Roses for My Parents - Tombow Style!

Way back in May I made this for the Dirty Dozen Gallery called Art of Every Woman because it was inspired by my mom. I kept this card hidden away since then and recently gave it to my parents for the celebration of their 36th Anniversary :)

Whenever I think of feminine things, I think of my mom and her love of them. She has a collection of fine bone china very similar to the teacup in the picture and that's what made me use this particular Rose Stamp. I think that my Mom's china is a bit of a representation of her - Beautiful, resilient, memorable even with a few fine cracks along the way...or perhaps because of them! lol :D (Did I mention that I take after my mother?) *giggle*





I watercoloured up the rose with my tombow markers and then carefully added 5 coats of clear embossing powder to do the cracked glass technique. I really wanted the cracked glass rose to resemble the inside of a well loved teacup, where the tea makes fine cracks in the enamel over time. I chose to use very soft colours of patterned paper and continued the tones with the butterfly punchies and neutrals of the pearls.

I really love how soft the background palette is and that the roses really stand out against it even though they have been watercoloured with semi soft shades. I only wish that I had taken more photos of this card before I gave it to my parents!

For those of you who might be interested in learning how to watercolour like this, I will be teaching a six week online class for Watercolouring with Tombow Markers over at My Creative Classroom and it starts October 1st. Enrollment is open now ;)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Local King Rubber stamps
Paper: Gina K, Sand, My Mind's Eye DP, Inque Boutique DP, Watercolour
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Sand, Pink, Versa Mark
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Coluzzul, Pretties Kit, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Waterbrush, Corner Punch, Ribbon, Martha Stewart Butterfly and Doily Edge Punch, Kaiserkraft Pearls

Lighthouse

I realized this morning that my blog posting has been really sporadic lately...sorry about that! I am busy in my crafting oasis working on my Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Peek samples for the end of the month :) I can't wait to show you all what I have been working on! For now, you will just have to feast your eyes upon a card that I made a while ago from my vault of card archives! lol




I have always been fascinated by old sepia photos and monochromatic paintings. This was my attempt at it which of course took a different direction when it came to the water! I couldn't bring myself to paint it anything but a gorgeous shade of blue. My inspiration for this colours in this card came from the K&Co. Designer Paper. It seemed to fit right in with my lighthouse stamp that I had been itching to use :)



I don't know why, but whenever I think anything nautical I think of aged brass and rope. Perhaps the brass fittings on ships and the thick ropes that they use to tie down boats? I still don't know... but I went with it *wink*. I also used the captain's wheel as a quasi artistic touch at a sunrise (basically there was a big empty yellow space that needed something in it and the wheel worked) Hehehe


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Local King Rubber Stamps
Paper: PTI White, Close to Cocoa, K&Co Dp, Watercolour
Ink: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Re-Inkers
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Aqua Painter, Hodgpodge Hardware, Twine, Dimensionals, Cloud Stencil, Sponges, Crystal Effects, Photo Corner Punch

Washed Ashore...

I think that I must be a fairly odd duck! I really enjoy making masculine and nautical cards (I live on an Island...go figure!). I know that so many people have a hard time coming up with something to make that special man in your life - I however am the opposite! I have a VERY hard time coming up with "cutesy" cards!


Some of my favourite stamp sets that I use for my masculine cards are: Lovely as a Tree, Coast to Coast, and Up in the Air. I have recently started purchasing some stamps by a local company called Local King Rubber Stamps and that is where the set for this card came from. It's called Still Life. I love these stamps!!! They are thick red rubber, deeply etched and come already mounted on thick ez-mount for your acrylic blocks! They are lovely to work with and clean up nicely! Some other masculine sets that I purchased from them are Antique Autos and Adventure. Stay tuned for creations made with them :)


This card got me all excited to spend the day at the beach - that was not in our forecast today! The day started out beautiful so we got all packed up and ready to go, the cue the thunder and rain!!!! The temperature dropped, it poured and well...just got kinda icky and gross out! No beach for us today! I think that I will keep my fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Still Life
Paper: Papertrey White, Creamy Caramel, Watercolour, Cosmo Cricket DP
Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Craft Knife, Brads, Eyelets, Twine, Dimensionals, Aqua Painter, Markers, Watercolour Wonder Crayons

PS - Some of you wonderful people have asked to subscribe to my blog. I think I have managed to get a feedburner working and you can click on the link in the upper right hand corner of my blog - Please leave a comment and let me know if it does not work! Thanks everybody!!

To Sparkle, or not to sparkle?...that is the Question.

I love sparkles. In fact, I collect them...on my craft table, on my clothing, stuck to my face, lol - well you get it! Once you open the bottle, be prepared to wear it for at least a couple of days!

I recently created this card and I can't help but think that it needs a little something extra to make it really special. I have been debating whether to add some glitter, but my problem is where? Do I coat the flowers or just out line a couple of bits? This question has been haunting me for 2 days! I will probably add some glitter to the card later today, because a little glitter never hurts does it? :)

I just got this beautiful Birds of Paradise stamp in the mail from a Canadian company called Local King Rubber Stamps. I purchased it off of ebay and I am in love with the quality of them! This stamp was so easy to colour and the thicker outlines made it easier to cut out to make it 3-D.

Just a tip...when I cut out anything to pop it up, I always outline the cut edges of the paper with a black marker so that it appears to blend seamlessly.

This stamp has been heat embossed with black embossing powder to create a lovely shine and a little bit of texture to the card. All of the layers have been sponged with a co-ordinating ink and the blues layer has also been stamped with a Bamboo stamp (also by Local King Rubber Stamps)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Local King Rubber Stamps - Birds of Paradise and Bamboo
Paper: Papertrey White, Basic Black, Unknown DP and K&Co. Designer Paper
Inks: Stazon, Versa Mark, Boardering Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, SU Markers
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Sewing Machine, Aqua Painter, Markers, Sponges, Dimensionals