A Watercolored Wagon for This Month's Inky Paws Challenge!

Good morning!  I had a chance to play along with the latest Inky Paws Challenge hosted by Newton's Nook Designs!  This month it is a sketch challenge- here is what I made:

I am in the mood for fall!  In fact, I had my first pumpkin spice latte' this morning!  Hee!!  I chose the adorable Wagon of Wishes set to use to create this fall feeling card, stamping the wagon and flowers on to watercolor paper with Staz On ink.  I watercolored the image and added some splatters of blue ink to the white space.  I added my sentiment from the new Simply Sentimental set to finish off the panel.

I kept my card pretty simple, embossing my kraft card base with the Large Polka Dot embossing folder by Stampin' Up!.  I also added a bit of linen thread, a chipboard button and a tiny bit of patterned paper from the My Mind's Eye Market Street 6x6 pad.

This sketch was so easy and fun to work with!  I hope you pop over to the Newton's Nook Designs blog to play along and to see what the other designers created!

Have a great day and enjoy your last long weekend of summer!

Newton's Nook Designs August Release- Simply Sentimental

Good morning!  It's day two of the Newton's Nook Designs release and boy do I love this new set, Simply Sentimental.  It's full of mix and match sentiments!  Here is what I made:

Don't you love the mix of cursive and print together?  I do!  There are so many combinations in this set- it's perfect for every occasion!

I started out with a kraft card base, embossing it with the large polkadot embossing folder by Stampin' Up!  I stamped out the roses from the Love Grows set with peach, coral, and yellow ink on to  watercolor paper.  Then I watercolored over each one with the same color they were stamped in. I also flicked a little coral mist over the top and let it all dry.

Once it was dry, I stamped my sentiment with black Archival ink.  It's such a pretty crisp black ink!  I stamped the larger word first and then added the smaller words to the top and the bottom.  You could easily line them all up on your stamping block and stamp them at the same time, too!

Would you like to win “Simply Sentimental”?

This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 
Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)! Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs release posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Tuesday, August 19th at 9pm CDT to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Wednesday, August 20th. 
Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Taheerah Atchia

Lydia Brooke

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Crafty Math-Chick

Shellye McDaniel

Jess Moyer

Stephanie Muzzulin

Danielle Pandeline

Tessa Wise
Chitra Nair (Guest Designer)

I'm so happy you stopped by today!  I hope you get a chance to stop by all the blogs- don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win!

Newton's Nook Designs August Release- Hanging Around

It's release week for Newton's Nook Designs!  Today we are featuring an adorable set called Hanging Around- it includes many cute animals just hanging around! :)  Here is what I made:

I love the little opossum in this set!  We used to have a opossum that would look in the window of our city apartment, sitting on a fence nearby.  He seemed so out of place!  He definitely wasn't as cute as this guy but made me smile just the same!

I paper pieced my images and fussy cut around them, leaving a bit of space around the line.  I stamped some clouds in the background and then added my cuttings over the top, stamping my sentiment just to the right.

I kept my design simple, using a little Stampin' Up! patterned paper and a chalkboard patterned scallop diecut.  I embellished with a bit of hemp twine to finish off the look.

Would you like to win “Hanging Around”?

This set will be given away to TWO lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 
Comment on the NND blog and Design Team and Guest blogs (see list below)! Two winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs release posts. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! You have until Tuesday, August 19th at 9pm CDT to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Wednesday, August 20th. 
Check out all the awesome Design Team Blogs below to enter:

Taheerah Atchia

Lydia Brooke

Larissa Heskett

Samantha Mann

Crafty Math-Chick

Shellye McDaniel

Jess Moyer

Stephanie Muzzulin

Danielle Pandeline

Tessa Wise

Chitra Nair (Guest Designer)

I hope you have time to pop through everyone's blog!  It's always so fun to see what each designer comes up with!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Waffle Flower Challenge: Among the Stars Card

Hello!  Today I have a fun card to share featuring this month's Waffle Flower Challenge sketch:

I used the new Starry Night set for this one- I just love this set!  I mixed it with the Surface-Tag Die-Scallop die cuts set.  I cut three different tags and mixed them together for this look.  I stamped everything with Encore! silver ink.  It was a little hard to photograph but so pretty in real life!  

I hope you have a chance to play along this time! Pop over to the Waffle Flower Blog to check out the details and also see what the rest of the team came up with!

Inspired By Project Runway: Episode 2

Hi!  Are you watching Project Runway tonight?  I just pushed play a few minutes ago but I'm enjoying it so far!  :)  Next week's card is going to be so fun!!
I thought I'd better pop on and share my card inspired by last week's episode- the unconventional movie challenge!  I was inspired to use an unconventional product of some sort and ended up using popcorn to stamp my background! I was also inspired by the awesome winning look- I loved all the wires and string hanging down over white with a pop of color.  Here is my card:

Didn't the popcorn create a fun look?  I used Delacata gold ink, (gold like Hollywood!) pressing my popcorn into it and then stamping with it on my white card base.  When it was dry, I added a wrap around velum panel to the top.  I stamped this fun bold sentiment from Paper Smooches Bold Buzzwords set.  I added some black and white striped twine, some peapod green solid twine, and some sequin trim around the card front to mimic the winning looks dangling wires.  I finished off my card with a few fun sequins from Jenni Bowlin Studios.

I think I smiled the whole time I created this card!  I love it when that happens! :)  It might have been the popcorn and candy I snacked on while making it- hee!  Gotta love the movie theme!

Newton's Know How: Watercolored Flamingos Card

Hello!  I have a Newton's Know-how up on the Newton's Nook Designs Blog today.  I thought I'd  share it with you here today too!  It features a fun watercoloring technique and one of my favorite new stamp sets, Flirty Flamingos:

I started with a kraft card base and splattered gray ink all over it.  I added a piece of coral striped patterned paper from the Teresa Collins Designs Something Wonderful 6x6 pad to the card front.  Next, I diecut a piece of watercolor paper into with a journaling card shaped die by Taylored Expressions.  I stamped the flamingo and sentiment with Jet Black Staz On ink.
Now comes the fun part!

I pulled out my favorite blue, coral, and yellow ink pads along with a bit of water in a cup.  I also

pulled out a bunch of q-tips!  Yep, that's what makes the great dotted look! :)

I took turns dotting colors onto my image until it was all filled in.  I let layers dry and then added a little more for depth.  I've made a video to show the technique a little better- enjoy!

I hope you try out this fun technique for yourself!  I love the dotted look and can't wait to try it again soon!

You're Lovely Card

Do you ever make a card with someone in mind?  I had my sweet Grandma Tillie in mind when I made this one.  She has always been a doodler and I remember her drawing pretty paisley and flower designs so well!  It's one of my favorite things to find around her house when I visit :)

Although I didn't doodle these pretty flowers- I used the Blossoming Buds stamp set by Paper Smooches- I did watercolor them myself!  I stamped the floral stamp onto watercolor paper with Jet Black Staz-on ink.  I used Kuretake watercolors to paint them in, layering them to get the colors I wanted.
Once It was dry, I stamped the sentiment, also from the Blossoming Buds set, with Versafine Onyx Black ink.  I splattered a little Calico Shine mist over the image and let it dry.
I kept my layout simple, adding some woodgrain patterned paper to the center of the card front and a bit of floral paper to the bottom- they are from Webster's Pages Ocean's Melody line.  I embellished with just a bit of twine from Lawn Fawn to split up the main panel.

I'm going to link this up to the Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge this week- it's an Anything Goes week!

I was able to craft with some of my friends over the weekend- Miriam and JJ came over to spend the day on Saturday.   It's so much more fun crafting with friends, isn't it? :)  They were kind enough to let me raid their stashes- the Kuretake watercolors were Miriam's and now that I've used the larger set, I may have to upgrade!  This adorable stamp set was JJ's and it's definitely on my list now, too!  Such enablers!!  Hee!

Hope you have a great day!