cardmarker, artist, mother of three, crafty
Lately, I have been thinking about how grateful I am for my family. How blessed I am to be apart of this world and the community that I live in. Lawn Fawn featured a special stamp set called, “Say What? Masked Critters”. My family is essential. People wearing masking are essential. I am hopeful that we will get past this pandemic together.
Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you. Happy Thursday!
Every two week, Lawn Fawn features a challenge. Each challenge has a theme. For challenge number 92 the theme was, “Happy Occasions”. I originally made this card for a very special teacher. Mrs.B taught my youngest daughter in the first grade. Just to give you an idea of how special Mrs.B is, my youngest daughter is a 6th grader now, and we communicate with one another, five years later. Since then Mrs.B has moved to another state but to my daughter she is still a very special person in her life. Mrs.B recently had a son. The timing coordinated with the theme so I entered the card in Lawn Fawn’s challenge. Below is the picture of my card that was entered.
I want to congratulate all the other winners. Lawn Fawn has a strong following with artists from around the world. The cards that were featured in the challenge were pretty epic. In addition, I also want to thank Lawn Fawn for posting my card.
In the meantime, the card is in the mail in the hopes of making someone feel special!
Happy Wednesday!
Carol
My oldest daughter turned 17 this month. I had colored the card and finished it and was placing the final touches when I moved my hand over an image. The black ink wasn’t completely dried and I ended up smearing the ink over the image. I thought to myself, I can still save this card, so I decided to cut out the images and glue them to blue crafting foam. I added Simon Says Stamp Mini Stars to spruce it up. In addition, I also included Lawn Fawn’s Quinn’s 123’s to show that the card was telling a story of critters celebrating a 17th birthday. Its a cute card trying to convince myself! But in my heart it wasn’t what I had planned.
I love to color so starting over isn’t a big deal. Here is the second card for my oldest daughter’s birthday!
What I learned from this experience is that you can create a different cards with one stamp set. I like both of them so I will give them to my oldest. Happy Birthday B-Girl!
Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you. Happy Thursday!
Today’s card features Lawn Fawn’s Special Delivery Stamp set and Magic Iris Birdhouse Add-on. I used the Large Slimline set but extended it so the length of the owl and box of bird plus the bird house would look portional. The bird house needed to be anchored and not floating in the school so I took the liberty and added grass and mushrooms.
The birdhouse itself is embossed with Hero Arts Gratitude Background. The focus the owl so the birdhouse did not need to be a distraction, yet the added background gave the birdhouse texture.
The card is for a really special person who just had their first child. We are sending this person lots of love. The hearts are from Simon Says Stamp Heart Breeze die cut. Using Wink of Stella, to add sparkle to each of the hearts. In addition, to add shine I used Glossy Accents on each of the hearts.
Affiliated links use when possible at no cost to you. Happy Tuesday!
Happy Holidays! My youngest daughter made me a card for me and I thought I would share it. I love the simplicity of it. (The thoughtfulness and creativity that was applied.) Yes I am one of those moms that saves everything that my kids make. 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Stay safe and healthy. See you in the New Year!
Recently my middle sister asked what set of watercolors should she buy her daughter for Christmas. I have a couple of suggestions. Before I make a recommendation, I would like my niece to understand the science behind watercolor because it will make using them a lot easier. According to Britannica, watercolors are a combination of pigment and ground gum arabic. Gum arabic is used as a binding agent. If not enough binder is used your watercolor will be difficult to rewet and pick up color. Too much binder used they will be soft and delicate. Some watercolors are translucent while others are opaque.
When using watercolor, start with the light colors first, then use dark colors. The clerk at Blicks art supply store, likened watercolors to an onion, layers on layers of watercolors make a watercolor painting, like the layers of an onion make an onion. Waiting for your colors to dry is essential.
Depending on the project, most people start out with a basic set. I like Schmincke because the colors are rich. But as a student, I used anything from Crayola watercolors to Daniel Smith watercolors. The cardmaking industry promotes different brands depending on the card marker’s level of watercolor experience. One cardmaker likes Mission Gold Watercolors while another Cardmaker may use Kuretake. I have both sets , Mission and Kuretake, and use them for different reasons. Depending on the subject I will pick a brand. The card that I am show casing was made with a 12 colors set from Schmincke. Schmincke, is my favorite, and expensive. However in previous posts I have recommended handmade watercolor, like Hydra Colour or Case For Making. As you begin to work with watercolors sometimes you begin to look for certain hues that only handmade watercolors can give you. Artists that make handmade watercolors put along of time in creating a formula that gives watercolors certain hues. I like adding handmade watercolors to my Schmincke set.
I took a class with Alexa from Case For Making to further my understanding of watercolors. I also ordered from Kremer a watercolor set for producing watercolors paint to make my own watercolor. In the Kremer kit you had to ground the arbic gum well to mix with the pigment and water. Jane Davenport sells a watercolor kit too which you make half pans of watercolor. Jane adds distilled water and mixes the pigment. However, Jane suggests adding vegetable glycerin and clove essential oil mostly for rewetting reasons and mold reasons. Jane has dubbed her watercolor pigments, as ‘fairy dust’ which is illustrative of who Jane is and her brand. I enjoy using Jane Davenports brand because her line is geared toward the liking of women’s makeup.
There are artists who specialize in one medium. I have a general understanding for watercolor and can use it well. There are website you should look into to get more information regarding watercolors. I am writing this post mainly to help my middle sister out. If you have any questions, please feel free to write using the comment section below.
Happy Friday! Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you.
Lawn Fawn’s color inspiration challenge as been on my mind and I keep thinking how can I meet this challenge. The design team from Lawn Fawn have chosen a set of colors and your challenge is to use those colors in a card. As I was going through my stamp sets from Lawn Fawn and the Beary Happy Holidays stood out because the bear is iceskating.
The bear figure illustrated on the front and the back which lends itself to a ‘twirly’ card. I used white thread and taped it to the front side of the bear. After glueing the back, I used medical take to secure the thread to the card. The card can sit by itself.
I used small blue balls in the window to make it look like water. They are from a company called Queen & Co. Link is included to make it easier to find. Thats it- I enjoyed making cards as well as painting.
Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you. Happy Wednesday!
I was watching Nichole Sphor’s YouTube channel while I was jogging. (a mom’s life is all about multi-tasking) Long story short, Nichole was featuring cards about inlay die cuts but what I liked most about her cards were the layers that she applied to make the card interesting.
Here is my take on layering cards: Using Simon Says Stamp Holiday Background with their Audrey Blue ink I began the first layer with stamping the background image. To add some texture, I embossed Lawn Fawn’s Snowflake Trio Stencil and added white embossing powder. Typically you see cardmakers cut out a circle right in the middle but I thought “Why not place the circle die cut to the left a little so you can see more of the snowflake stencil?” I glued on the acetate to the back of the first layer to cover the circle cut out . This gave me a window, in which I glued on the Picture Book Deer. The words, ‘Season’s Greetings’ are from Simon Says Stamp, to give the words dimension I glued white foam. To make the the words look like they had snow on top of it, I brushed on SS White Pigment Ink using Picket Fence Studio brushes. The snowflake sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh.
One last thing: to get a matching paper to surround the shaker card, I used a Copic Marker (BG 49 Duck Blue)to match Simon Says Stamp Audrey Blue ink. By doing that, it gave a more unifying look to the card.
Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you. Happy Monday!
Having dedicated this blog to making cards, I would like to raise awareness and contribute as much as possible to a good cause. It is Christmas time, and we are in the middle of a pandemic. People are struggling, Taylor Saleem is a silversmith jeweler who I have admired for a long time. A couple of days ago Taylor posted that she wanted DO something helpful this season. Her dad (to help) has been donating groceries to the Food Bank. The number of people waiting in line for food at the local food bank was devastating. Taylor decided to do a raffle with the help of several Instagram artists, starting Monday, December 14th. Better World will be selling raffle tickets for $5.  BetterWorld.org provides free fundraising tools to bring local businesses and nonprofits together on the same platform. All proceeds will be donated to Feeding America.
Three small paintings will be included in the raffle, 4 by 4 acrylic.
You can purchase tickets here:https://arttofeedamerica.betterworld.org/events/arttofeedamerica
Can I purchase a ticket for a specific prize?
– No. Winners AND prizes will be chosen randomly. But be assured you’ll be getting something AMAZING!
Will prizes be shipped before Christmas?
– No. Each item will be most likely be shipped from its hard-working artist AFTER Christmas. Combined with already chaotic package delivery times means your prize will likely arrive after the holiday rush.
Do I need to follow all the artists to win?
– It’s not a requirement, but it is HIGHLY recommended. These are incredibly gifted, giving, authentic humans, well worth the follow.Â
Where is my money going?
– Payments are processed through BetterWorld.org and will deposited via Taylor Saleem Jewelry. A receipt for your ticket purchase will be emailed from BetterWorld. As the sponsor of this event, Taylor will donate ALL ticket sales directly to Feeding America.
Is there a limit to the number of tickets I can purchase?
– Nope! Purchase as many as you would like, but remember you can only win ONE of the incredible prizes. Better ask your family to buy tickets, too.
Do I need to pay shipping if I win?
– Nope. The artists will cover that. Remember that this is a high-volume time for shippers, and your prizes won’t arrive until after Christmas.
I can’t buy many tickets. Is there another way I can help?
– HECK YES! Tag your friends in the comments! Share the raffle link in you stories! Save posts about the raffle – the algorithm thinks it makes a post more important. Follow the participating artists and thank them for their donation. Take any extra canned goods and non-perishable food items to your local food pantry.
There are other incredible artist who are participating in the raffle.
Here is the list: to see the items listed click here
To visit each artist Instagram page click on their name below.
Bee necklace – Jonesing for Jewelry
Kitchen Measurements Cutting Board – The Homebody Society
Fringed Leather Wallet – Pink Thistle Co
Perpetua Dangles – Rosy Revolver
Wood Twist Ink Pen – Unnatural Resources
Hand Embellished Faux Leather Jacket – Amy J Garbutt
Southwest-inspired Ceramic Mug – Beech Street Pottery
Poppy Earrings – Jess G Jewelry
Braided Pom Beanie – Boo to the Bear Crochet
Crescent Earrings – Lumenrose Jewelry
Buttercream Hat in Teal – Cristin Rae Knits
Conelet Necklace – The Wild Pine
Hand-painted Peony Plate – Golden & Grey
Wheatgrass Leather Bag – Taylor Saleem Studio
Twilight Shawl – Montana Crochet
Glass Winestopper – VillaDesigns
California Costal Paintings 4×4 acrylic – Carol de Melo
Happy Holidays and thank you for participating in the raffle.
Stopping by with a Christmas tag that you can use as an ornament too. I am having fun with my color pencils. I created a scene using stamp from Lawn Fawn called Snow Globe Scenes.
Affiliated links used when possible at no cost to you. Happy Sunday!
