Okay, Okay

I knew I was running out of time before people would start calling or emailing to ask why I wasn't updating my blog. I was right. 2 emails and one call came yesterday. I thought I better post something before things turned ugly. I have been absent for a couple of reasons. First, things have just been busy around here between work and "life." Second, and most importantly, we switched to Fios at my house, and saying that it hasn't gone well is an understatement. My once beautiful wireless internet connection has been reduced to the speed of dial up. I haven't been able to read other blogs, participate in card challenges, or update my blog. Sorry!

The card I am posting today seems rather random to me. It looks really spring-like and out of place. I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to try out my new stamp set from My Favorite Things and some of my favorite paper from Basic Grey, and this is the finished product. To make the card, I stamped the bunny onto white paper with black Memento ink and colored him with Copic markers. I added some clear Spica to the top of the cupcake, but you can't see the sparkle in the picture. I cut out the bunny and added him to some paper I had layered onto pink cardstock. The saying is also from the same cupcake set. I finished the card by layering it onto green cardstock and adding some flowers by Prima.

To make up for the spring card, I am including some pictures from a recent walk in Great Falls, VA. I sure love fall in Virginia. This has nothing to do with crafting. I just liked the colors.


The trees were gorgeous. Unfortunately, I don't know much about botany, so I named them "yellow trees."

Here is another beautiful tree. I call it "red/yellow/orange tree with a hint of green."

I enjoyed this flock of birds, but they weren't ducks, so I didn't know what they were. I'm guessing they are "waterbirds."

I was quite taken with the leaves from this one tree. They were HUGE. I put my foot in the picture as a reference. I wear a size 8, so you can see why I named them "large leaves," or "leafus maximus" in Latin. :) Bonus points for anyone who can name some of the items on my nature walk. I am curious what they really are.

Another Prima Paintable

I meant to post this card a while back, but it has been MIA since December. I am glad I found it for two reasons:

1. A fellow co-worker/friend kept reminding (nagging) me to bring the card into Angela's as a sample (you know who you are).

2. It wouldn't make sense to post this card in June. Although, come to think of it, it was 70 degrees yesterday, so it really doesn't feel like February anyway.

For today's card, I used the snowflake Prima Paintables paper and a selection of Twinkling H2O paints. I started by brushing water all over the paper with a foam brush. I then created a wash to brush over the paper using a lot of water and a smidge of Twinkling H20 paint. The Paintables paper is great because the patterns are printed on watercolor paper, and you don't have to worry about your paper warping.

I let the paper dry and then painted more Twinkling H2Os on top. I used a higher concentration of paint to color the snowflakes, so you can really see the shimmer of the paint. I finished by adding a rhinestone, some glitter glue, and some Stardust pen. I apologize that my picture of the card really stinks. It is hard to get a feel of the sparkly quality of the card from the picture. I hope the close up shows it a little better.

Prima Paintables Part 2

I said I would post more of my Prima Paintables samples, so I thought it was about time to actually make good on my promise. I still need to photograph my Twinkling H20 card. Twinks do not scan well at all.

The snowflake card was made using a Twinkling H20 wash on the background. A wash uses very little of the Twinkling H20 paint so there wasn't any sheen or glimmer to the background. However, the color turned out very nice. Once again, I am learning that pale blue does not scan well. I colored in the snowflakes using my Copic markers and then finished with clear rhinestones and a bow. It was a very quick and easy card!

The floral card was colored using watercolor pencils and a blender pen. When you use a blender pen instead of a paintbrush and water, the finished result isn't as "watercolored" as other methods. However, you have a lot more control over where you want the color to go.

Prima Paintables Demo

Today at Angela's Happy Stamper we are having our annual holiday party, and I am really looking forward to it! It is always so much fun to hang out with friends and my stamping "family." There will be food, demos, make-and-takes, and a fantastic stamping supply fundraiser for military families stationed in Germany. If you have a chance, stop on by!

I am in charge of demoing some of the new Prima Paintables papers. I wanted to post some of the samples so that anyone attending the demo will have a visual reference to remind them of what I was teaching. Plus, my mom wanted to see some samples, so....

The first sample was made by using some Copic markers. The Paintables papers are printed watercolor paper sheets. It seemed a waste to make a card that didn't use watercolor of some sort. However, I really liked the way the Copics worked on the paper...very vivid!

The second picture is also made by using the Copic markers. When I finished, I thought there was a lot of blank space around the images. To fill in some of the space, I outlined all of the images with a light blue pen. I forgot that light blue does not scan well, so you can only see the marker in some of the places on my picture. Oops!

The third card was created using watercolor crayons and a waterbrush. I applied the crayons directly to the card and then smoothed the color with the brush. The advantage of working with a waterbrush is that you don't have to keep rewetting a paintbrush with water. Nice! I finished the card by embellishing it with a few faux pearls on the flowers.

The fourth card was made using Tombow markers. I scribbled the markers onto acetate and then

picked up some color with a wet paintbrush. I then painted in the images with various earth tone shades. I cut the piece apart and then taped the pieces to a card. I finished by adding a circle punched saying layered onto a popped up yellow circle.

I really enjoyed working with the Prima Paintables. It is a lot like working with a coloring book. You don't have to think about what kind of ink to use that won't bleed when you color and the watercolor paper allows you to add all kinds of inks, sprays, watercolors, and other mediums. I will post some more samples soon.