Splashes of Watercolor

Can you see the dirt?? An explanation will follow shortly!

Today’s Wacky Wednesday challenge is brought to you by none other than TexasGrammy herself, Miss Bev!!  Her challenge to us was to “heat it up!”  In other words, to use our heat tool.

My intentions were to heat and curl this May Arts ribbon, but no matter what I tried it wouldn’t work!  Who ever heard of heat-proof ribbon??  Ppppfffft!  So since the card was already assembled (with a piece of this ribbon already attached behind the main image), what was I to do?  Like Horton says, I thought and I thought.  Then it hit me!  I would use Ranger Distress embossing powder for the dirt pile!  So maybe there is a silver lining to every cloud, because I actually like this idea a lot better than the first!

Here’s my dirty card:

There is also dirt on both of the flower pots, because even though you’re supposed to, I almost never clean mine thoroughly before using them again.

I did end up using the ribbon for a bow, and added a Prima flower and button tied with linen thread to it.

Head over to the Rubbernecker blog for all the details on the challenge and for links to all the designers’ samples too!  I hope you’ll play along with us!  There’s a chance to win a 40% off gift certificate for your next purchase at Rubbernecker!!!

Thanks so much for coming by to visit!  Hope to see you again soon!

• Stamps: Watering Can Spring Scene (139-03), Screen background (452)
• Paper: Prism Simply Smooth white, chocolate chip, Basic Grey Marrakech 6×6 pad, PTI aqua mist
• Ink: Memento -tuxedo black, PTI aqua mist
  
• Other: Copic markers, May Arts ribbon (BS38), corner rounder punch, heat gun, Ranger Distress embossing powder - tea dye, foam tape, Prima flower, button, linen thread, Wonder tape

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

Any day now, my younger daughter is expecting her first daughter, my first granddaughter!  They’ve chosen a name, but won’t tell me, or anybody for that matter.  How rude!  LOL!

When it came to deciding what gift to present to the new little one, I started a search of all my favorite blogs and art sites.  Of course the gift would be hand made!  I had noticed several different examples and styles of paper butterflies on canvas and I loved the “free” look of them.  The one that comes to mind first is one I saw on Amy’s blog Prairie Paper & Ink HERE.  Ali Edwards also showed one on her blog HERE.  So I decided that I wanted to do one for “Baby Girl”.

When the nursery color theme and bedding was chosen (Sumersault Lauren  from Babies ‘R Us)…..

I set out to find the perfect papers to use for the butterflies.  I could NOT find any patterned paper that suited me, so I decided to use 4 different shades of my beautiful Prism textured cardstock.  When the butterflies were cut or punched out, I stamped some of my new background stamps from Rubbernecker on them using Adirondack inks and Versamark, then heat embossed them.  Here’s the result:

The canvas was covered with Gesso first.  Then I mixed a small amount of acrylic paint with more Gesso and randomly brushed it on to provide some visual relief from the stark white canvas.  It’s as close as I could get to an exact match for the nursery’s wall color.

All of the butterflies were spritzed with a mix of Perfect Pearls and water using a Mini Mister before being attached to the canvas using Ranger Crystal Effects.  Here’s a close up:

• Stamps: Grid (451), French Script (448), Abstract Floral (450)
• Paper: Prism: Frosted Cobalt, Vibrant Cobalt, Herbal Garden Light, Herbal Garden Medium
• Ink: Adirondack inks: Cool Peri, Juniper; Versamark
  
• Other: 16 x 20 canvas, Gesso, paint brush, Plaid Folk Art acrylic paint: French Blue, Night Sky; SU Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, clear EP, Ranger Mini-Mister, Perfect Pearls, Ranger Glossy Accents
  

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WAIT…..THERE’S MORE:

Of course I had to make a card to accompany the gift, but I decided not to use more butterflies for it.

I’ve had this Baby Buttercup stamp from Stamping Bella for a while and it’s just been waiting for the right moment to jump into my hand!  This must have been it!

I used the same Prism textured cardstock as for the butterflies canvas and added a piece of patterned paper from the Nana’s Nursery - Baby Boy pad from DCWV.

The image was stamped on white cardstock, colored with Copics, and cut out.  I stamped it on the cobalt layer as well.  The flower, leaves and baby are all popped up on foam tape.  The tiny flower and sentiment are from the Fiskars Baby stamps set, and are stamped and colored directly on the frosted cobalt layer.  The ribbon is May Arts, available currently by the roll from Rubbernecker, but also available by the yard starting on April 21st.

That’s it for now!  If you’ve stayed with me through this entire post, I truly appreciate it!  And I’ll definitely be posting to let you know when that sweet little pink bundle arrives!

• Stamps: Baby Buttercup - Stamping Bella, Fiskars Baby Stamp Set
  
• Paper: Prism: white, Frosted Cobalt, Vibrant Cobalt, Herbal Garden Medium, Nana’s Nursery Baby Boy - DCWV
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black
  
• Other: Labels One Nestabilities die, Wizard, SU scallop punch, May Arts ribbon, button, linen thread, CB Swiss Dots folder, foam tape, wonder tape, Copic markers:

Items on both projects available from Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

We’re revealing 6 new sets today at Rubbernecker.  And they are amazing!  The new set that I’m revealing is called Wildflowers. And I absolutely love it!  I was in heaven coloring, cutting and popping up all the adorable little flowers!  My favoritest (new word!) thing to do!  Here’s what the set looks like:

Don’tcha love it??

Now here’s the full card:

A view from the side, showing the inside of the card and all the popped up dimension of the flowers:

And just look at the gorgeous May Arts ribbon!  I can’t get enough of this luscious stuff!!  It’s currently available by the roll at Rubbernecker, and will be available by the yard on April 21st.

****The Rubbernecker blog stroll is now officially over!  Thank you so much to everyone who participated.  Winners will be announced on the Rubbernecker Blog  a little later today.  

Ready to get in on the fun??  Here you go~

Stroll along with the Rubbernecker Red Hot Mommas.  The Stroll starts at the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog where you will find the rules on how to win one of the sets being revealed or even possibly the GRAND PRIZE.  If you haven’t started at the Rubbernecker Stamps Blog, you should go there now in order not to miss anything!  In order to win the set revealed on my blog today, you must leave a comment on this post.  A random number will be drawn on Friday, 12:00 Noon.

Here is my phrase clue for the GRAND PRIZE:  into.  To find the next clue, stroll over to Candy’s blog.  But remember, you need to START at the  Rubbernecker Stamps Blog in order to collect ALL of the clues.

Thanks for stopping by!  Now go STROLL!

• Stamps: Wildflowers (465)
  
• Paper: Simply Smooth White, Frosted Amethyst, Razzleberry Light - Prism, Rob & Bob 12×12 slab
  
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Adirondack - eggplant
  
• Other: May Arts ribbon, mega nestabilities - curved rectangles, button, rhinestone stickers, white DMC floss, glue dots (for purple & yellow flowers), foam tape (for pink & green flowers), wonder tape (for bow & buttons), Copic markers:

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

Today is another Wacky Wednesday at the Rubbernecker Blog.  The lovely and talented Linda Duke is our hostess today and she’s  chosen a color challenge - to use pink and lilac.  Perfect spring colors!!

How about some more Easter fun??  I’m finally completing Easter cards for all the grandkids.  Between me and George, we have 6, so it takes a little while!

Last week you saw 3 cards for kids that I created.  This week I have 3 more.  These 3 are using brand new stamps from Rubbernecker Stamp Company that are being released tomorrow!   You’re going to love the great variety and quality of these new releases!!  I can’t wait for you to see them!  Tomorrow is the BLOG STROLL.  We figured since most of us are a little older, we’d stroll instead of hop!

And here are some individual photos (click to see them larger):

Aren’t these inchie images darling??  I had so much fun coloring them.

The cards themselves are quite simple; I used the largest of the large petite oval Nestabilities to cut them, then cut just a tiny sliver off of the bottoms so they would stand on their own.  The patterned paper was punched on each edge with a Martha Stewart doily lace border punch.  Each of the inchies was mounted on a slightly larger piece of Prism paper, then these were mounted with foam tape to a contrasting strip of Prism.

Thank you for stopping by to visit today!  Please hop on over to the Rubbernecker Blog for all the details from Linda on the challenge.  And we’d love for you to play along with us too!

• Stamps: Easter Inchies (436), sentiment from Flower Silhouettes (467) - both being released tomorrow, April 9, by Rubbernecker Stamp Co.
  
• Paper: Simply Smooth White, Frosted Amethyst, Iced Azalea, Razzleberry Light (Prism), Rob & Bob 12×12 slab
  
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Versafine - onyx black, SU almost amethyst & pink pirouette
• Other: large petite oval Nestabilities, Martha Stewart doily lace border punch, 1″ punch, foam mounting tape, Copic markers:

Items available from Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

What’s the most versatile stamp you can own???  Why a background stamp, of course!  You can use it so many different ways and it can look completely different each time.

Today Rubbernecker is releasing 7, count ‘em, 7 new background stamps.  Check it out HERE!!

So to celebrate, our Wacky Wednesday challenge for you is to use a background or border stamp on your card.  When you upload it, link the card itself directly back to today’s post on the Rubbernecker blog.

I’ve chosen to use the Loose Weave background stamp.  It just reminds me so much of spring grass that I used it on yet another Easter card!  And it’s been awhile since I played along with the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch, so I incorporated that too.  This week is Kazan’s sketch 23.

I’ve also used some of my new Prism papers and May Arts ribbon (available April 6) from Rubbernecker!  How yummy!  I’m having a great time with all these new goodies!!

You can get all the details here on this week’s challenge and how you can win a gift certificate for 25% off your next Rubbernecker order.  Be sure to also follow the links to the other design team members’ blogs in order to see all the wonderful creations using the new background stamps!

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I know I’m the last one to mention our Rubbernecker Texas trip, but I’m really still recovering from all the fun and lack of sleep!!  What a group of wild and wonderful people!  I  feel like we’re all just one big happy family!  Couldn’t ask for a better one, that’s for sure!  Here are a few pictures that I had a chance to snap (click to see them larger):

Thanks for visiting today, people!  Now be sure to head over to the Rubbernecker blog for Wacky Wednesday and links to all the beautiful new background stamps!

• Stamps: Loose Weave background stamp (449), Happy Easter (1769E)
• Paper: Prism papers: Iced Yellow, Intense Kiwi, Baby Blue Medium
  
• Ink: Versafine - onyx black, ColorBox chalk ink - Lime Pastel, Olive Pastel
• Other: May Arts ribbon, sewing machine, SU scallop punch, Martha Stewart frond punch, silk flowers, corner rounder punch, glue dots, pearl stickers

Items available from Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

Hi everyone!  It’s time for Wacky Wednesday #4 and I’m your hostess this week!

My challenge to you is to create an Easter card for a child.  That should be an easy one!  I have several really cute Rubbernecker Easter images and decided to make a trio of children’s cards.   This is my Little Lamb card.

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Isn’t she cute?

All of the cards use the same layout, colors, papers and embellishments.  Basically the only thing different is the image.

This made it easy for me to create the 3 cards almost as quickly as one would have taken.  Except for the image coloring time, of course!

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Here are my other 2 cards:

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We would love for you to play along in the challenge with us this week! Just upload your Easter card to your blog or favorite online gallery and link it to today’s post on the Rubbernecker blog.  You’ll have a chance to win a 25% off coupon for your next purchase!

Check out what the talented design team members have created today:

• Bev Gerard (Tex)
• Candy Williams
• Joan Ervin
• Juliana Swanson
• Kittie Caracciolo
• Linda Duke
• Shelly Kuck
• Sherry Cheever
• Tami Mayberry

Thanks for joining me today!

• Stamps: Little Lamb (338-18), Hatching Chick (302-03), Bunny Atop Egg (302-10), Happy Easter (1768D)
  
• Paper: white, certainly celery, groovy guava, cameo coral, Nana’s Nursery Baby Girl (DCWV)
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Versafine - onyx black, Adirondack - willow
  
• Other: branch and arch lattice punches, ink blending tool, oval Nestabilities, white Tulip puffy paint, buttons, cotton thread, ribbons, Copic markers:

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

Woo hoo!  It’s Wacky Wednesday, y’all!  What’s Wacky about it?  Well, each week one of the Rubbernecker designers will be presenting you with a different challenge.  And you never know what it’s going to be!  What fun!!

This week it’s Ms. Kittie’s turn.  She’s asked us to make a card with a fold that’s different from the norm.  Be sure to check out her designer introduction HERE.  What a cutie she is!!

I was going to make a gate fold card - wouldn’t that be just perfect with a gate image?  Well, it just wouldn’t work for me, so I opted for one of my favorite alternate folds - a Rose Ann Reynolds flap card.  She wrote an excellent tutorial HERE.  Thanks, Rose Ann!  These cards never fail to impress whomever receives them!

The only thing I altered with this card is the flap itself.  Instead of using a scalloped circle on the flap, I used the leaves image from the Kittie Kit - Master #1 to form a tree overhanging the gate. The image is the perfect shape of a hanging branch, but I think it would also make a beautiful bunch of grapes.  (Hmmm, I’ll have to try that too!)

Be sure to visit the Rubbernecker design team’s blogs to see their alternate fold cards:

• Bev Gerard (Tex)
• Candy Williams
• Joan Ervin
• Juliana Swanson
• Kittie Caracciolo
• Linda Duke
• Shelly Kuck
• Sherry Cheever
• Tami Mayberry

And we hope you’ll join us in the challenge.  You have a great chance of winning 25% off your next Rubbernecker order!  Check out all the details HERE.  And link your creation to today’s Rubbernecker blog post using Mister Linky.

Let’s see your folds, girls (and guys)!!!

Thanks for visiting!

• Stamps: Garden Gate (354-02), grass & leaves from Kittie Kit - Master #1
• Paper: white, cameo coral
• Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, Adirondack - willow, lettuce, pesto
• Other: Eclipse tape, coluzzle, Sakura clear glaze pen, Basic Grey magnetic snaps, ribbon, Copic markers:

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

We had about an inch of snow this past weekend.  Don’t laugh!  That’s a little less than our annual average!  Even though our weather isn’t as harsh as other places, I’m already tired of the cold.  So since it’s my week to host the Color Throwdown challenge, I decided to choose some soft spring colors to at least make me feel like the warm weather is on it’s way!

This is more of a “scrappy” card, because I only used one stamp and instead relied on other elements, or embellishments, to provide the interest.  What do you think?  Is it interesting enough?

The butterfly is part of a discounted package I found at Hobby Lobby and I didn’t realize until I got it home that some of the butterflies had flock on them.  Cool!  Here’s a closer look (click on it to see it REALLY close up):

We’d love for you to participate in the color challenge with us!  Just upload your card using the chosen (or similar) colors to either your blog or favorite online gallery.  Then link the card (not just your blog) to today’s Color Throwdown post using Mister Linky.

You can check out the other designers’ creations for some inspiration here:

• Barbara Anders
• Cathy Indelicato
• Danielle Kennedy
• LeAnne Pugliese
• Tammy Hershberger

Thanks for stopping by!  Have you checked out the new and improved Rubbernecker challenge yet?  It’s called Wacky Wednesday and we’re really gonna have some fun!

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Stamps: Believe in Your Dreams (2340G)

Paper: barely banana, regal rose, rose red, Two Scoops 6×6 pad (Basic Grey), {note}worthy spiral notebook (Making Memories)

Ink: rose red marker

Other: sewing machine, buttons (Basic Grey), chipboard butterfly (Amanda Blu), Distress Stickles - scattered straw (Ranger), flower(Prima), chipboard shape (the Paper Studio), ribbons

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

I’m making this a quick and short post!  I’ve tried for a couple of weeks now to get in an entry for Taylor’s TECC challenges and have always missed the deadline.  I’m cutting it close this week, but I think I’m going to make it!

This Rubbernecker iris is paper pieced, both with a second image stamped on white and colored with Copic markers and with  an image stamped on DP and shaded with Copics.

Here’s Taylor’s sketch - TECC57:

And here’s my Paper Pieced Iris card:

Thanks for the great sketch, Taylor!

Please come back Wednesday for the Color Throwdown challenge and for the NEW Rubbernecker Wacky Wednesday challenge!

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Stamps: Iris (3010-M) - Stamp Oasis from Rubbernecker

Paper: white, black, Basic Grey Lilykate 6×6 pad, DCWV Nana’s Nursery Baby Boy 6×6 pad

Ink: Memento - tuxedo black

Other: oval nestabilities, black rhinestone stickers, ribbon, corner rounder punch, horizontal slot punch, foam mounting tape, Copic markers:

Items available at Rubbernecker Stamp Co.

I decided to visit Splitcoast this morning to see who was selected to join the Dirty Dozen this month.  Woo hoo!  Such great choices!  What, you haven’t checked it out yet?  You really should!  If you’re not a Fan Club member, you just don’t know what you’re missing!  Check out how to join HERE.

My card today is for the Featured Stamper challenge FS106 .  Julie’s gallery is wonderful!  I really had a hard time choosing which card to CASE, but finally decided on this one.

As you can see, I kept the leaves theme and also used shades of green.  I changed the layout a little and threw in some black, white, and yellow to liven the card up a little.  I just love the Making Memories spiral journaling book (this one is called 5th Avenue) and love the way the pages work on card fronts.

I tried one thing on this card with my Copic markers that I haven’t tried before.  After I shaded around the flower with my warm greys (W1 and W3), I went back over the shading with the lightest colors used in the flower and stems.  I think it gives the flower a  little glow and makes the small image appear a little larger.  The colors I used were Y00 for around the flower and G20 around the leaves.  If you click on the photo and make it larger, you can see the effect a little better.

Well, I have to head out the door to do some birthday shopping for my older daughter.  Don’t forget today’s the last day to comment on THIS POST to be entered to win the new Kit the Kat set from Our Craft Lounge.

I’ll be back later to announce the winner!

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Stamps: Dream a Little (Stampin’ Up)

Paper: white, certainly celery, old olive, black, 5th Avenue spiral journaling book (Making Memories)

Ink: Memento - tuxedo black, certainly celery

Other: long rectangle Nestabilities dies, glue dots, ribbon, foam mounting tape, CB Leafy Branch folder, sponge dabber, Copic markers: