Penny Black - Cherry Blossoms

Hi everyone.  Today I'm playing with a new Penny Black die-cut called Cherry Blossoms.  Living in Vancouver, I am blessed to see lots of beautiful cherry trees in blossom in the spring.  We have many streets lined with these gorgeous trees.

I die-cut the blossoms from mixed media paper and then used my Zigs to add colour to the blossoms.  I used two shades of pink and a red for the very center.  I cut two sets of the branches so that I could layer the blossoms as many of the trees here are double blooms.  I cut the flowers off from the second branch, coloured with my zigs, and then shaped with a stylus and mat.  I glued them on top of the existing blooms, just off-setting the petals slightly.  The card is finished with a soft gray stamped sentiment.

Here's a close-up ...

If you get a chance, pop over to the Simplicity at it's best blog to see what's new from  my Simplicity Sisters.

Penny Black Products:

51-419 cherry blossom
30-105 gratitude

Stamps:  Gratitude (Penny Black) - sentiment

Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Zigs (Kuretake); soft gray ink
Accessories & Tools:  Cherry blossom die (Penny Black), water brush, stylus and mat

Twofer Challenge #7

Hi everyone.  It's time for a new challenge at Twofer Card Challenge.  That's where we want you to create TWO cards using either the same stamp or the same die, with TWO different designs for TWO different occasions.  Make sure to follow the word prompt as well.  The challenge is open for TWO weeks.

I am using the same stamp for my two cards above.  This is an old (retired) stamp set from Stampin' Up! that is all about tea.  I started by stamping the large flower patterned tea cup stamp in light ink so that I could do some no line watercolouring.  What I got with my first stamp was an outline of the tea cup.  Perfect, it sparked me to cut it out and use it for the card on the left.  I sprinkled two colours of Lindy's magicals over top and the spritzed a little water.  I got this deep blue -- so beautiful and shimmery.  I die-cut a partial flower wreath from hot press watercolour paper, cut all the pieces apart and watercoloured them with distress inks.  Then I used them to create a little bouquet in the tea cup.  So happy how this turned out.  Added a simple sentiment.

Here's a close-up ...

The second card (right above) is the tea cup stamped a few times with light ink so that I could use no line watercolouring to create this vintage look tea cup with flowers.  So pretty.  It was hard to figure out what to put with it.  In the end I want no distractions from the tea cup, so added a bit of steam at the top with gray and used the same colour to add a grounding.  I used a very small tag to stamp the sentiment and added it to the cup with a piece of green twine.

Here's a close-up ...

We have two very talented Guest Designers joining us this month.  Please check out the challenge blog to see the beautiful cards from Bonnie (Stamping with Klass ) and Marianne (Marianne's cards 'n stuff ), along with our team designers.  I know you'll be inspired to play along.  See you in the gallery!

Card #1:  A Cup of Thank
Stamps:  Tea Shoppe (SU!)
Paper:  Mixed Media paper (Srathmore 140 lb. 400 Series); White (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Sahara Sand (SU!); Zigs (Kuretake)
Accessories & Tools:  water brush, floral arrangement die (penny black), Lindy's magicals (hydangea blue, tiffanylou's blue), water mister

Card #2:  Hello
Stamps:  Tea Shoppe (SU!); Word Salad (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Mixed Media paper (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Smoky Slate (SU!); Distress Inks:  Brushed Corduroy, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Abandoned Coral, Barn Door (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  water brush, Pinpoint Main Street Tag (Poppy Seed), twine

Challenges:
Twofer Challenge #7

Lustrous Rose

Hi everyone.  A little while ago I had an day of play with my friends Susan and Christine.  Susan brought this image that she had just bought.  Isn't it pretty??!!

I stamped the image in soft tan colour ink so that I could no-line watercolour.  But it was hard to figure out how the petals were formed.  I used the photo of the watercoloured rose on it's packaging and just did a really quick bit of outlining with a fine black marker.  It made it so much easier for me to watercolour.  I used distress inks and a waterbrush.  Once it was done, I splattered with a bit of green ink and stamped the sentiment in black to tie it to the black outlining.

Here's a close-up ...

Stamps: Lustrous (Penny Black), Gratitude (Penny Black)
Paper:  Mixed media (Strathmore 140 lb)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Water brush, fine line black permanent marker, brush for splattering, white gel pen

CAS Christmas July Challenge

Hi everyone.  Today is the start of the CAS Christmas July Challenge.  This month the challenge is hosted by me and I have chosen ...

I love to watercolour, and I have a beautiful and easy stamp set and matching dies to create my poinsettia cards.  Last time I used this set, I mentioned in my post I was going to stamp a bunch more images and play with watercolouring.  And I did.  I have four cards to share today.  I made multiples of a few, so managed to make six cards in total.  I also used a piece of designer paper AGAIN and wanted to use up the entire 6"x6" piece.  I hope this is becoming a habit because I have LOTS of Christmas papers. :)

I varied the designs slightly and also varied the colours of the poinsettias ... some red, some pink, and some in-between.

Here's the close-ups ...

Check out the challenge post to see some inspiring Poinsettia cards from our talented Designers, and special Guest Designer, Marina (My Perfect Life).  Then come play along.  There's still a week left before the challenge closes on July 24th at midnight (PDST).

Stamps:  Holiday Bouquet (Avery Elle), Be merry sentiment - Snowglobe Sentiments (My Favorite Things); Joy sentiment - Many Christmas Messages (Hero Arts); Thinking of you sentiment - ? (Stampin' Up!)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb. 400 Series);
Ink:  Reinkers:  Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up!); Archival Black (Ranger); Black (Memento)
Accessories & Tools:  Holiday Bouquet matching dies (Avery Elle), water brush, white gel pen, glossy accents

Challenges:
CAS Christmas July Challenge - Poinsettia