Pink flowers and sympathy.

Hello, friends! I've been busy playing along with #thedailymarker30day, and it is sadly coming to a close. One of the pieces that I worked on this week used some newish stamps from a fairly new company, to me at least... Honeybee Stamps. (You can also buy them here at Butterfly Reflections Ink!) I love stamp sets that have bouquets of blooms on them... it takes the time consuming task of creating a mask out of the equation, which makes the process so much quicker and easier. 

I started by heat embossing two of the floral sprays from the Country Blooms set onto some Montval watercolor paper using White Satin Pearl embossing powder from Hero Arts. I then used three shades of palest pink Zig markers and a wet paintbrush to color the three lovely blooms in the center of the sprays. Some pretty, springy green leaves completed the floral swags. I then outlined the sprays with a light gray Zig marker and spread the color with my wet paintbrush to create a soft gray halo. 

The sentiment is from the new PTI Graceful Greetings II set. That font is so incredibly perfect and beautifully proportioned... I'm in love. I heat embossed it in silver, then added a couple of strips of shiny silver foil cardstock along the sides of my watercolored panel, which I then mounted with foam tape on a pink card base.

I hope you enjoyed my quick walk through of how I made this card! I have been playing with this pretty floral set a little more, but I haven't been able to come up with a concrete design for a card yet... lots of pushing stamped cuts around on my card base! Hopefully, inspiration will strike soon. Have a fantastic weekend, friends!! 

PTI July 2016 Blog Hop!

Hi, friends! Back again, this time to share my project for the PTI Blog Hop for July! 

Here was the inspiration photo:

The Quatrefoil Cover Plate was one of my favorite products from PTI from when I first laid eyes on it. In fact, if I remember correctly, I think it was the reason I "had" to buy my first die cutting machine. I love that pattern. The quatrefoil and the coral flowers were, for me, the most inspiring aspects of the photo, so those were what I chose to focus upon. 

I used one of my favorite new techniques: blending over a cover plate die cut as a "stencil." I die cut the Quatrefoil CP using Post It paper, then blended Stormy Seas ink over top with my Clarity Stencil Brushes. Next, I stamped the flowers using the Nostalgic Notions MIM kit in shades of Pale Peony and Berry Sorbet, with the little daisies in Blueberry Sky and Enchanted Evening, and the leaves in Aqua Mist. I also die cut a few little pieces of foliage from vellum and tucked those in there. 

The final step was the sentiment, from Graceful Greetings II. I die cut it from white card stock, then stamped the greeting in Blueberry Sky. A few Nautical sequins from Lucy Abrams finished it off. 

This card went to a special person. My uncle, who was my recently-passed grandmother's caretaker,is living in a nursing home because he suffers from ALS. We were supposed to go visit him last week with my kiddos, but when my bubby got sick, that kinda ruined those plans. So when my mom came to visit this weekend, I made some zucchini bread and sent a loaf with her, with this card having been "signed" by my kiddos. Hopefully, he will enjoy them both!

Now, I'm off to hop along with the rest of the submissions. Can't wait to see what this stunning inspiration photo inspires my other crafty PTI fanatics to create! Have a fabulous week!!!  

Stamp-A-Faire, 2016 edition!

Helllooooo!!!

Boy, it seems like the year flies by. It feels like just a month or two ago that my friend and I were celebrating Papertrey's Stamp-A-Faire in my craft room last summer, and now here it is over and done with for 2016! We had planned to get together again this year, but my little miss caught the plague that took down her brother last week. *insert sobbing face here!* So, our SAF plans were curtailed by a sickly toddler. Boo. 

My mom came over to visit, though, and so I was able to get a few of the challenges done. 

The day started with the Master Color Recipe Challenge, so that's where I'll begin:

And my version:

I used:
Forget Me Not (LOVE that set!) and dies

Spring Rain, Blueberry Sky, Lavender Moon, and Green Parakeet

A1 Noted Dies

I die cut a frame from a piece of 3 3/4x5 in card stock using the oval die from the A1 Noted collection, then stamped and die cut some of the lovely forget me nots from the stamp set of the same name. I blended a little Spring Rain ink on the card base using my Clarity Stencil Brushes, then used Blueberry Sky ink to stamp the sentiment over the coordinating white die cut, which was layered three times for dimension. 

Next, Gilded in Gold with Danielle. 

I die cut the Garden Garland leaf die from Heidi Swapp toner paper, then ran it through my Minc machine with gold foil to achieve the "gilded" look, and I used the same technique for my "M" die cut (from the Bookprint Alphabet). I die cut the flowers from the same die set using Pale Peony and White card stock, and a little stitched fishtail banner from the KIS Frames dies. 

I had some Martha Stewart gold acrylic paint (I totally spaced on buying the liquid gilding), so I used a paintbrush and dotted some in a speckly-ombre pattern on my card base. Not my favorite card that I've ever made, but it will suffice.

Next up, Floral Impressionism with Melissa. 

I used Bold Blossoms for the blooms on this one, along with Pale Peony, Sweet Blush, and Berry Sorbet inks. To achieve the stripes, I die cut my Horizontal Stripes cover plate from Post It paper, then used it as a mask with my Clarity Stencil Brushes to create some ombre stripes on my Pale Peony card base using Pale Peony ink. The stitched oval is from the A1 Noted dies, while the die cut is Big Basics:Thinking of You. Another card that is not my favorite, but I enjoyed the challenge of a new technique.

Now, to my favorite project from this weekend's festivities. This one fits in with the Watercolor Like a Master Challenge and the Masterpiece Inspirations Challenge. I chose this inspiration photo from which to work (though to be honest, I could have easily chosen a number of them. Stunning inspiration pieces):

And here was my rendition:

I used the Friendship Jar Floral Fillers set to create a watercolored bouquet. It definitely was a loooot messier and free-er than my normal precisely colored and shaded watercoloring, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. 

I was very inspired by the pretty vase, and the mason jar was as close as I could come within my PTI stamps haha! I chose a color pallette of Lovely Lady, Pale Peony, Melon Berry, Sweet Blush, Mint Julep, and Aqua Mist. I am really quite happy with how this came out, especially the jar. After I had muddied and spread color around and gone back and tried to make the flowers more precise and then muddied them again (ha!), I heat embossed the "for you" from Calligraphy Classics in gold embossing powder, then added a strip of antique gold glitter paper along the side, which I then mounted on an Aqua Mist card base. 

 I had hoped to get a few more challenges in today, but things just never go as you plan when you have a toddler or two getting into everything... I am so glad that I did end up being able to do the few challenges, though! Definitely am grateful for a hubby who understands my hobby/obsession and who lets me play (though I am having to give up an afternoon for him to go golfing this week... blah.) I can't wait to look at everybody else's projects!! Thank you, PTI, for sponsoring another super fun Stamp A Faire! I'm already looking forward to next year! :)

Stencil Brushes are my new obsession.

Hi! Back again with a project that started as a piece for #thedailymarker30day over on Instagram. Last week, I colored this lovely dahlia image from Wplus9's Beautiful Bouquet: Dahlia set. I really love this new design line from Wplus9 and hope that Dawn continues to release these bouquets. So very gorgeous and such fun to color! 

I started by heat embossing the dahlia image onto a scrap of watercolor paper. I knew I wanted to fussy cut it, so I didn't need to waste a whole A2 panel. I colored it, using my Zig markers (obvs) in shades of peach and yellow... such happy, sunny colors. Then, I fussy cut the image. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do at this point... but enter the next mail day, when I received my Clarity Stencil Brushes. Boy oh boy, are those things a game changer for me and my ink blending. 

I decided to do a little halo of a pale peach behind my bouquet to highlight it without overwhelming the entirety of the card. I LOVE that you can achieve such subtlety without having to blend an entire card panel because you get circular sponge marks in your attempts to be light of hand. I simply started approximately where I wanted to have the center of my bouquet (using Hero Arts Fresh Peach ink) and blended out in a circle, going back over it a couple of times with my brush, because it was almost too subtle after the first layer. The greeting is from the PTI Make It Market kit "Don't Forget to Write." I die cut the "Sending" from silver glitter card stock, then die cut another from thin chipboard, the same chipboard I used to add the tiniest bit of dimension to the back of the dahlia bouquet. I knew I wanted the "sending" to overlap the bouquet, so I simply cut off the top part of the chipboard "g" and glued the rest down, which allowed me to adhere the top of the "g" directly to the dahlia bouquet without having strange bumps and thicknesses. The last little touch was to add some peach sequins from my stash of mixes by Lucy Abrams. 

I hope you enjoyed this finished project! I'm still playing along with #thedailymarker30day every day, and I hope that I can continue through the end of the month! Thanks for dropping by! :)

Balloons=Birthday

There are some cards that are so easy for me to come up with designs for. Flowers, obviously. Baby cards are usually pretty simple. But when I am given the challenge of a birthday card for a non-girl, (aka MEN haha!) I am inevitably stumped and have either resorted to giving the excuse of not having time to come up with a card (yeah, I know, I know) or debasing myself and purchasing one at the store. (The horror...)

BUT PTI came out with this birthday cover plate die a couple of releases ago and I am IN LOVE with it. Between the cover plate, the stamp set, and the coordinating dies, birthday cards for non-women (ha) will be much more of a cinch!

To start, I die cut the Paper Clippings: Birthday cover plate from watercolor paper twice. I then used my Zig markers in shades of aqua and pinks/purples to color and shade the die cuts. Easy peasy. I'm thinking primary colors for a little boy's birthday would look super cute with this, too. Maybe black and gold for an "over the hill" birthday. Pastels for a baby birthday. SO many options! 

After coloring and shading things the way I wanted them, I added some Spectrum Noir sparkle pen to the balloons, the stars, and the frosting on the cake layers. After coloring and glossifying the die cuts, I cut two more layers of the Paper Clippings die to adhere behind them and give dimension to the card front. 

Now, for the background. I used my brand-spanking new Clarity Stencil brushes for the backgrounds, and let me tell you, those things ROCK. I have always struggled with ink blending... I start out going for very subtle color and end up with a very deep, vibrant panel, because those little foam circles inevitably leave a smudge somewhere un-hide-able on my panel, thus forcing me to deepen the color to blend it out. Can you say frustrating? In steps these handy dandy stencil brushes. I was able to blend a subtle halo of color around the edges of my card base so quickly... it was a miracle. I laid my die cuts on top, decided that even with the beautifully subtle blending that the background still needed a little something, and decided to add some bokeh-ish balloons. I used the Orchid and Minted ink collections from The Ton Stamps for the balloons, stamping the deepest shades off once before stamping on my card base. The aqua (aka boy) card also had some silver stars from the Paper Clippings Birthday stamp set added amongst the balloons.

These cards and subsequent blog post is brought to you by the fantastical 30 Day Coloring Challenge. This challenge seriously sparks my creativity, and I'm so freaking happy it's back, and so freaking sad that it's only 30 days. #sadface. 

I have more cards to share, so I will be back in a day or two! Cheers! :)

PTI- Create Along With Us!

Hi, friends! I'm back again today, this time with a project for PTI's "Create Along With Us" challenge. I was so inspired by Erin's ice cream card (can't WAIT to get that "sweet" little set! hahahaha.... I know, the puns are terrible around here.) that I had to recreate it myself with one of the only dessert-ish PTI sets that I already have, and definitely a favorite set of mine: Baker's Dozen. 

Here's Erin's card:

And here's my rendition:

I loved the pastel dessert-ish tones of Erin's project, plus it gave me an excuse to use (ahem, for the first time) the Scroll Frame die. It's so gorgeous, but I've been having difficulty coming up with an idea for it. I started by die cutting the frame from Aqua Mist and the center from some aqua glitter paper in my stash. I taped the interior and exterior pieces together on the back, then glued the glitter frame on top. (Since I wanted to pop the frame up, I didn't want the hassle of trying to perfectly nestle the somewhat flimsy glitter paper.) I die cut the cupcake from Baker's Dozen onto watercolor card stock, heat embossed it and colored it with Zigs. My next step was to die cut and stamp the scroll banner from Paper Clippings Birthday. I always forget how subtle the silver pearl embossing powder is, and next time I will use either silver or white. I used my new Clarity Stencil Brushes to add some Pale Peony and Berry Sorbet ink to the banner to make it pop. The cake stand was cut from Berry Sorbet. The background on the card is super fun; I brushed the edges of the Pale Peony card base with Pale Peony ink using my brushes, then stamped the banners from the Hooray stamp set using both Pale Peony and Berry Sorbet inks. I love the subtle tone-on-tone effect.

There you have it! I have been feeling so inspired to create with this 30 Day Coloring Challenge on Instagram, and I'm so glad it spilled over into non-challenge projects! Have a fantastic weekend, friends! :)

White on White

Well helloooo! What, two posts in one week?! Yes, I've been busy. And I have a good reason. The Daily Marker 30 Day challenge is going on this month, so I've been playing with my stamps and my wonderful Zig markers.

Today, I have a card with lots of white space, more white space than I normally allow myself. I am coming to find out that I love white.... there's something so fresh and clean about a coat of white paint on trim work or a door or, in this case, a card. The house we are hoping to purchase has lots of dark wood trim that is original to the (rather old) house and, while I understand that it's provenance means I shouldn't touch it with a paint brush, my white-trim-loving-heart is crying out for my hubby to sand and paint it a nice bright, shiny white. C'est la vie.

Anyway, these blooms from Winnie and Walter's Anna's Florals (I got mine from Butterfly Reflections Ink)  are so gorgeous, and I've only used them a couple of times, so I thought this would be a good excuse to get them out and just play. I chose a few flowers and leaves and heat embossed them with The Ton's Rose Gold Embossing Powder onto some Arches Cold Press paper.  

After embossing the blooms and leaves, I chose my colors. I love these "fiesta" colors: oranges and pinks. They're so happy and playful. I thought they paired quite well with the Rose Gold EP... but what doesn't, right? Anyway, I colored them all with my trusty Zigs and wet paintbrush, then cut them out. This Thanks die was one that you saw me use the other day on my tulip card, and I used the same technique on this project: one layer of white card stock and one layer of coaster board. The combination creates just enough dimension that it is quite visible on a white card base. 

After adhering my floral spray and my greeting, I simply added a few varied sequins from my (copious) stash in complementary colors. The final touch was to use my Spectrum Noir glitter pen on the Thanks die cut to make it pop even more. 

Not much is quite as nice as a clean, bright white card with a little pop of bright flowers. I hope you're enjoying The Daily Marker 30 Day Challenge for this month! I know I absolutely am loving it. If you want to follow my coloring hijinx on Instagram, my name is @eamidgett. Have a fabulous day, friends! 

The Daily Marker 30 Day returns!!!

Hello, friends! I'm here today after what seems like a really long hiatus to play along with #thedailymarker30day coloring challenge that began on July 5, 2016! I've been playing along each day on Instagram (I'm @eamidgett over there), mostly just showing snippets of the projects and images I've been working on. My goal is to participate each day (or at least as many days as I possibly can) and to use stamp sets that I haven't used before. (I have an embarrassingly large amount of stamp sets in my arsenal that I've never used.... Insert blushing emoji here....)  I had some time this morning to turn all of my watercolored pieces into actual cards! Yay! I posted this watercolored tulip from The Ton's Lucky Tulip stamp set last week. 

I started by heat embossing that gorgeous tulip image using white embossing powder onto Montval Cold Press watercolor paper. I then used Light Carmine and Tea Rose markers combined with a wet paintbrush to create this gorgeous shade of coral... And I think I may have found a new favorite color combination, at least for the moment. LOVE anything coral these days. I colored the leaves with the Emerald Green Zig marker and a wet paintbrush. I fussy cut the image after it was dry and then set it aside to await a final project idea. 

Papertrey Ink recently came out with a line of large scale sentiment dies, and I absolutely love them. They're so perfectly sized and have so many wonderful sentiments. I die cut this Thanks die from both white card stock and the thin chipboard coasters that PTI sells. The combination of the chipboard and the sturdy white card stock gives just enough dimension to make this rather intricate die quite strong. I had a gold frame from the interior of the Pretty Frame cover plate die (also from PTI) in my box of extraneous die cuts. I paired everything with a "smooshed" watercolor panel. (Basically, I tapped some Hawaiian Shores ink on a piece of acetate, spritzed it with water, then laid down a piece of watercolor card stock on top, giving it that cool mottled watercolor-y look. There are a few YouTube tutorials that can show exactly what I'm talking about.) I put all of these together, popping up the gold frame the tulip, and part of the Thanks with dimensional adhesive, then adhering the whole thing to a coral colored card base. A few peachy sequins from Lucy Abrams finished it off.

I hope you're all playing along with The Daily Marker 30 Day challenge.... it's so much fun, and so very rewarding to carve out just a few minutes each day to sit down with my watercolors and my stamps and just play. It makes it even nicer if it actually turns into a blog-worthy card. :)