Friends Gnome Matter What! by Janet

Valentine's Day has come and gone but it's the first step in the march toward spring. I was feeling in a pastel mood and the light spring colors of the season inspired the card I made this week. There's no easier way to get a soft look than by using water colors. I used my Karin Brushmarker Pros for my images. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a pro watercolorist but I do like to take my pens out occasionally. It's fun to stretch my skills and though it's not my best medium, I still enjoy trying. Most times, the results are worth the effort and besides, you can't get better if you don't practice!

My card features many different stamp sets. The vase and flowers come from 5922 - Bud Vase Set and 5919 - Long Stem Floral Set. Once I stamped and colored this composition, I fussy cut it out. This is the only image that didn't come with matching dies but fussy cutting it wasn't hard. Next I stamped two butterflies and a set of mushrooms from 5935 - Fairytale Houses Set. Once I colored them, I cut them out with their matching dies. I also cut a small piece of grass with a die in the set and water colored it.

The next step was to create a wide stitched frame from cream pearlized cardstock. To make the frame I used two dies from 5063 - Rectangle A2 Double Stitched Dies. I love making frames with this set because both the outside and the inside of the frame are imprinted with stitch marks. I added a rectangle of acetate behind the frame and then I applied two layers of foam tape around the window. Before doing more, I stamped the acetate window with the sentiment using StazOn ink so it wouldn't smear. 

The A2 card is a pre-printed one from my stash. However, I added a scrap of striped coordinating paper from one of my most favorite paper packs, 5893 - Easter S2 PP. I then mixed up the filler for the shaker. I chose clay shaped sprinkles, flowers, and clear beads. I added a few large dark pink and light pink flower sequins as well. I placed the shaker bits in the middle of the striped paper and then secured the frame in the center of the card with all the bits securely inside. 

Finally I could arrange my little scene on the frame. I cut the lattice out of matching cream cardstock using 5589 - Journal Pocket Set and glued it in place to create a little fence at the base of the frame. I composed the flowers, gnome and grass on the right corner and placed the mushrooms on the left. I folded the wings of the two butterflies and glued them in place too. Then for the finishing touch, I glued two small white seed beads on the heads of each of the butterflies.

And there you have it! Thanks so much for joining me here at the blog today. As always, please visit the Ai Store for the products I used and all the things you need for your card, journal, and tag making projects. Happy creating!

Janet - YouTube - Blog - Facebook - Instagram - Pinterest 

Faith, Hope, and Rustic Charm by Gennette Houghton

 

Welcome to Watercolor Weekend! My first card today was inspired by Bonnie’s new Bible Journaling series where the first segment is on hope. I was looking for quotes based on hope, and came across one that really spoke to me.

Grant me strength when I feel small.

Grant me faith when I lose sight.

Grant me HOPE when all seems lost.

Grant me grace in mornings light.

                          - Mary Davis

 For my first card I used the newly released 5919 Long Stem Floral with hand written words. I wanted it to be simple, I wanted the words to stand out, and I wanted it just to be a message.  Each stamp was inked in 565/969 and stamped off 3 times.  I wanted the lines to be fairly light, extending past the stem I used a pencil to write the words in.  Each flower was done in the following colors. 1^st flower - 837 and 249. 2^nd flower – 526 and 177. 3^rd flower – petals 025 and 026, center 947 and 969, and the stem in 126 and 177. 4^th flower – petals 676, center 947 and 969, stem 249. Using a very fine detail brush, I used the stem color to go over the penciled lines of each word. Once dry I then erased the pencil and fixed any areas on the words that needed it.  For a little depth, I placed just a slight shadow underneath each flower with 565. 5741 Valentines PP was used to mat my painting and card. 

My second card also features two of the newly released sets. 5923 Farmhouse Container, and 5918 Floral Long Stem Bouquet. I used 565 and 969 on the pitcher, stamped off twice then stamped my final image and pulled the color out of the lines. I then created a mask with post-it tape and masked the pitcher. Using 565 and 969 on the bouquet I stamped on the stamp positioner and then stamped off once more. Positioning the bouquet where I wanted it with the positioner and stamped it in.  

I then removed the mask and colored the pitcher with 312. Once dry I used first 947 for the rust with a little bit of 969 second to darken up some of the areas for a deeper rust look.  For the flowers I started with the bottom petals, working my way up in sections. I colored each petal with 993 first and worked my way around the flower, then used 933 starting at the base next to the center of the flower, pulling the color up only part way. I repeated this as I worked my way up to the top petals. 76 carrot orange Twintone was used for darkening between the petals and to add just a little bit of detail.  For the centers I started with 055, then 993 for some shading. 947 was used just along the very edge and placed in some dots throughout the center. 41 Chocolate Twintone was used to define the center and also darken some of the areas in the petals. 249 was used on the stems and leaves. 526 for the back ground color, 969 for the base with 565 for the shadow. 5065 Oval Double Stitched Die, the 4^th largest was used to cut out the image. 5727 Nested Oval, 6^th largest, to cut out the mat for the image. The card was matted with paper from 5892 Easter S2 PP.  Thank you for joining me, I hope you enjoyed my cards! Until next time! Create….Share….Inspire!