Christmas Cheer

I'm here with my card for the December Happy Little Stampers Challenge.

I stamped the poinsettia (retired image from Stampin' Up) and heat embossed it on water colour paper.  I masked off the flower, stamped and heat embossed the leaves.  I then masked off the leaves and applied blue distress oxide ink through a stencil (Diagonal Lines from My Favorite Things) using a stencil brush.

I splattered some water on the blue ink and blotted it with paper towel.  I then removed the stencil and masks and used Distress Inks to water colour the images.  To use the inks for watercoloring I smoosed the ink pads on a palette (I use a large acrylic block) and pick up the ink with a damp watercolor brush.  I love how the Pistachio Ink on the leaves dries in blues in greens.  I masked off the flower again and splattered the background with the inks and spritzed on shimmer spray for some subtle sparkle.

I really have enjoyed being on the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Design Team, it has been awesome to see work from card makers all over the world.  I have decided not to continue on the team to have time to try something new.

Get Well Flowers

The November Challenge has started at the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Check out all the details HERE.

I stamped and heat embossed the flowers (From Winnie and Walter) on water colour paper.  I cut a mask from masking paper and masked off the roses before stamping and embossing the leaves.  I used some colours I felt were good for the fall season to color the flowers.  The card was painted with Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany and Fossilized Amber Distress Ink.  The sentiment was stamped and diecut using a set from Hero Arts.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I look forward to seeing your work at Happy Little Stampers.

Fall Birthday Wishes

The October Watercolour Challenge at Happy Little Stampers is Anything Goes with a optional twist; gold.  I got out some fall shades of watercolor for this card.  I started out by using painters tapeto tape down a piece of watercolor card to a wooden cutting board.  I did this because I was planning to use the wet on wet technique and wanted to minimize the paper warping.  I added orange, red purple and yellow Peerless Watercolors.  Peerless watercolors are vivid translucent paints that come on dry sheets.  I found the background a bit too colorful it was a bit garish.   So I embossed the leaves and sentiment on velum to soften the card.  

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Hello Butterfly

I always have fun making my watercolor cards for the Happy Little Stampers challenge.  Septembers optional theme is Butterflies (which I love).  I used dies from Concord and 9th to cut out the flower and butterfly from white cardstock.  I coated them with embossing ink by pressing the pad onto the diecuts.  I then heat embossed them with a chunky gold and glitter embossing powder from Wow.  For the colorful background I worked with layers of color.  I spritzed a piece of watercolor paper with water then sprinkled on turquoise Brusho powder.  I moved the color around by tilting the color,  taking some away with a paper towel or adding water or more color as needed.  When I was happy I used my heat gun to dry the turquoise layer then did the crimson layer.  I kept adding color this way until I liked the result.  The paper was very warped so I put it under some heavy flat objects overnight.  The next day I diecut the watercolored layer with a stitched rectangle die which also helped smooth it out.  I adhered a piece of fun foam behind the watercorlored layer for some dimension.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Thank you for stopping by I hope you share your work at Happy Little Stampers Watercolor Challenge.

Floral Thinking of You Card

Hello!  For this months challenge I used stamps from Happy Little Stampers "Especially For You" stamp set.  I heat embossed the flowers in blue.  I added color with Zig Real Color Brush Pens, moving the color with a damp paint brush. To finish the card off I added some light purple Nuvo Drops.

Thanks for coming by.   I look forward to seeing your work shared at this months challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Roaring Birthday

Hi there!  This month I made for the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge I used stamps and Dies from Studio Katia.  Studio Katia is in the city I grew up from. I used Dewernt Inktense Watercolor Pencils to add color to the stamped images.  The colors from these pencils is very concentrated so I started by adding a little color, spread it with water then added more if it needed it.  I stamped the images with black Versafine then clear embossed them, this makes them pop.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you join our challenge this month.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Father's Day Watercoloured Card

With Father's day approaching I need to work on some masculine cards, a genre I find challenging.  I enjoy ink smooshing so this card was fun.  I used to different shades of Distress Ink.  I smoosh the ink pad one color at a time on my ink pad.  I spritz the ink with water making it bead then tapped the watercolour cardstock into the ink.  I dry in between layers of ink, adding more colour until I like the results.  Once it was dry I stamped the waves with Distress ink then stamped and embossed the little boat.

I applied some ink through a wave stencil to a card a base and finished the card off with some dots of Nuvo Drops.

My card is for this months Happy Little Stamper's Watercolour Challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Thank you for stopping by, I hope to see your Watercolour Work at Happy Little Stampers.

May Happy Little Stampers Challenge

Hello!  Sharing my card for the May Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.  I went CAS with this card.  There seems to be a bunch of Birthday parties for my sons friends coming up.  I often use the Birthday Animals set from Hero Arts for masculine cards.

This card was easy to make.  I stamped the octopus and balloons on a piece of watercolor cardstock using waterproof ink.  I like to use a stamp positioner to stamp solid images especially on cardstock with texture such as watercolor paper.  By using the stamp positioner I can easily re-stamp the image if I don't get a good impression.  I applied masking fluid to the eye of the octopus than painted a puddle of clean water over the image.  I sprinkled on Colour Burst powder and tilted the cardstock to help the color move.  The sentiment is heat embossed.  I did dry embossing on the turquoise layer.  Quick and easy card.  I may make a couple more of these for last minute Birthday party invites my son recently received.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you share your work at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

March Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge

Hello.  I made a St.Patrick's day card with vibrant greens for March's Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

To make this card I heat embossed the stamped images (Papersmooches "A Magical Spring") on watercolour card stock.  I wanted to keep the colour in one area so to control it I smooshed a mini Twisted Citron Distress Ink pad on a piece of acetate.  I spritzed the ink on the acetate with some water then pressed it on the embossed cardstock.  I used my heat gun to dry the colour and added more drying in between and building up the colour.  Then I spritzed the card front with a bit of water and sprinkled on some Lime Green Brusho.  I used paper towel to remove some of the colour in places I felt were too intense.

Thank you for stopping by I hope you are inspired to play along with this months challenge.

February HLS Watercolour Card

Good afternoon!  I'm sharing my card for the February Happy Little Stampers Challenge. I used the January Hero Arts "My Monthly Hero" kit.  For the watercoloured background I used Tombow markers.  I scribbled two pinks and a purple marker on my craft mat and sprtized the ink with water.  I then smooshed watercolour paper in the ink.  I apply the smooshing in layers drying inbetween layers with my heat tool.  I also added some shine by spritzing on some Pearl Ex Mixed with water.  I diecut the heart and embossed the sentiment to create the front piece.  I set the diecut heart back into the negative diecut using some mat glue to adhere it.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you are inspired to share your watercoloured project at Happy Little Stampers.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

Happy Little Stampers January Challenge

Hello!  Happy New Year!  I'm here today to share my card for the January Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

IF YOU USE STAMPS BY HAPPY LITTLE STAMPERS AND YOU ARE OUR RANDOM WINNER, YOUR PRIZE WILL BE DOUBLED!

For my card I used a die (Studio Katia) to cut the tag shape from watercoloured cardstock.  I then embossed the snowflake images (Simon Says Stamp)  with iridescent sparkle embossing powder.  I watercoloured the tag using wet on wet technique.  Once the watercolouring was dry I added some shimmer using white Delicate ink (its very pretty shimmery ink) and rubbed the ink pad directly to the edges of the tag.  I adhered the tag using foam adhesive.  

I wish you all the best in 2018 and hope you are inspired to share your work at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge

Hello.  I'm here today with a card I made with stamps and dies from Mama Elephant.  I made this card for the December Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

I diecut the watercolour paper than stamped it using ink that does not bleed when watercoloured except for the pine needles.  The pine needles I stamped using green Distress Ink then used a damp paint brush to move the ink.  I painted this card using Daniel Smith and Holbein watercolours.  I used a stencil brush to add the blue Distress Oxide Ink to the edges.  Then after adhering the card together I added a little bit of glitter to a couple of the Christmas tree ornaments.  

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you are inspired to play along with Happy Little Stampers December challenge.

Happy Birthday Gorgeous

Hello!  Time for the November challenge at Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge.  

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

I used stamps from Hero Arts for my card.  I stamped and embossed the dolls then used Color Burst Powder to paint the dolls outfits red.  Around the dolls I painted with gold Gansai Tambi watercolor paint and sprinkled on a little red Color Burst.  The sentiment is heat embossed in gold on velum.  I added some red glitter Nuvo drops to finish off the card.

I hope you are inspired to share your work at Happy Little Stampers November Watercolour Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Little Stampers October Watercolour Challenge

Hello, I'm here today with my card for the October Happy Little Stampers Challenge.  I really look forward to October, the weather usually gets a bit cooler here in Texas and Halloween is so much fun.

The optional twist of gold is great for a fall theemed card.   I added gold by heat  embossing the stamped images with gold embossing powder (I used Waffle Flower stamps and dies).  I watercolored using Gansai Tambai paints.  Once the colouring was dry I splatterd on some gold spray by removing the sprayer and taping the straw so the paint would come out in droplets.  After adherring the card together I used Honey Gold Nuvo Glitter Drops to add some gold sparkle.

Thank you for stopping by, looking forward to seeing what you create for the Happy Little Stampers October Watercolour Challenge.

Rainbow Sprayed Birthday Card

I haven't used my spray inks much lately, it was fun to get them out for September's challenge at Happy Little Stampers.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

How I made my card:

1.  Diecut watercolor cardstock ( I used a die from Waffle Flower).

2.  Spray ink one color at a time, use heat gun to dry inbetween colours.  My first attempt I didn't dry between spraying and ended up with a muddy mess.

3.  Once ink spray is dry stamp sentiment (stamp from Waffle Flower) with black Versafine ink and emboss with clear glitter embossing powder (I used Wow Neutral Glitter).

3.  Adhere black diecut to card base, adhere layer of fun foam to back of front panel for dimension and embelish card with sequins and clear gems (I used Studio Katia sequins and gems).

Thank you for stopping by, click here to join the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge.

Together We Bloom

When I saw the optional twist for the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge for August is "Bloom"  I immediately thought of a set of stamps from Studio Katia.

Our winner for this challenge will receive a $20 coupon to spend at the shop! Check out all the details HERE.

I started out by tracing the die I planned to use on a piece of watercolour paper to help me with placement of my stamps.  I then stamped the sentiment and embossed it.  I stamped the flowers and leaves with a waterproof ink.  

I smooshed Distress Oxide Ink on my Craft mat, spritzed the ink with water and pressed my watercolour cardstock into to the ink.  I heat dry the ink on the cardstock and add more in layers.  I heat set the background then watercoloured the flowers and leaves with more Distress Oxide ink.  Once all of the watercolouring was dry I used a stencil brush to add some purple ink around the edges then diecut (die from Studio Katia) the piece.  I adhered the frame from the diecut to the card base then added fun foam for some to dimension to the middle sections. 

Thank you for stopping by.  Check out Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge for more inspiration and to join the challenge.

Life is Better With You

Hello!  I love trying different techniques for card making, this was a fun one from Lydia Fielder for Splitcoast Stampers.  I used Brusho powders sprinkled on plastic wrap to create the background.

I sprinkled three different colors of the watercolor powders on the plastic wrap, spritzed them with water then put my watercolor cardstock on top.  I wrapped the plastic wrap around the cardstock, flipped it over and adjusted the wrap so it would be more wrinkly.  I let the piece dry for several hours then removed the wrap and let it dry overnight.  I embossed the sentiment and adhered the diecut birds to the card(stamp and die from Concord & 9th).  To finish off the card I added some Nuvo Drops and some dimensional foam tape under the bird wings.

Join the July Watercolour Challenge at Happy Little Stampers for a chance to win a $20 coupon for the shop.  

Thanks for stopping by.