My first Unity Stamp Company order arrived.

I thought this set would make great note cards and I wasn't disappointed. I was very impressed with the quality of the stamps and the packaging was very nice.  Find this set called Triple Tree Line here. I stamped the image on 140lb watercolor paper with Staz On (cut with a Spellbinders die) and colored it in with Distress Inks.

Daring Adventure

This is another piece inspired by the day 1 lesson from the Watercolor for Card Makers class I've been taking. I used black Distress ink and Distress stain in Brushed Pewter. The stamp is from Stampin Up and the stencil I used is from Mister Huey's. Thought about finishing it off with some sequins and rhinestones, but decided to use this as a graduation card for a young man instead. I thought simple worked better in that case.

Modern Art

Those who know me, would know this is completely different than what I would normally do. This piece was inspired by a lesson from day 1 of the Watercolor for Card Makers class I've been taking. I used Distress inks in Black & Fired Brick and Distress stain in Brushed Pewter for this piece. The word stamp is from Stampin Up.

Bonus Day lesson from Watercolor for Card Makers

This is my favorite art I've ever created.

It was about 2004. At the time, I was doing samples for Oxford Impressions rubber stamp company, so most of these stamps were from that line. This is an 8x10 canvas. This was back in the day before we had things like Cuttlebug & Sizzix, so the texture in the upper corner was a piece of wall paper. 

This piece was subsequently published in Somerset Studio. In 2007, as a lark, I entered this piece in Kirkland's search for the Next Great American Artist. The winner would create art for their stores nationwide. I ended up in the top 10 finalists with this piece and won a $500 gift card. To date, that is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me art-wise. 

"We'll Always Have Paris" by Kim Jolley

It's a Soul thing.

Creating is a passion of mine. At times, I can't sleep for thinking about what I want to try next. I did not start this piece with the intention of it having almost a grunge feel, but it evolved in to that. Again, this piece is inspired by a class I am taking over at onlinecardclasses.com. The main technique is watercolor and the flowers are stamped images from Stampin Up's Everything Eleanor set.

The flourish image is from Stampabilities and the quote is from Stampers Anonymous. Prang watercolors and Distress inks were used to color images and the background.

Watercoloring with Stamps: a work in progress

I almost thought about this too late this morning. I am going to post the finished project in a later post, but here are a couple of photos of a piece using Stampin Up's Everything Eleanor set. Again, taking complete inspiration from Sanketi.

After this, I started bringing in the deeper colors, including black watercolor and Distress inks in Pine Needles and Forrest Moss. 

Another attempt at lesson 5 from online watercolor card class: Postmark Tulip

I used various Prang watercolors and Distress inks. After the piece dried, I thought the flowers looked too dull and flat. So, I painted each bloom, stem & leaves with Inkssentials Matte Accents. I like this product for a low gloss effect. After that dried, I still felt like I wanted something else. I ended up lightly applying some Distress Stickles in Fired Brick & Peeled Paint. I am happy with the end result.

online watercolor card class

This is something I have never done before. I have been enjoying playing around with watercolor for a couple of months and love the medium. I stumbled across a very affordable online class over at www.onlinecardclasses.com  last Monday and immediately signed up. I normally just watch free videos on youtube, but gladly paid for this class.  The fact that some of my favorite artists would be sharing their expertise was a definite plus. The pictures below are from a class assignment taught by someone I have been admiring for a long time. Her blog is http://sanketij.blogspot.com/ and she is a master at using watercolor and rubber stamps to create a very artistic look. So glad I signed up.

Nature's Silver tag for swap

Various Distress inks and stains. Embossing powder on the stamped image. Distress inks & stains were used to dye the ribbon.

Butterfly Tag for swap

I used various products and techniques on this tag. A combination of Inktense Blocks and regular watercolor was used to color the tag and the butterfly, along with some Distress inks used randomly on the tag. Ribbon was dyed using Distress inks. An old book page, part of a doily and random scraps of paper were also used. Also used a tiny bit of Distress Stickles. 

Simple thank you...

I am really enjoying playing with the many ways to use watercolor. This card was inspired by some pins on Pinterest.

watercolor exercise: trees

watercolor exercise: the pear

FYI Guy

FYI Guy...I assist him in this episode!

Jeremy Rabe is fabulous! Crafty, entertaining...the whole package. Look him up on FYI Guy You Tube channel  or http://www.fyiguy.com  He has tons of great ideas.

Sharpies & Eggs or what my husbands calls "Monegg".

I zigzagged two different colors of Sharpie markers on an egg. Then I swiped and dabbed with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol. Since I'm not going to eat this, I used a hair dryer on low to speed up the dry time. While I was "painting" it, I used a condiment cup to hold it.

Asian inspired decoupage project

This was the class sample for a class I taught several years ago. Haven't made anything like this in a long time, but am thinking about giving it a go once more. Beacon's Liquid Laminate is the product I used to adhere the stamped tissue papers. After all pieces were adhered on the reverse side of this plate, I painted it with Lumiere paints in several colors. After it was dry, I sprayed with Krylon Triple Coat to protect it

Adventures with Tyvek

I have been playing with painting on Tyvek this weekend. If I understand it correctly, this is basically the same as Yupo, but I already had this on hand from some old office envelopes. I painted on this panel with Derwent Inktense blocks and randomly dropped alcohol on it while the paint/ink was still wet. I also dropped some large chunks of sea salt in random spots. When it was dry, it looked a bit dull. After looking around my art room for something I could use to give it some shine, I found an old bottle of Beacon's Liquid Laminate, so I brushed some on. I quite like the effect and would like to do a larger piece now that I know the look that can be achieved.

Watercolor rose: first attempt

Not great, definitely have not mastered it, but the "how to" videos on youtube are wonderful.  This was my little art exercise this morning. Not enough definition, not shaded correctly, but fun to do never the less.  Doing this clears my head in a wonderful way before work.  

Learning to use watercolor...

I have never been able to sing. Has nothing to do with this post, but thought I should put that out there. No matter how much I try, I don't think I can "learn" to sing. I sound like a cat in a dryer. Not going to happen. I have never been able to draw. This is why I have loved using rubber stamps. However, lately I have been playing around with watercolor. I love this medium and want to get better at it along with simple drawing. Unlike my failed singing, there is something so freeing about even trying this. The first and third photo are what I would call "scribble flowers". The second one is just a little exercise in painting flowers freehand. I got the tips & instructions for those flowers from a website: http://annikalikes.blogspot.com/2013/03/watercolor-tutorial-and-giveaway.html   I love it when an artist is so generous with their knowledge. The flowers in the second photo were painted using regular tube watercolors. The other flowers were painted using a combination of those same paints, Derwent Inktense blocks and Distress inks.