It's Your Day

Inspiration often comes at unexpected times and when that happens, I’ve learned that it’s a good idea to pay attention.  On the way to bed last night, I all-of-a-sudden wondered what a rainbow-colored wooden fence would look like.  This morning, I found out . . .

 

 . . . a few of these in our neighborhoods  and I think we’d all be a little more cheerful, don’t you?

Cardstock:                        Marcos Jute, Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:                            Hero Designer Woodgrain, Stampin’ Up “It’s Your Day”
                                              PSX Mesh Texture
Inks:                                  Distress Chipped Sapphire, Dusty Concord, Festive Berries,
                                             Mowed Lawn, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed, Brushed Corduroy
Emb Powder:                   Vippies Transcendence
Emb Folder:                     Sizzix Honeycomb
Dies/Punches:                 MemoryBox Tall Birch, Resting Birds, JustRite Tag Charm
Doo Dads:                        Maya Jute

 

Discover

This card stared out to be a Father’s Day endeavor, but I took a little detour with the lacy die cut.  Then, when the pearls and beads started to look like a good idea, I began to perceive that we had moved from the Guy Card genre to something a little more feminine . . .

 

 . . . and if you haven’t played with Gelatos yet, you’re missing out!  For this card, I heat-embossed the Waves pattern in white, scribbled (yes, scribbled) various blue and green Gelatos over the embossing, misted with water, blended with my finger, and let dry.  I then rubbed with a paper towel to restore the white embossing.  Easy, fun, and super-quick cleanup:  what’s not to like?

 Cardstock:                        Generic textured Turquoise, Navy, watercolor paper

Stamps:                            Judikins Waves, Bamboo from Local King Chinese Flowers 2 Detail,
                                               Appaloosa “Discover”
Inks:                                  ColorBox Frost White, Gelatos Crayons Blues, Greens,
                                              VersaFine Majestic Blue, Ancient Page Deep Harbor
Emb Powder:                   Judikins Detail White
Dies/Punches:                 Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace Pattern, Spellbinders Labels 20,
                                              Local King Chinese Flowers 2 Detail Bamboo die
Doo Dads:                        Pearls, beads

Celebrate the USA

As with last year’s Fourth of July card, I had me some fun with USPS Bulk Mail postage stamps.  These wonderful little works of highly graphic art are easy to collect as they fill my mailbox frequently throughout the year . . .

 

 . . . some of these stamps arrive cancelled, but for some unknown reason, the Post Office usually doesn’t bother with that step, so most of these are pristine and ready for recycled use another day!

 Cardstock:                       Generic White, Bazzill Admiral, Wausau Fire Cracker Red

Stamps:                            Stampin’ Up “Celebrate”
Inks:                                  ColorBox Frost White, Distress Weathered Wood, Gelly Roll Clear Star
Emb Powder:                   Judikins Opaque White
Emb Folder:                     Tim Holtz Americana Background
Dies/Punches:                 Spellbinders Labels Twenty, Banner Basics 3, EK Success Postage Stamp
Doo Dads:                        US Bulk Mail Postage Stamps

It's Your Day

I had fun with this card, although my coloring “skills” are probably best described as attempts . . .

 

 

While not  very obvious in the picture, five of the birds have been cut five times with the Memory Box Resting Birds die, stacked and glued together, and then pop-dotted for just a smidge more dimension.  This may sound excessive, but when working with such small images that are black in color and placed against a mostly dark surface, extraordinary measures are often called for . . .

Cardstock:                        Bazzill Copen Blue, White, watercolor paper

Stamps:                            Local King Birds of a Feather, Too Much Fun “It’s your day”
Inks:                                  Distress Stains Fired Brick, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire
                                               ColorBox Black, Archival Jet Black, Perfect Pearls Pewter Mist
Emb Powder:                   Judikins Detail Black
Dies/Punches:                 Fiskars Cloud (2 sizes), Memory Box Resting Birds

Dream

Thanks to a recent post by Jennifer McGuire, I’ve finally hit on a water coloring technique that makes me look like I actually know what I am doing!  Below is my very first attempt at it, and while more practice is certainly in the works, I thought the results looked good enough to turn into a card . . . I’ll bet yours would too!
 

Go HERE  and scroll down to her April 19 post.  Watch the eleven- minute video on how to use Distress Markers and a waterbrush (or a regular one) to easily turn out lovely art with a real watercolor look.  You will love it!  If you’ve ever shied away from doing watercolor because you thought you lacked sufficient skills, resist no more:  your time has come . . . BIG time! 

 A HUGE thanks to Jennifer for coming up with this method and to Tim Holtz for making these fabulous markers happen in the first place . . .

Cardstock:                        Bazzill Bling Puppy Love, White, Admiral

Stamps:                            Paper Parachute Lilies, Appaloosa “Dream”
Inks:                                  Distress Markers Pine Needles, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky,
                                             Dusty Concord
Emb Powder:                   Judikins Opaque White
Dies/Punches:                 Wplus9 Label Trio, 1/8” Corner Rounder
Doo Dads:                        Purple, blue, white, crystal beads, navy & white brads
 

Dakota

When my dear friend Sandy’s well-loved 12 year old dog Dakota had to be put down recently, a sympathy card was certainly called for . . .

 

 . . . I suppose there are some folks out there who think that sending a card for the loss of a pet is a little over the top.  Thankfully, I’ve never met anyone who feels that way and I hope I never do.

Cardstock:                        Marcos Jute, Beckett Moonlight, Generic Black

Stamps:                            The Creative Mode Paw Print, CC Rubber Stamps Fibers
Inks:                                  Archival Jet Black
Dies/Punches:                 Spellbinders Grommet Tags, Alpha letters from Hero & DieVersions
Impression Plate:           Cheery Lynn Cheesecloth
Embossing Folder:          Darice Argyle    
Doo Dads:                        Dog bone charm, 1/8” rounded corner punch, deckle scissors,
                                              1/8” brown, black ribbons

Imagine

My middle brother loves hummingbirds so this is going to be his card this year. . .

 

I wanted the bird to have some iridescence and knew that Twinkling H2O’s was the best way to get the look I was after.  But I wanted more color saturation then those transparent colors provide, so I painted the bird first with Distress markers to lay down some color.  Then I used similar shades of Twinkling H2O’s as a top coat.  It worked, although the camera has once again devoured the luscious gleam those lovely paints provide.

Cardstock:                        Bazzill Medium Blue, Light Blue, Beckett Iceberg,

                                              Generic Burgundy scrap (for the leaves)
Stamps:                            Memory Box Simple Hummingbird, Tim Holtz Stuff to Say
Inks:                                  ColorBox Black, Gelly Roll Clear Star, Distress Stormy Sky
Markers:                           Distress Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Aged Mahogany, Peeled Paint
Paint:                                Twinkling H2O’s Key Lime, Ocean Wave, Fuzzy Peach
Emb Powder:                   Judikins Detail Black
Dies/Punches:                 Memory Box Simple Hummingbird, Impression Obsession Bare Branch

Great Grad

The lovely granddaughter of a long-time friend graduated from the Virginia Commonwealth University last month . . .

 

 . . . Emily is a stamper and when she came up North to NJ to visit her grandmother, she’d squeeze in some time to come over to my house and we’d have fun getting our pinkies inky together.  She is a real artist and I do believe she wound up teaching me more than I ever did her.  Good times!

Cardstock:         Generic Purple, Beckett Iceberg

Stamps:              Stampin’ Up “To a Great Grad”, Gotcha Large Elegant Word Background,
                                PSX Diploma  
Inks:                    Distress Dusty Concord, ColorBox Frost White, Copic W3 Warm Grey,
                                 Gelly Roll Clear Star   
Emb Powder:    Judikins Opaque White 
Dies/Punches:   Spellbinders Labels 8, Simon Says Folded Banner, DieVersions
                                  Hint of Lime alphabet             
Doo Dads:          Lilac tassel