Stamperia Leftovers Cards

Hello all!

Today I have some Stamperia cards, watercolor bookmarks (in progress) and a little idea. 

A while back I bought a bunch of Stamperia pads and they didn’t disappoint. In fact, the cards I’m about to show you were made from mostly bits and pieces that were left over. I usually make larger cards, but these are smaller cards, which are nice to give too. 

I cut out the little teacups, the birds, the heart and the love sign and applied them with foam tape.

This one was super simple. It’s just two flat layers with a popped up flower.

This one was embellished with a metal music note clip. I did have to use two different background papers for the background. Super easy though! This is what I love about these papers. They’re incredibly easy to work with; the cards seem to make themselves.

I also made some watercolor bookmarks. I’ve already given some away, so these are ones I’m still working on. Once I’ve done the initial painting, I go back and add details, usually with golds and iridescent colors. In fact, I want to share a couple of really nice paints below. First the bookmarks. 

You can see the gold splatters on the center bookmark. I’ll be adding writing and some shimmer to the other two before they’re completed. 

The reason I am making these bookmarks is because they make such a great addition to cards. I add a packet of fancy tea and a cute little saying, and it’s a little bit of a gift. 

This is the front of the bookmark, and the back of the bookmark is behind the tea in its package below.

Note also the writing on the sticker that seals it. 

“You time! A book, a sip of tea and solitude!”

You see, everyone seems to be stressed and depressed these days. People are worn out, feeling helpless and hopeless because of the things happening in the world. On top of that are the every day issues that come up in their personal lives, plus unusual sicknesses and outside pressures and it’s all just too much. I feel it too. 

I believe the best way to fight these feelings is to come together in unity.  Do what we can to encourage, lift people up and let them know someone out there still cares. It’s a small gesture, I know, but it’s a start. A handmade (or store bought) card with a bookmark and tea. Or maybe hot chocolate. Whatever. 

Just something to tell them you care, and to take time for themselves to relax, heal and get rejuvenated. So that’s my little idea. Super easy to do but thoughtful.

So about the shimmery paints. When I was going through my rock painting phase a while back (so short I never shared it), I was introduced to a couple of acrylics that are just lovely. A picture is probably best. Sorry about the yellow background…it’s watercolor paper. Anyway, if you want a little shimmer, these are awesome! I used the dragonfly glaze on the dragonfly bookmark above.

I have a fabric card ready, but I’ll wait until the next post. Hope you enjoyed these. Have a great week! 

Blessings,

Carmen

Matted Watercolor Art and Textile Art

Making cards is something I love to do, but I felt as if a new approach was in order. I made up a watercolor and ink painting and mounted it inside this 8x10” Matt. This is a closed Matt ready for framing. It is a bright white, but photos are hard to get right sometimes.

It’s already sealed in a crystal clear bag, I had forgotten to take a photo before doing so, but that’s ok. This one is watercolor with doodling. 

There were also black matts available, and I had made up some textile art to fit. This is also in an 8x10” matt, also sealed in a bag. 

This one was a bit of work. I use heat n bond ultra for the cat, then embroider the background. The saying is made the same way I make my labels (post prior to this one). The pussy willows are made of quilt batting and glued in place. The stars and whiskers are made with metallic thread. 

Well, that’s this weeks post for me. What have you been working on? 

I’ve been working on baby boy cards and some small pouches recently, including wet bags. I’ll take pictures and show you those soon. 

Have a good weekend!

Blessings,

Carmen

Stamped and Hand Drawn Art on Watercolour Backgrounds

Hello there!

I’m so happy we’re almost through the worst of winter here in the interior of British Columbia! Brighter days are ahead! 

I’ve been working on some watercolor backgrounds lately. Some were recently made and some were old ones I’d set aside some time ago. 

I went about doing one of my favorite things; adding ink or stamps to my backgrounds. I love to doodle and muck about with my supplies. Here are some of my works in progress. Not sure if these are done or if I’ll add more.

Hand drawn Pussy willows

Stamped Branches

Stamped Feathers. I added white ink as well

More backgrounds to play with!

These will be turned into cards soon. 

I recently bought some 8x10 Matts in both black and white with  backings. I plan to make larger art pieces with these soon.

Hope all is well in your part of the world!

Blessings!

Carmen 

Watercolor and Ink Cards

Hello!

Has anyone out there had snow yet? My son in Fort McMurray, Alberta has, and a friend of mine had to shovel herself out of two feet of snow today. Looks like winter has arrived in the north. 

Meanwhile, just south of us the town of Merritt has flooded, Princeton has flooded, Abbotsford is partially flooded, and I think all the highways and roads from the Interior of BC to Vancouver on the coast, are closed! Many are heading here and to Kelowna from Merritt, and flights out are in high demand.

The Coquihalla (coke-a-halla), the main highway from here to the coast has a bunch of mudslides. It was so bad a part of the road got swept away. There were people trapped between two mudslides that had to be air lifted out. I guess in part, it was to be expected with all the wildfires we braved this summer.

I wonder what other surprises 2021 still has in store for us? I am just watching the drama unfold online and hoping everyone is ok. I haven’t heard of anyone dying, so that’s good.

I’ve been busy today!

I’ve been pricing all my cards and other goods to sell. I have a variety of card types, so my pricing differs depending on what they are. 

Hand painted canvas cards ($8). These are canvases that were made into cards. Some are embellished with gemstone rough. These are originals, not prints.

 Watercolor and ink cards (6.50). These are watercolor painted backgrounds with either stamped and colored, or hand drawn subjects. Also originals, not prints.

Hand painted acrylic cards ($8). These are painted acrylics onto the card itself. Originals. 

Textile art cards ($12). These cards are sewn and hand stitched satin, cotton and lace, embellished with buttons and little sayings on cotton, framed in an aperture card that can be gifted as a card or framed and given as a gift.

Designer cards ($6). My regular cards that are pieced and embellished with various items. These come in two sizes. The smaller cards are $5,

 In addition I’m selling handmade fabric envelopes ($3)

 Bits of encouragement booklets which will make great small gifts or additions to a card (4.50).

 Soon I will have framed textile art, but it’s still in the works. The pricing on those will begin at $25.00

The two I have are 5” x 5” and will be featured in a post soon. 

I will ship purchased cards for actual shipping costs.

Looks like this is going to be a long post because I still have some cards to share. These are in the Watercolor and Ink category. These are 7” x 5” 

(this is a small 4.25 x 5.5 card, it’s $5)

And I think I’m going to leave you here because I have another post to prepare. I’m going to be doing up a Sleigh Ride post. Do you remember those? I did them in 2010 to 2012, a few posts close to Christmas with all kinds of Christmas ideas, decor, food, etc. 

I’m also doing a post where I’ll be linking up many of my free Christmas Digital Stamps for you to use. 

But first, a coffee!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Carmen

BRUTALLY HONEST SLOGANS

Update and Gemstone Faceting by the Mr.

With all that is going on in the world, I’m sure many aren’t aware that BC is once again burning. The nearest ‘out of control‘ fire is about 25 km away from us, and there’s fires burning all around. So that means smoke! Lots of smoke! Which also means staying inside. I am so grateful we had central air put in about two years ago, because the temperatures reached 50C for a couple of days, the high 40’s for at least a week, and now we’re in the mid 30’s (95F to 122F, if you’re wondering). So yea, a tad hot - - tinder dry - - and burny. I made that last word up because it’s true. 

Therefore, I’ve been doing lots of reading and keeping myself busy with random things. So this will be a really random post of the few things I’m working on. 

My ‘quilt-along‘ quilt is coming along nicely. There is some sashing to do and one more small block, then free motion quilting, but it’ll be done soon. 

I’ve also been making cards. The first set is watercolor with doodles. The last card is cut out designer papers with doodles. I love doodling. 

Those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been delving into herbs and oils. They’re coming along nicely, but slowly. I made a hot flash oil and a oil for dark circles under the eyes that I showed you last time. 

This is an antihistamine salve. Good for bug bites, allergic reactions, etc. it smells so nice.

This is a cayenne oil I made for using in salves. It’s bright red, but hard to see.  It’s been moved into an amber colored bottle for keeping. 

These are my dandelions from today that I’m drying.  

My basil, peppermint, chamomile and calendula are also drying.

My aloe Vera has been split into two pots since taking this photo. Here is an example of a failed attempt at a sunburn salve. I used the aloe Vera from the plant, but I didn’t break it down enough and you can see chunks of aloe in the salve. It smells amazing and will probably still work, but I’m not happy with it so will do it again. 

Honestly though, I’m loving playing with this. I’m still learning about herbs and can’t wait to make more.

Take a gander at this photo of my echinacea plant. Isn’t she gorgeous? She got some watering just before the photo was taken, so she’s a bit shiny. 

Last but not least, I want to show you my husbands hobby. Since retiring this year, he’s spending more time on faceting stones. He’s been buying gemstone and man made rough for years and so he has lots of material to work with. He also buys old silver jewelry and settings. 

This is a man made opal he cut and put into a silver ring he made for me.

Check out this ruby. It was a gift for a friend, I love this cut. 

Here’s another one he cut. My birthstone is emerald, but this is made from YAG,

 It is a yttrium aluminum garnet.

Here’s something most people don’t see. 

It’s a stone he cut along with one of the bules he cuts them from, a cobalt blue spinel.

 

This little beauty is an amethyst he cut. He’s a pretty talented guy! 

Well, that’s it for today. My random mix of crafts. I hope you’re all having a creative summer too.

Blessings,

Carmen

Easy Watercolor Cards

I've been having a lot of fun making watercolor cards. They are not time consuming at all, well except for the drying time, but if you want to you can just dry it with a heating tool. 

Here is a page of four card fronts I painted. I taped the watercolor paper down with masking tape and divided it up into 4 sections with the masking tape. Then just wet the watercolor paper, and start dropping some colors on it. I do all four at once and let them dry overnight. 

The next day I doodle. It's therapeutic for me and I often listen to music or a video while doodling. These are all freehand, but they're very easy patterns. If that is not your forte, just look on Pinterest for easy doodling ideas and copy them. Once that's done, I either hand write the greeting or stamp it and tape it on to the card front.

These are so much fun to do. As you can see, on the ones above I removed the masking tape and wrote the greetings in the blank spaces I created with the masking tape. 

Below are the first set put onto cards and into sleeves. The bottom set I stamped the greeting onto a separate piece of cardstock instead of masking a spot for the greeting. I will be putting those on cards but I wanted to show you them before doing so.

Anyway, you should try it. Super easy, fun and you have a card ready to send or give.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Doodles on watercolor

Hello everyone,

It’s kind of a somber looking day in the Loops, so I’ve just been playing. This is probably one of the most relaxing type of art I do because I’m doing it for me. I don’t care if it turns out or not and it gets my creative juices flowing. 

So here’s my creation - - it’s fun right?

I took some close ups so you could see some of the details of the doodling - - from left to right. 

I love doodling! Do you? 

Blessings!