New Release at So Suzy Stamps SAM Club

It's time for the So Suzy Stamps March Release for the Stamp of the Month Club!

I'm a sentiment girl.  I just love sentiments.  So, for my project this month, I thought I would watercolor an ocean scene and provide that as the backdrop for my sentiment.

I also have a thing for skies.  I loooove to paint skies so I broke out my Twinkling H20 shimmering paint and went to work.  I say work, but it's more like play!

I simply spritzed some water into my paint pots, then used a paintbrush to fill in random color.  To vary the intensity, I add some of my paint to my craft mat or acrylic block and spritz more water to dilute for various shades.  I almost always use reds, oranges, purples and blues for my sky and also a little yellow. 

Notice the white sailboat?  I hand drew and painted that with DecoArt Americana Satin Cotton Ball paint.  I figured I needed a boat to go along with my sentiment, right?  And birds..... got to have birds.  My entire scene is free-handed with the exception of the sentiment.  The birds were drawn with my black Tombow dual brush marker.

 

(**Giveaway!!  There's a contest that starts today.  The person who enters the most cards into the SAM Club FB group, and you must be a member, will win a set of exclusive stamps that will NOT be released!  Wow, that is soooo cool.  Someone will own stamps that no one else has!  Contest runs 3/10-3/31/16.)

I wanted to soften my sky a bit, so once it was completely dry, I used a sponge dabber and inked with my Powder Puff white chalk ink.

Isn't this sentiment just fabulous?  Plus, Irish blood runs through my veins so that makes it extra special for me.  This sentiment is compacted into a paragraph format so obviously, I took liberty on my project and spread out my sentiment to cover the span of my scene.  This is easily accomplished by masking the part of the stamp you don't want to use by adding tape to cover up the unwanted part.  That's where my washi tape comes in handy, although scotch or masking tape will work as well.

 

I hope you enjoyed my project and handy tips.  Check out Suzy's website and maybe do some shopping while you're at it.   Then take a look at the SAM club.  Exclusive membership gets you special stamps each month, plus membership into a private Facebook group, fun giveaways and more! 

The next quarter starts in April and it's already open for sign-ups.  I've already had a sneak peek at future releases and they are soooo fun!  You won't be disappointed!  If you love coastal, beachy, nautical fun..... sign up!  Membership can sell out quick so don't wait.

http://www.sosuzystamps.com/stamp-of-the-month-club/

Additional supplies:

Neenah Heavyweight cardstock

Bristol Strathmore 300 series watercolor paper

Ranger Black Archival Ink

Also linking to:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Make Your Own Background

#sosuzystamps #sosuzysamclub #sam #samclub #stampamonth #cardmaking #scrapbooking #diy #cre8time #poolside #beach #flipflops #beachy #ocean #waves #tropical #irish #proverb #ships #paint #watercolor #birds #seabirds #seagulls #decoart #cottonball

Watercolor Christmas Sky

 My life has been crazy hectic lately.  Last night, I finally had some "me" time and sat down to do a little painting. I've actually used 2 different stamp sets here.  I masked the yellow star from the Twinkle Twinkle Unity set and the sentiment is from The First Noel SVG kit.

I also added some twinkling glitter stars which really don't show up well in the first picture.  Wish I had a camera that made my glitter twinkle when I snap the picture!  I used my Twinkling H20's to paint the sky, and distress markers and ink for the sentiment.  Simon Says Stamp is having a challenge that also involves the use of stars.  I plan on entering my project into that challenge as well as the Unity Friends with Flair challenge.

 

Additional Supplies: Tim Holtz distress markers, Colorbox Saddle Ink,

DecoArt Glamour Dust in Crystal,

Zig 2 way glue marker 

#simonsaysstamp #unitystamps #decoart #cre8time #wisemen

 

Watercolor Palm tree

I created this card for a challenge over at Mountain Plains Crafters but wanted to feature it here in more detail on my blog.

It's all free-hand except for the sentiment which is from the Unity Stamp Co kit called Bunches of Love, one of my favorite kits designed by the fabulous Lisa Arana!

I drew my tree with distress markers, then  watercolored, also using Twinkling H20's shimmering Summer Fun colors paint.  The paper on the side is a cork board design by Karen Foster Designs and enhanced with burlap trim.  I love how summery and colorful this is.

Go check out all the other nautical/beach inspiration at the MPC link above and link up to our challenge.  There's a prize up for grabs!

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Pumpkin love

I recently won this sweet stamp set from Waffle Flowers Crafts and wanted to make something a little different with the poppy pod.  So, I turned it into pumpkins!  I masked the bottom of the pod and stamped it 3 times on cardstock, also masking the two outer pumpkins so the middle would look cropped.  I should have documented this process but I didn't as this was actually made over a couple days due to time factors and life getting in the way.  It happens, right?! 

After stamping the pumpkins with black ink, I colored with my distress markers and painted a little bit with Twinkling H20 shimmer paints for shine. 

Now, for the documented part;  I glued some burlap ribbon then took a strip of May Arts green net ribbon and folded it in half, glued the ends and left a gap.  I decided to fill that gap with an orange paper straw for fun and color.  I glued that to the burlap, then raised my pumpkins with pop dots.  The sentiment was heat embossed for a bolder look and was also part of this stamp kit.  The final touch is  Freckled Fawn neon enamel dots.  I love how this turned out!

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Inking silk flowers tutorial

I've got these pretty ivory silk flowers from May Arts Ribbon (Item# 439-09) that I want to ink up and embellish so I thought I'd share this tutorial with you.  I like plain white or ivory flowers that I can color to my choosing to match whatever card or layout that I want to coordinate with.   I ended up making a trio of Thank you cards and used the Unity Stamp sentiment kit, Everything More, one of my all time favorite kits.  Um, it's on sale for a ridiculous price right now of $8.  You need it!

 

 

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So to start....Don't have a craft mat?  Me either.  It's on my wishlist.  Instead, split open a used bubble mailing envelope and use these.  Awesome and cheap.  Plus it wipes clean with a dry paper towel!  Some of us have to budget our crafty purchases, right?  Anyway, I chose 3 different colors and styles of ink to color my flowers.  Marvy blending box in Sunset, October Afternoon Sprinklers in Carbon Copy and Twinkling H20 shimmering paint in purple

Next, stamp ink directly onto your surface or spray ink, etc.  When stamping ink, I did this about 3 times per batch.  Only sprayed once from the Sprinklers as a lot comes out.

 Mist with a squirt or two of water from a mister. Picked up this 2 pk mister for $3 at Walmart.  I used a paintbrush for the October Afternoon Sprinkler and the H20's to spread out better.

Dab your flower in mixture until you have complete coverage (no need to do both sides).  I did about 3-4 flowers from each batch of color.

Allow to air dry.  If you're in a hurry, you could use a heat tool.  Just make room to do one at a time or they'll all go flying!   All in all, it took me about 15 minutes or less to color these flowers but now that I know what I'm doing, I could probably cut my time in half next time.

 

Here's the final result of what I did with the flowers....I embellished each one differently, using sequins and burlap string for the pink.  I cut the edge off a strip of lace and made "stems" for the blue with white sequins and used some purple mesh and sequins for the purple flowers.  Each were coated with some Smooch Glitz glitter polish.  I even colored some white veins with a white gel pen on the blue flowers and did some more coloring on the flowers with yellow and white watercolor. 

Ya Like?

 

 

And for the final product.....

 

 

I'm entering these into the Unity Stamp Friends with Flair challenge and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes

 

Additional supplies: May Arts Ribbon olive mini raffia bow ribbon, Memento London Fog ink, Tim Holtz distress markers, Tim Holtz Brushed Cordorouy distress ink, American Craft Taffy Ink, Stickles green glitter glue, Cuttlebug embossing

Let not your heart be troubled

For those.of us who are crafty obsessed, we follow trends, blogs, company forums....you name it.  I'm a big fan of Teresa Collins products and follow her blog. 

I'm asking you to lift her family up in prayer as they deal with her husbands cancer.   Her recent post inspired me to make this card.  There's a lot of hurt and pain in this world.  But if you trust in Christ, you have hope.  Blessings to each one of you.

Sympathy card watercolor sky

I hear a lot from the crafting community that folks often don't like making sympathy cards.  I understand the reasoning behind it but I feel quite the opposite.  Enjoy is not the word I would use but I do feel a purpose in the creative process.  I also believe that when you pour your heart into a sympathy card, or any card for that matter, the recipient knows it is truly heartfelt.  

That is the goal.  Believing that this card will bring some measure of comfort.  That's what spurs me on when making a sympathy card.....maybe even distract from the pain and grieving, if only for a moment.

My Pinterest-click here

Supplies:  Unity Stamp Season under Heaven, Tim Holtz distress markers, Twinkling H20's Watercolor paint, Pink Paislee floral stamp, Pentel yellow and sepia watercolor brushes

Birds and gray skies

It's a beautiful day here in Alabama and I've made this watercolor card using my Twinkling H20's.  I just love the shimmering colors.  

The birdbath stamp is Inkadinkado and the sentiment is from the Unity Stamp set Jillibean Blossom Soup.  The designer paper is Crate Paper including the tag.  I made the bow from some old lace and pink American Crafts ribbon.  Lastly, there's a bit of May Arts Ribbon mini pink raffia bows and Teresa Collins Vintage Finds wording on the tag.  Enjoy your day and make some time for you!

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I must need a vacation....tropical card

Well, I started out to make a card for the Unity Stamp Co Be Inspired monthly challenge.  What you see below, is not what I had in mind.  Haha!  I had all the colors in my head , also pictured below, but I couldn't figure out what direction to go.  I settled on the Feeling Happy bird and watercolored the stitched frame. 

Next,  I took some plain beige May Arts flowers and watercolored those to match.  I tried a couple other things but wasn't happy so rip, rip, rip.  I used a mini flower punch and punched about 50 little flowers to cover up the glue ring that I wasn't happy about after the rip, rip, rip.  Next thing ya know, we've got a full on trip to the beach going on!  That DOES make me happy.  #smile

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