PaperFections

Finally Fall!

Hi, everyone! I think Fall has finally made its way down to south Texas and to celebrate cooler temps, I have a watercolor die cut tutorial to share with you today: Find out all the details on how to create this card today over in Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom. Read more →

Angel on High

Hi, Friends! Today I have stepped out details on how to watercolor Pink Ink’s beautiful new Angel on High #6108L. So let’s get started! 1. Stamp angel and sentiment with Versamark ink, then gold heat emboss. The embossing helps to keep the watercolor contained on finely detailed images! 2. Watercolor sky with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, using broad waterbrush. 3. Watercolor angel dress with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, using detailer waterbrush. 4. Add depth to folds of dress with darker Worn Lipstick Distress Marker; blend with waterbrush if needed. 5. Color skin with Antique Linen Distress Marker; blend with waterbrush if needed. 6. Watercolor wings with Fossilized Amber Distress Ink. Concentrate more color under the rows of feathers, to help create depth and accent them. 7. Watercolor hair with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. Add Spun Sugar Distress Marker to cheek; blend with waterbrush if needed. To finish the card, I trimmed the watercolored panel between the angel and sentiment, and also trimmed a little less than 1/4” off the top of the panel. The panels were separated and adhered with foam tape onto a white card base, with an accent strip of gold foil paper adhered to the card base... Read more →

Copic Coloring Flowers

Coloring is one of my favorite past times, especially flowers -- I love all the bright, vivid colors found in nature! Imagine my excitement when Marianne Walker came out with a new Coloring Foundations series of instructional books (published by Imagination International Inc, the North American distributor for Copic markers)! One of the books in the series is Coloring Flowers with Copic Markers: This amazing guide will walk you through coloring both simple blossoms and complex flowers (such as the pink stargazer lily image I colored, shown with the book in the above photo), and how to expertly finish your colored images, using an included unique Color Matching Chart! You'll also learn some great tips, like different ways to create texture, patterns, and variegated colors; creating dimension and depth, along with how to work with one of my favorite (but sometimes a little tricky) colors -- red! Also included in the book are blank practice images which you can photocopy onto your own cardstock as many times as you'd like, so you can keep practicing different color combos, etc.! The pink star gazer lily image I colored (above) is from a separate Coloring Flowers Line Art Pack, which includes 12... Read more →

Wee Bit Wicked Faux Shaker Card

Today I have a fun watercolored faux shaker card to share, to get you ready for a happy Halloween week! I hope you'll join me over on the Taylored Expressions blog today for all the details! Read more →

Distress Ink Watercolor

Are you getting ready for "the most wonderful time of the year"? This quick and easy watercolor background will have you ready in no time! I hope you will join me today over in the CLASSroom for all the details on how to create this card using Tim Holtz Distress Inks and more of the newest Essentials by Ellen Holiday 2 Release stamp sets created by Julie! Read more →

Essentials by Ellen Holiday Release 2 & Giveaway!

Hello, and welcome to the Holiday II Essentials by Ellen Release Hop! I’ll be showcasing several of the new stamp sets and dies on my post today (and so will a lot of very talented designers!) ... AND there's a giveaway, so keep reading! GIVEAWAY I get to give away an Essentials by Ellen stamp set -- the winner may chose ANY Essentials by Ellen brand stamp set (maximum value $15) currently in stock at Ellen Hutson.com! To enter my giveaway, please leave a comment on today’s post with a valid email address by October 27th! (This giveaway is now closed and the winner will be announced Friday, Oct 30 over at the CLASSroom blog). Thank you so much for your very kind comments and for entering! There is also a crazy good Grand Giveaway in the CLASSroom! To enter, be sure to leave a comment there, also by October 27th with a valid email address. Winners will be announced at the CLASSroom on Friday, October 30th! PROJECT #1 (All bold products are linked below in the supply section. Click on any photo for a larger view.) My first project uses Julie's fun new Advent stamps with her new Santa's... Read more →

Watercolor Emboss

Today I'm sharing a fun watercolor emboss technique in this week's Taylored Expressions newsletter. If you are not signed up to receive TE's newsletters, you can visit their blog HERE to subscribe for future newsletters AND find an archived link to this tutorial ... I hope you'll check it out! Read more →

Blessing Mix

Today I am looking ahead to next month and the start of the holiday season -- Thanksgiving! I have this fun "Blessing Mix" recipe and gift, with custom tag over on Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom blog . . . I hope you'll join me there to get all the details on how you can spread some Fall cheer (including the recipe)! Read more →

Welcome Fall

Happy Fall, all! Today I'm helping to ring in October and what is supposed to be Fall for most of the country ... but it's still just a tad bit warm down south where I live! Maybe this fun card will help spread a little cooler weather cheer! (All bold products are linked below in the supply section) I used Pink Ink's beautiful new Picket Fence Pumpkins for this breezy scene and stamped it onto an Inchie Arts NEW 2" x 4" matboard rectangle art square (called Swatches -- the come in either white or black) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. This is a brand new size of matboard from Inchie Arts ... I think it will be a great size addition to their current line -- don't you?!! Next, I watercolored the image with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers I recently picked up from my friends at Scrap-Mart when they were in town for a papercrafting convention. This was my first time using the markers, so I had a little bit of a learning curve, but love the finished look of them! And the matboard swatch really held up well to the watercoloring! See the nice dimension the... Read more →