Rudolph Day - September

I bought this stamp last year but hadn't used it. All the cards I had seen using it were so pretty I decided to show it some love and ink. The first six attempts went in the bin! I was using markers to colour the stamp but it either didn't stamp properly or was too dark. Spritzing it with water was also a disaster. Eventually I turned to Youtube for some hints.

 

So this one was inked with Distress Inks then some painting added on top. I used some Hot Press Watercolour paper which is why it is creamy. I wasn't convinced that the stamp was stamping properly so I made a second card using just one colour.

 

 

Brown didn't seem very Christmassy so I added a liberal amount of gold stickles and a gold mat. I've since watched another video so I'll have another try with it before I decide that Brushstroke stamps are not for me!

Challenges:

Scraps of Life (Rudolph Day)

NBUS challenge

HLS Watercolour

HLS Christmas

Birthday Bouquet

My stash of birthday cards has got a bit depleted so thought it was time to do something about it. This stamp from Penny Black has been sitting on my desk for months now, so I finally inked it up.

 

I coloured it with Zig watercolor pens and a water brush. The white background looked a bit stark and unfinished so I brushed on some distress inks - Old Paper and Spun Sugar, mounted it onto Mint Macaron card and added a sentiment strip.

 

Challenges:

Colour Throwdown - mustard, pink and green

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour - AG

Happy Little Stampers Birthday

NBUS

Cardz4Galz

Peace On Earth

This was a bit of an experiment. I found,  tucked away at the back of a drawer, a pack of watercolour cards. I stamped the image, a magazine freebie and NBUS with Ink 3 no colour ink. My idea was that it would just look as if it had been watercoloured.

However it just didn't look right to me. So I very carefully went round the outline with a grey Unipen.The sentiment from the same set of freebies was stamped in grey ink. That looked much better but I'm not sure I like the featureless faces. I really want to add eyes, nose and mouth, but think I'll try that out on a piece of scrap paper!

Challenges:

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge

NBUS

Time Out Challenge - Festive

Butterflies for Less is More

It's a long time since I played at Less is More, but I has a spare hour or two so decided that I would join in with their current challenge of butterflies. I also needed a female birthday card!

 

I searched through my dies for some butterfly ones - I think these are some very old ones from Spellbinders and also rummeged in the snippets drawer and found a piece of brusho'd paper that had been much of a success. I cut the two embossed butterflies out and glued them flat straight onto the card blank. Then I had just enough left to cut out the openwork top layer of both and attached them by just glueing the body down. The hemp card blank is another old item from my stash which came from Card Creations before it changed hands, sadly I don't think they stock them any longer.

 

Challenges:

Less is More - Butterflies

Allsorts - Butterflies

Moving Along With The Times - Anything goes

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge - Anything Goes

Collage flower

I've had this stamp from Chocolate Baroque for sometime waiting to be used and I've finally got round to inking it up.

After I had stamped it I added a stencil background around the image with DI Antique Linen. The image was watercoloured with DI Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint. Then I cut it out with a Julie Hickey die.

Challenges:

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge

Addicted to Stamps and More

NBUS

Stamping Sensations

Fuschia

After a fraught few days - five- I finally managed to get back into Bloglovin yesterday. As I use it to read all the blogs I follow I have had quite a few to catch up with.

I finally got round to using this lovely Penny Black stamp. I used Zig watercolour markers to paint the image and a water brush to blend and move the ink around.

I actually stamped it on white card but it looks very creamy on the photo. The mat is also much closer in shade to the purple on the flowers than it looks here. Both the white and purple mats are out of my snippets drawer.

I would like to join in with the following challenges:

Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge 

NBUS Challenge

Pixies Snippets Playground

Rudolph Day - February 2022

Well it's time for the second Rudolph Day of the year. Rummaging through my drawer of unfinished bits I found some pre-printed stamped toppers from SSS that had come in some of their kits. This was the first one I found and as my watercolour paints were still on my desk from a painting workshop I decided to use them to colour it.

I then simply mounted it onto a red card blank and added some red twine. 

 

 

The second one is also watercoloured but is not my favourite! And the paint looks very blotchy in the photo but not IRL.

A Bit Later Than Intended

I fully intended to post again last week after my valentine card but time seemed to run away from me. Anyway better late than never, so here are my latest paintings.

This one was following a tutorial by Rebecca de Mendonca with a view of Dartmoor.

 

The second was also a tutorial from Rebecca . Both were done using Unison soft pastels.

 

The third one is watercolour done on a Zoom workshop with Alison C Board.

Hope you like them! I need to get them mounted and framed now but they all have to be made specially as I still haven't managed to paint anything standard size!

Great Tit

I recently did an online Workshop with Matthew Palmer to paint a Great Tit. As it was only a small picture I decided to make it into a card. 

I matted it onto grey card twice to give it a good frame.No sentiment as I will add that when I send it to someone.I would like to share this at HLS watercolour challenge. It’s the first time I have joined in since leaving the DT team! 

HLS Watercolour June

It's the first of the month (well it is in Australia!) so it's time for the first of the monthly challenges at Happy Little Stampers. Sadly this will be my last DT make as I made the decision to step down when I was diagnosed with Polymyalgia in March. I need to keep the stress levels down. But I'm hoping to join ib from time to time.

  As always it is Anything Goes but must include watercolouring.

 

 I used a Penny Black stamp which I love and did some no line watercoloring. I used White Knights watercolours.

Do pop over to the challenge blog where you will find lots of inspiration from the rest of the DT and I hope to see you joining in.

HLS Watercolour May

It's the start of May in Australia, although not quite here yet! So that means it's time for the new HLS Wateercolour Challenge.

As always it is Anything Goes. I decided to use a Simon Says Stamp image that I hadn't used before, and chose a pastel colour palette. I smooshed the background with Speckled Egg and Scattered Straw Distress Ink.,then fussy cut the image.

I added it to a card blank with an aperture to frame it nicely.

Do check out the rest of the DT makes and I hope to see you joining in.

HLS Watercolour April

Another month has flown by and it's time for the new HLS watercolour challenge. As always it is anything goes.

 

I have used a new stamp that has been sitting on my desk since before Christmas. I have to thank Darnell for enabling me!

I watercoloured it with some Whit Knights paints that had been mixed for another project - waste not, want not!

I added some splatters and a Uniko sentiment before matting onto some matching purple card.

Be sure to check out the challenge blog for more inspiration.

HLS Watercolour Hare

It's time for the March challenge at Happy Little Stampers. There are no optional twists this year and I'm finding it really hard to think of what to do.

 This is my second attempt. The first went in the bin! I started by making a Brusho background in blues and yellow. When it was dry I stamped the Pink Ink Hare in Versafine Clair Nocturne and added some extra colour to his ears. I still wasn't happy with it so used some of the smaller stamps from the set to fill in the background.

I added a blue mat and called it finished.  Do pop over to the challenge blog and see what my fellow team mates have come up with.

HLS Watercolour Blue Daisies

Hi and welcome to the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour challenge for February. This year there is no optional twist, so Anything Goes!

 

 I thought I'd make something floral. To start with I stmped and embossed the flowers in white then I painted water generously onto the card and then dropped in some blue, yellow and a tiny drop of red which I let spread across the paper.

I painted the petals with a stronger mix of the blue and added some orange to the centres. I added a few orange splatters to tie them in but the picture looks as though they are just mistakes! The sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Twilight.

Do check out the wonderful inspiration on the challenge blog from my fellow team members and hopefully you will join in.

Rudolph Day January 2021

Here we are at the first Rudolph Day of 2021. An excellent way of getting ahead with those Christmas cards.

Just before last Christmas I did a watercolour workshop and the last project was to paint a robin. After I had done mine I photographed it then took it into Craft Artist. I added some holly and a Merry Christmas sentiment then printed it onto glossy paper and put it on a white card blank. I think I’ll be making a few more of these when it gets nearer Christmas 

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Wattle I Do

Happy New Year to you all! Let's hope that this one will be better than last year.m

 

Welcome back to the Happy Little Stampers Watercolour Challenge after our six month break.  The theme is Anything Goes. No optional twist this time.

I have used a new stamp set from Paper Rose called Wattle I Do. I stamped it with Ink on 3 and watercolored the image, Once dry I added coloured pencil to add detail. It looked a bit bare so I sponged Antique Linen Distress ink lightly through a stencil. I've no idea what make it is as I've had it for ages.

It still looked unfinished when I put it on a white card blank so added a mat in Sahara Sand. I'll add a sentiment when it gets used. 

There's lots of lovely inspiration on the challenge blog and new design team members too who would love to have a visit from you.

Santa

I have been doing a Zoom watercolour class run by the local library. Now I am definitely not an artist but have been pleasantly surprised at what I actually could do with instruction.The last two classes of the course were a portrait. Now I have never ever drawn or painted a portrait in my life before. The reference photo was of a man with a beard and glasses wearing a panama hat, black waistcoat and with a cigar. We had to turn him into Santa!

This is my attempt. To my surprise I did manage to at least paint something that was recognisable as a face.

I turned it into a Christmas card with Craft Artist but decide it looked too scary to send to anyone!

 

 

 

 

 

Watercolour in Lockdown

I think lots of people have tried some sort of new craft while we have been in lockdown. I spent some time doing Zentangle then decided to try my hand at watercolour painting and not a stamped image.

When we are on a cruise there is always an art class which I would have liked to try but thought that I wouldn’t be any good at it. An opinion that was proved in my mind when I saw the finished pictures!

However one of the tutors has been posting a weekly challenge on the cruise group’s Facebook page. She posts a picture to copy and provides some tips and advice. I decided to have a go as if it was awful no one needed to see it! To my surprise the first one I did was at least recognisable, if not very good.

 So here we are with:

Week 1.
 

Week 2.

Week 3.

Week4.