Creating and Connecting

Thank you  Just Us Girls Challenge  for having me back as guest designer this week.  The theme "Black, Gold, and Cream" brought so many ideas to my mind, but I have been playing with alcohol inks again recently and had never tried this color combination and wanted to try it.  I hope you like how it turned out and that it inspires you to try something new. My tips for this week are short: 1. To avoid the ink from sticking to your dies or die cutting machine magnet or plates add a layer of wax paper before you die cut. The metallic inks seemed to be dry, but I don't know what would have happened if I would have waited longer.  I am not much for waiting.  You can ask my husband:) So after about 15 minutes I did my die cutting. Here is a photo of how I learned what I learned.  (And since then I learned I could remove all this with isopropyl alcohol...Yay!!!) 2. I found that the metallic alcohol inks work best when you lay down a lot of 91% is...

I could not resist making another card with the extra images I had stamped and embossed for my last card, from the Altenew Golden Garden stamp set! And for inspiration in design for today's card I used the February 2020 Altenew Inspiration Challenge and the Flower Challenge #41 "Add Leaves". I am joining these challenges with today's card. If you would like more on how I watercolor or arrange my florals, my last post was made with the same stamp set and the same general method.  I include a video on my watercoloring in my recent post. I used different colors and arranged the florals in a different pattern. You can find it here: Watercoloring Altenew's Golden Garden Stamp Set      Thank you for stopping by! Have a great day! Betty If you enjoyed your visit please click on the "Follow by email" button on the right side of this post and follow me on my journey. P.S.  I am so happy to hav...

I am super happy to be back again to be a guest designer at the  Just Us Girls Challenge where the Trend Week theme is "stripes". I thought it was a good time to do a little watercoloring with some florals from Altenew's Golden Garden stamp set to add to my stripes. Oh wait, any time is a good time to watercolor florals!  I used Crafter's Companion Torn Panel background die for my stripes. Tips on how I achieved this look in watercoloring: 1. My basic method usually is that I work in two layers. In the first layer I add color with some depth. In the second layer I add more color and depth, and texture. 2. Use the right amount of water in your little "well" made with the embossing. Make sure it is lightly pigmented.  Then you add darker pigment into the light. You know you are at least close to the right amount if, when you add the darker pigment it spreads fairly slowly and doesn't take over the whole area.  If the pi...

Alcohol inks are addicting! I had so much fun with friends this past weekend, crafting and laughing! They wanted to try alcohol inks with no arguments from me.  I did a "twofer" out of the background and I can not choose a favorite. Tips: 1. I use my Copic marker refills and 91% Isopropyl alcohol.  Choose 3 or 4 colors that are similar color, with some being lighter, others darker.  I chose 3 cooler reds, RV02, R89 and RV99, and 1 warmer red, R46.  If you follow me you know I like to mix warm (bluer tone) colors and cool (yellower tone) colors. 2. Drop 3 or 4 drops of each color on Yupo paper cut to 5 by 8 inches (half of a sheet). I put the darker colors more toward the center and the lighter colors on the edges. I put is down in a gentle "S" shaped pattern at a diagonal. 3.  Blow it around with a straw or air compressor to spread the ink.  I have tried both and find I get similar results, but find the air compressor is easi...

It is a beautiful day because I got back into my craft room, and I am using the Beautiful Day stamp set by Altenew. My card was inspired by 2 challenges that I am joining.  Virginia at the  Altenew January 2020 Inspiration Challenge  chose this amazing color combination. Don't you just love it! And the theme at the Flower Challenge  inspired me to make a shaped card.  I love that challenges bring out cards that I otherwise likely would not come up with.   Tips: 1. Stamp your images and emboss them with your white embossing powder on your favorite water color paper.  2. Water color your images and then cut them out.  I used Daniel Smith watercolor combination including Quinacridone Lilac, Rose of Ultramarine, Cadmium Orange Hue, Permanent Green Light, Sap Green and Under Sea Green.  I repeated a bit of the purply pink in the orange flowers and the green leaves as well as on its own on some flowers for some...

I made 2 cards with the Altenew Rose Flurries 3D Die Set , one using colored cardstock and one using copic markers to color white cardstock. These cards are inspired by the Altenew November 2019 Inspiration Challenge. For my first card I pulled out all my miscellaneous colored cardstock that matched the inspiration challenge colors.  I was short a couple of colors so I blended some ink onto my darkest color to deepen the color for the last layer to die cut. I die cut all my layers, but this is where I ran into a few problems. I had mixed up wrong colors for some of the layers of the flowers.  (I was curious to try a different method so that prompted the second card.) Once I had re-die cut the missing layers I glued all my pieces together and glued them onto a cream color A2 sized card and stamped my sentiment which is from the Altenew Build a Flower Sakura Blossom  stamp set.     For my second card I use the layering gui...