A new Paint Brush makes such a difference!

Hello, and welcome back!
I have been trying my hand at water coloring. I watch videos of how other very talented card makers paint such detailed stamps with such simplicity. I thought, man, can a artistic leveled paint brush make that much of a difference? Take a look....

   I was so proud of myself! The pink is picked raspberries, and the blue is peacock feathers. Guess what the purple color is? I simply mixed the two colors together! It is my purple!! :) I love the variation of color from the centers of the butterflies to the edges. I guess the professional brushes are TOTALLY worth it! who know $12 could do all this!  lol


I stamped the butterfly several times using a masking tape mask with black ink. This card stock is actually ivory Stampin' Up! I love the warmth it gives the card. It isn't stark white like my solar white Neenah card stock. Then I simply painted each section of the butterflies with distress ink placing more emphasis on the edges than the centers. Last I stamped the sentiment with my MISTI. LOVE IT!


Challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More- CAS

Simon Says:  ANYTHING GOES

Card Recipe:
Paper: Ivory from SU!, various other from stock
Stamps: Butterfly - Penny Black, "Free Flight", Sentiment - Stampendous "Precious Gift" (retired)
Ink: Distress inks Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and a mix of both to create purple.

Card Making in my Classroom!

This holiday season, I brought three boxes of Christmas Crafting supplies to my classroom and gave the students a chance to make 2 cards each. It was a huge success! Everyone had a great time, only one student out of about 50 declined. I invited many of the neighboring classrooms to send students to my room to join in the fun! It was a blast to see what the students came up with using all the materials I provided. They each received two card bases (they chose the colors) and two envelopes. Then they could write, color, stamp glue and stamp anything anywhere they wished on the card. I provided ribbons, inks, stamps, images, punches, and tons of cardstock and stickers galore! (see the pictures) What creativity!

  

Featured Technique: Blending with Masking

Welcome,
For this duo I cannot take credit for the idea. I leaned on another artist for inspiration for these; Darlene. I love the simplicity of this card, and how it can be used for many occasions.

For Duo #1 - I used light tack masking tape (my husband uses it in his line of work, I borrowed it from him) to frame one inch around the card. With bashful blue, pretty in pink, and certainly celery I blended the three in order with my blending tool. I used a tiny butterfly punch to punch out the three butterflies and used a black marker to create the path and the border.

For Duo #2 -  I re-used the same pieces of masking tape to create the frame. I blended dusty concord and worn lipstick distress ink with pacific point to create the background. I found a little foot punch that was in my "sell" pile, and decided to imitate two friends walking along side together for this card. I used the darker colors to give the impression of harder times. (did it work?) Again I used a black marker to create a random frame. Enjoy!