Peacock Anniversary Card

Hello, today I have made an anniversary card featuring the My Favourite Things Playful Peacock stamp and die set.

I started with a 6" square pearlescent card blank and layered some pretty paper from the MFT Tiny Hearts Pastels paper pad. Then I die cut a panel using one of the MFT Stitched Tag-Corner Rectangle dynamics and stamped a sentiment from the MFT Together Forever stamp set. The two peacocks were stamped with MFT Tropical Teal dye ink and coloured with Copic markers. I used the co-ordinating dies to cut them both out and popped them onto the panel using some foam tape for dimension.  

These stamps were lovely to work with and I have lots of ideas for using the other images in the set too. Thanks for looking.

MFT Heart Tree cards

Hello, today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I've made using the lovely Heart Tree die from My Favourite Things. I've also used their Essential Fishtail Sentiment dies, Watercolour Wash Brights paper and sentiment stamps from the Essential Sentiments and From The Heart stamp sets.

After die cutting the tree I laid some green watercolour wash paper beneath it. Then I coloured the three hearts and the tree trunk using my Copic markers and inlaid them into the spaces in the tree. The sentiments were embossed in white onto velum.

I am entering these into the My Favourite Things sketch challenge number 427. Thanks for looking.

A Mice Time To Celebrate.

Hello, I'm just popping in to share a card that I've made using the super cute My Favourite Things "A mice time to celebrate" stamp set, which was designed by the very talented Stacey Yacula. 

I featured the colours Grout Grey, Tickled Pink, Wild Wisteria and Steel Grey and I coloured the mice with matching Copic pens. The balloon shaker windows were made with the Heart Trio Shaker Window dies and co-ordinating pouches, which I backed with papers from the MFT Tiny Hearts Pastels paper pack. I used crochet thread to make the balloon strings and tied them to the mice paws with the help of a needle and a pokey tool so that I could thread them behind the bodies of the mice. I stamped the hats, gifts and the arm of the mouse on the right twice and layered them up with Pinflair glue gel for added dimension. The sentiments were heat embossed in white onto banners cut with the Stitched Fishtail Sentiment Strip dies and added to a plain banner using foam tape. 

I'm entering this card in My Favourite Things "the birthday project challenge" which this month requires the inclusion of one or more birthday presents. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Bundles of Blossoms

Happy Halloween! Today I am featuring two cards which I made using the My Favourite Things "Bundles of Blossoms background" stamp and Zig clean colour real brush markers. Although I've used the same stamp and layout for both cards, they each have a very different feel about them.

For my first card I used very vibrant colours as I am entering it into a "Shades of Halloween" colour challenge. I cut the word "hooray" twice in purple and orange card, using a My Favourite Things Die-namics die,  and layered them to give a shadow effect. The "Let's Celebrate You" sentiment is from the "More Essential Sentiments" set, also by My Favourite Things. I stamped it with Versamark ink and used Zing Apricot embossing powder to heat set it. The sentiment strip was then added to my card with some foam tape for added dimension.

My second card has a very Autumnal feel and features the "Celebrate" Die-namics by MFT and another sentiment from the "More Essential Sentiments" set. This time I used Wow! Primary Chartreuse embossing powder and layered the sentiment strip again to make it stand out from the background a bit more.

Each card was a labour of love as they took ages to colour in all the intricate details, but it was very relaxing to do and I think that the end results were worth it! 

Watercolour animal quartet cards

Hello and welcome! Today I'm sharing some more cards made with watercolour paintings which I did as part of the Simply Watercolor Online card class. Kristina Werner's example was a painting of a dog, cat, fox and tiger but I had lots of ideas for different quartets of animals and I came up with the following three cards.

My first card has two cats and two dogs and they all seem to be getting along just fine! For all three cards I started with a 6" square panel of Bockingford cold pressed watercolour paper and used my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint pans and white gouache paint.

  My second card features a hippo, a bird and a pair of sheep and I added a handwritten sentiment which reads "Hippo Birdie 2 You"! Fun right?

Finally I went with a woodland theme and painted a badger, fox, owl and a rabbit (at least that's what I intended, but I think that my rabbit looks a little mouse like). Obviously I need to practise a bit more!

Thanks for looking.

Watercoloured bird with balloons

Hello and welcome. I am currently taking Kristina Werner's Simply Watercolor Online Card Class and although we aren't using any stamps or dies, I'm really enjoying stepping outside of my comfort zone and just painting.

The lessons for day 2 are all about painting simple critters and animals. Kristina's examples are all whimsical and fun (which is just as well, as I'm hopeless at drawing really lifelike animals). For the card below I started by making a card blank from some Bockingford cold pressed watercolour paper, taped it to my board and painted directly onto it using my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint pans. Extra details and the sentiment were added with a fine black PITT artist pen and my cute little bird is now ready to wing his way to one of my friends!

Thanks for looking. 

Watercolour word block - SNOW.

Well this must be a record for me as this is my seventh post for today! Also, this is the very first Christmas card that I have made this year - I just need to make the rest before the last minute now!

I am currently participating in the Simply Watercolor Online Card Class, where guest artist Julie Ebersole inspired me to make four different variations of her card example. For my final card in this series I chose the word SNOW and painted it using Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints. I then added snow flakes and drifting snow using Winsor & Newton white Gouache. I outlined the letters with a silver POSCA paint pen and added the rest of the sentiment with a fine black PITT artist pen. I took a white card blank and added a row of silver glitter tape at the top and bottom, before adhering my painted panel with foam tape for added dimension.

I love the added texture that the white Gouache gives! The photo below shows all four cards in this series - and I have ideas for several more in future. They were so much fun to paint - and not a stamp in sight!

Thank you for looking and I hope that you will forgive me for the post overload today!

Watercolour word block - HOME

Hello and welcome back - this is my sixth post for today!

The card below was created for the Simply Watercolor Online card Class. I followed guest tutor Julie Ebersole's lesson video and then painted the word HOME in a block, using my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paints. I added lots of individual bricks and mortar, a grey roof shape and painted some of the spaces a pale blue colour to represent windows. The sentiment and outlining of the large letters was done using sepia and black PITT artist pens by Faber Castell.

This was one of my favourite cards to paint as I loved all the details! I have one further post to follow with a similarly themed Christmas card. Thanks for looking.

Watercolour word block - CAKE

Welcome back for my fifth post today!

I am currently taking the Simply Watercolor Online Card Class where guest artist Julie Ebersole has created a card with a word block, using a wet on wet painting technique. Following my first simple example I decided to do another, more elaborate version, with added texture and smaller additional  illustrated details. I chose the word CAKE and went to town using my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolour paints. Again the letters are edged with a silver POSCA paint pen and additional lettering was added with a Faber Castell fine black PITT artist pen.

I layered the finished panel onto pink and then yellow card, added some narrow pink glitter tape to a white card blank then added the layered panel to complete my card.

Thanks for looking. Check out my next post for details of another "altered" word block card :)

Watercolour word block - LOVE

Hello again - yes, you are not seeing things, this is my fourth post for today!

I am currently taking the Simply Watercolor Online Card Class and the first day's lessons are covering Patterns and Backgrounds. Guest designer Julie Ebersole created a card with the four lettered word FAVE painted in a block, using a wet on wet painting technique. For my first attempt I decided to use the word LOVE and my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint pans. The letters are edged with a silver POSCA paint pen and additional lettering added with a Faber Castell fine black PITT artist pen.

I could see so much potential for this type of card and so I ended up making a further three cards in a similar style (but with added details).  Further posts to follow!