets..

Stamps- Crafter's Companion-Sheena Douglass-The butterfly effect
 Spectrum Noir -OR1,OR2,BT2,BT3,BT5,GB4,GT1,GT2,GT3,IG5,Black

A closer look...

Thanks for coming by today and for lot's more inspiration stop by the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook Page !

 

The Butterfly Effect

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop

I almost did not make it to the PTI blog hop this month...I forgot today was the 25th..yes I did...so much for keeping track of dates and DT assignments!
........but am here now....better late than never!

 

This month it's all about gloss and I decided to get my embossing powders out! Stamped the background using PTI Fancy Folk art stamp set. The four corners were stamped using the large motif and then the smaller flowers were used to fill in. These were then embossed using clear embossing powder.
I did not attempt to color  each flower, rather applied a random wash of colors. It's truly magical to see the pattern emerge once the colors are added..super fun!

Here is the inspiration picture..

 a closer look at the clear embossing...

Thanks for stopping by today..off to hop now!

Papertrey Ink March Blog Hop

Celebrate your day!

Hello everyone,

Hope you'll enjoyed the Unity Thursday hop and did you check the Unity blog to see if you have won....winners were announced on Sat!

It  has been quiet over here these last couple of days! I have been super busy, finishing up some DT projects and some card requests. But today, I decided to take a break from all of that and play with my brand new Penny Black stamps ! Remember, I mentioned getting some a couple of weeks back....ya, most of them are still sitting on my desk waiting to see some ink and color!

So, I decided to break open the 'Bubble Heart' Slapstick.. (it's from their new release Happy Everything collection).. and did some simple watercoloring. Since the stamp size is pretty large, I let it be the focal point and did not add much to the background. The sentiment is from Penny Black-Your Way slapstick.
I  simply love these illustrations by Mo Manning...awesome!
..........some day I hope to get the entire collection..some day......

Added some Glossy accents to the balloon and some glitter- Stickles to the dress and the balloon.

Sharing with Penny Black

and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge-glitter it.

Have a nice week ahead and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Celebrate your day!

You And Me----Unity Thursday Blog Hop

Second post for today...for my Crafter's Companion post click here

So today I get to share my very first Unity post, the official announcement is on the Unity blog!
We have a blog hop..Unity Thursday blog hop!  Every Thursday we have a hop and you get to see some lovey work by the DT..lot's of inspiration, I promise!

If you are following the hop, then you should have come here from Rachel's blog and you are at the final stop on the hop, if not, I have a complete hop list below.....join the fun!

I have used Unity's March  Kit Of The Month (KOM) for the image and the sentiment is from an older release. I wanted to start with something that truly represents my work..watercoloring.  I have done some simple coloring, nothing fancy! I have also used some twinkling  H2O's for a subtle shimmer and shine.

And I have another card for you using a new release Boots, Class and Sass.

a closer look....

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway.  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog.

Unity Stamp Co - http://theunitystampco.blogspot.com/
Andrea - http://www.mystampingheaven.blogspot.com/
Jimmi - http://www.stampingwithjimmi.blogspot.com/
Shemaine - http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/ 
Stephanie - http://www.handmade75.blogspot.com/
Jolande - http://www.justjolande.blogspot.com/

Angeline - http://www.scrappyscrappy.blogspot.com/
Kassi - http://kassicreations.blogspot.com
Kris - http://www.klcardcollection.blogspot.com/
Rachel - http://www.rwkrafts.com
Swarup - http://sanketij.blogspot.com/  
..You are on your last stop...and can head back to the Unity Blog by clicking on the button above!

Thanks so much for stopping by today !

You And Me----Unity Thursday Blog Hop

Special Day

Before I get on with today's card, I have to thank each and everyone of you who left me such sweet comments on my previous post, I read each one of them and truly appreciated the time taken to leave such generous and encouraging comments.
...THANK YOU!

For my card today, I have used a recent release by Crafter's companion, the Bebunni collection. These are simply adorable and I love the size of these images!

Here are the stamps used and the deets on the SN markers.
Stamps-Bebunni, Crisalis Classics-Wedding day,
Spectrum Noir- IG1,IG2,IG3,IG4,Blender,FS1,FS3,FS4,PP1,PP3,PP5,PP6,BT7,DR1,DR6,CR1,JG1,GB6,EB2,EB3.

Stop by the Crafter's Companion USA Facebook Page for more inspiration! 

Thanks for coming by today!

 

Special Day

It's all Good - Exciting news!

 I have some really exciting news to share this Monday morning........
......I made it to the Unity Stamp Co Design Team!

It was a loooong wait ..but so worth it !

Usually, if and when I do apply for a design team call ... (I don't apply to too many since I don't like to take on more than I can deliver and kill my creativity in the process, so I restrain and limit myself to very few.) ...but when I do apply it's usually last minute, like a day or 2 before the deadline and that's because I am not the kind who can wait for results!

But when I saw the Unity call, I plunged head on not wasting a single moment  and that was almost like a month ago,which also meant that I had to wait now for a month to know if I made it or not..thankfully Feb was a bit short but still.....!

March 13th ...the D day finally rolled around! I stayed awake the previous night until 12 to see if there was a midnight post on the Unity blog...nope...ok 'maybe first thing tomorrow' I said and wished myself luck and 'tried to sleep'!

Woke up bright and early and checked ..and checked.... and refreshed.. and refreshed...no.. nay.. nothing?

I had not received an acceptance mail which just confirmed my fear that I did not make it! I moped around, drank extra cups of tea to soothe my chattering mind, consoled myself a bit that 'there was always a next time' and finally let it go with an.. 'at least I tried' !
..and let me tell you that  the 'tea' and 'tried' part do not really help much !

So 13th went by with a note by Angela, the owner of Unity and the final decision maker..so to speak.. that the she would be back soon with the new DT post...oh well...  then the choices had been made and I did not make it ..done ..time to step out and leave the computer alone so that the refresher can take a break!

14th Sat morning- shared with hubs and he said who knows, they have not annouced on the blog yet, maybe you still have a chance...hmmnn maybe! positive thinking!

14th Sat night- no announcement..no mail ... definitely out of the running ..good night!

15th Sunday morning..still thinking about it but telling my brain not to think about it anymore!

15th Sunday late afternooon- done with lunch, working with some new stamps and hear a ping ...new mail...friend request - Facebook..Angela......what! ...calm down !.... it's just a friend request..nothing more...confirm request..go to see the Unity page...scroll down ..scroll...see my work  there alongside an announcement !
...Welcome Swarup...our new DT member!!

WOW....what ...when and why did  I miss this and all this time it never occurred to me that she would have perhaps announced the new DT on Facebook and I kept checking the blog  and my mail instead...three whole days! She had been announcing the names one by one since 13th as promised and I was the last one and that was done on Sunday morning!

Was I glad to see my name?...you bet!

 So well there we go..my short ..well not so short.... story about me getting on board Unity Design Team! That's why I said earlier the wait was so so SO worth it!

Thank you so very much Angela, it's truly an honor to be a part of this company and work among the super talented girls there! I hope to do my best!

 Stamps-Unity- It's all good

 Before I let you go, here is a card using  Unity stamps..of course!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my excitement..hope I did not lose you with my super long story!

Have a wonderful week ahead!

It's all Good - Exciting news!

Happiness...

 Another Penny Black card today. I am loving the size of these slapstick stamps ..they are huge! It fills the card just perfect and little or nothing is required to add to their beauty!

 I have used a mix of coloring mediums on this image... Prisma color pencils, Spectrum Noir, and watercolors. The image is Penny Black-Giggles and the sentiment is by PTI-Movers and Shakers.

 A closer look...

Sharing with Simon Wednesday Challenge - Mother's Day/Special girl.

Have a  wonderful weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by today!

Happiness...

Bonjour!

An all marker creation today..no watercolors used...eeeeks!
...found that extremely hard to type, wait.... I shall go get a brush and some paints and sign my name at least before I start having withdrawals!

I decided to challenge myself and give my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers a complete workout! Even though I grabbed quite a few colors to achieve this look,  I was not too confident of pulling off an entire scene with just markers, especially the sky and foliage, but no..the color variety is such that it was not difficult at all. But of course I dd change the nibs on some the markers to the brush tips which made it so much easier. 

If you are wondering what I am talking about, well, the 'next generation' Spectrum Noir markers now have an option of changing the nibs. They come with a bullet end  and chisel but the bullet nib can be easily pulled out and replaced with SN brush nibs and this makes it very easy to 'flick' a foliage.

This stamp set by CC is my favorite, I love the size of these images..huge!

 A closer look at the detail....

Crafter's Companion Stamps-Sheena -A little Bit Scenic-French 50's Cafe.
Spectrum Noir-IG1,IG2,IG3,IG5,BT1,BT3,BT4, EB1,EB2,GB3,TN3,TN6,LG1,LG3,LG5,CR5,CR8,CR9,CR11,TN3,TB!,TB4,BG1,Blender,Black.

For more inspiration all week long stop by Crafter's Companion USA Facebook Page.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bonjour!