Friday Feature - Watercolor Pencil Comparison :)

Hello everyone, I have a new feature set for you for the next five Fridays!  I have done a comparison of five different sets of watercolor pencils.  No, I don't have the full sets of each of these (except Prima ;))  Each set is a small set that I have acquired over the years, some I have purchased, and some were gifted to me, and each has it's own unique set of pros and cons.  I will touch on a couple of these in each of the five blog posts :)

The first one I have for you is Staedler Karat Aquarell.  This was a nice set, however I found the leads very hard.  The colors are fairly bright, but not as bright as I like them.

The set I purchased about 4 years ago is very small, so I needed to pick an image I could color with a very limited palette (I think there may be 6 pencils in this set lol).  This stamp is  the Large Thistle Flower from The Rubber Cafe.  The ribbon is from Crafty Ribbons.


Stop by next Friday for another review, this time of Staedler Ergosoft Aquarell :) See you soon.

New Friday Feature Posts and a Watercolor Card

I have decided to do a Friday Feature post from now on, and to start...the first five weeks of Fridays are going to be easy but effective watercolor cards.

After the watercolor cards, there are many other features coming up such as product features (where I create several cards from one stamp set), my favorite card artists features (where I CASe two cards from my favorite card artists), a watercolor pencil comparison, and so on!

I am so excited to get started, so here is the first in the easy but effective watercolor cards feature:

I am totally smitten with watercolors, and even though I've been an acrylic painter for years, trying watercolors has me anxious lol.  So I've started with some super easy techniques for card makers, and hopefully one day I will be far more capable lol.

I created this card by first embossing the sentiment from Lawn Fawn "Scripty Sayings" stamp set with champagne embossing powder from Recollections (from Michael's).  Then I created the background with my Kuretake watercolors.  Its really hard to see in the picture but there is some pearl added in there with the aqua colors/  The ribbon is Swiss Dots from Crafty Ribbons.

Super simple, but effective, plus it gives me a chance to just play!

Come back next Friday for watercolor card #2, where I get to play with a brand new watercolor medium :)

Two-Sheet Wonder with Crafty Ribbons

What do you do when your mojo has taken a hike?  When he has suddenly gone on a vacation without you?  I'm pretty sure mine has been sunning himself on a nice warm beach somewhere while I am here at home trying to create without him...the nerve.

Well, when I am mojo-less, I do one of three things.  I learn something new, I CASE someone's creation (giving them credit of course!), or I create a batch of cards using the one-sheet wonder technique...or in this case, a two-sheet wonder!

WARNING...this post is very picture heavy, sorry :)  With just two sheet of gorgeous patterned paper, I created 16 cards lol.  And then I adorned them with some luscious Crafty Ribbons to make them just perfect :)  I  am showing you half of the cards here, and for the other 8 you'll have to visit the Crafty Ribbons inspiration blog here :)  Sneaky right? Lol.

I had a TON of fun creating all 16 of these cards.  So much fun, in fact, that I have another 14 in the works lol, this time with only one sheet of patterned paper, lol.

To embellish these cards, I used many different ribbons and some lace from Crafty Ribbons which I will list below.

Vintage Butterflies-English Creme, Vintage Butterflies-Bikes Creme, Vintage Butterflies-French Creme,

Vintage Butterflies-English Latte, Vintage Butterflies-Bikes Latte, Vintage Butterflies-Keys Latte,

Vintage Butterflies-French Latte, Vintage Butterflies-Bikes Cream, Vintage Butterflies-Birds Creme,

Volcan Viscose Lace Creme and Chantilly Cotton Lace in Creme...wow, that was a mouth full!

So now that you have seen these eight cards, don't forget to go over to the Crafty Ribbons blog and see the other eight!

Crafty Ribbons Challenge - Buttons!

Hello everyone, I have some fun inspiration for you today, for the Crafty Ribbons Challenge this week.  The theme is buttons, and I have created two cute tea bag holder thank yous for you.

I created these after watching video on Youtube by My Sister's Scrapper and they are so much fun to make and also make a great gift :)

To create these Teabag holders I used some awesome ribbon from Crafty Ribbons:

Swiss Dots, Animal Cuties-Ladybirds, and Vintage Butterflies.

Some lovely ribbon to add to a lovely thank you gift.

You can find these ribbons and more in the Crafty Ribbons online shop.  Stop by and join in for the challenge this month, and don't forget to add a button!

Butterflies and Ribbons :)

Hello everyone, I have some fun cards for you today for some Crafty Ribbons inspiration :)

I created some fun backgrounds with butterfly stamps and some mew Recollections Ombre inks and I just had to adorn them with some gorgeous Crafty Ribbons!

For this yellow and green butterfly card, I used Swiss Dots ribbon and Christmas Charm Lace in Sage

For this blue Happy Birthday card, I used Swiss Dots and Patchwork Rose-Happy Birthday

For this pink card, I used Patchwork Rose-Live Laugh Love and Volcan Viscose Lace in Grey

For this orange card, I used Swiss Dots and 6mm Grosgrain Ribbon in Tango

And lastly, for this purple card, I used Swiss Dots and Clermont Cotton Lace in Thistle 

You can find all of these beautiful ribbons that I've linked in the shop at Crafty Ribbons.  Stay tuned!

Crafty Ribbons Challenge-Tags!

Hello everyone, I have a fun post for you today for the new challenge at Crafty Ribbons.  The theme is create a tag, so I have created two for you.

I have created these mixed media tags using the following ribbons:

Patchwork Rose-Flowers
Handmade by Me
Swiss Dots
6mm Grosgrain in Cornflower

You can find all of these and more in the Crafty Ribbons online shop, and don't forget to come and join in the challenges!

It's an Easter Blog Hop! with Crafty Ribbons :)

Hello everyone!  Welcome to day 3 of Crafty Ribbons' Easter Parade Blog Hop!  The theme for this hop is Easter Bonnets!  There are some wonderful creations along this hop, and to be eligible for the prize, you must be able to tell us where you found the eggs :) Aaaand , of course, you must leave a comment on all of the blogs in the hop.  Think you can manage?  Yay!

Here is my creation for this fun hop:

I created this fun little card using a cute Easter image from Drawn with Character and some beautiful ribbon from Crafty Ribbons!  I used the Patchwork Rose - Dream Wish Believe ribbon, along with some Swiss Dots White/Candyfloss ribbon to top off this little cutie, and it was a perfect match!  The sentiment is from Joyclair Stamps Easter Eggs stamp set, and I colored this little cutie with my Copic markers.  Copics are not my usual medium by themselves, but I am proud of how this turned out.  A lot more practice and I'll be great lol.

OK, so...here's the hop list for you:  and the rules lol

To take part in our EASTER PARADE

you will need to visit our DT members' blogs and leave a comment on the DT creations which they have made for the parade  

There is also an egg sitting on a few of the girls blogs which you will need to take note of and then link up on that days post. and tell us on whose blog you found the egg.

if you take part every day and linkup  with the correct name  on each day you have extra chances of winning in the random draw from all three days.

if you only want to join in one day thats fine too!!

Day 1:

MARIANNE

LAURA

CAROLE

CAROL

Day 2:

KATE 

LA VIKINGA 

KELLY

LYNSEY

Day 3:

LEAH *you are here* hahaha of course, lol

but, don't forget to leave a comment on all of the blogs in the hop (it's been running for three days), so you need to look at all of these fun creations :)

MARG

CHRISTELLE

CAROL

now back to CRAFTY RIBBONS  to add your link

Christmas Sprightly with Crafty Ribbons

I have a Christmas card for you today for some Crafty Ribbons inspiration.  I know, I know...Christmas is long over, but I couldn't help myself, lol.  And besides, you can never have enough Christmas cards right?

I wanted to try this technique out, and I just gravitated towards the green background, so naturally, it became a Christmas card :)

I created this card by inking up my paper first with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.  Then I stamped the Hero Arts Sprightly stamp in Versamark ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder from Recollections.  When all was dry and cooled, I took my Memento Tuxedo Black Ink pad and went direct to paper to color the paper black, right over top of the embossed image and distressed background.  After this was dry, I took a wet wipe and wiped the black ink off the embossed image.  I was left with a great contrast of color on the black background.

I finished this card with an inside sentiment from Avery Elle's Noel stamp set, some adhesive pearls from my stash, and ribbons and lace from Crafty Ribbons:

35mm Satin Ribbon in Cypress
Christmas Charm Lace in Sage
Christmas Charm Lace in Scarlet

The Christmas Charm laces are new for Christmas this past year, and are a perfect match for the Christmas Charm Ribbon Collection :)

You can find these and many other beautiful lace and ribbon at the Crafty Ribbons online shop.  Don't forget to come and visit the challenge blog for a TON of Crafty Ribbons inspiration and a chance to win some CR goodies!

A Monochromatic Challenge at Crafty Ribbons!

This weeks new challenge is up over at the Crafty Ribbons Challenge blog, and the theme is monochromatic.  I have created this multi-layered tag in browns/bronze with some fun ribbons too :)

To complete this tag, I water colored and die cut and had some fun with the following ribbons from Crafty Ribbons :)

Vintage Butterfllies - French Latte
Vintage Butterflies - Bikes Latte
Vintage Butterflies - Birds Latte
Handmade Ribbon - Cream

You can find all of these fabulous ribbons in the Crafty Ribbons online store.  And don't forget, this post marks the start of a new challenge over on the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Blog!  The theme this challenge is Monochromatic!

A very Happy Birthday Inspiration for Crafty Ribbons :)

I created a fun watercolored card for you today using some awesome fun ribbons from Crafty Ribbons.

I used 35mm Satin Ribbon in Liberty, Ric Rac in Green, 10mm Grosgrain Ribbon in Skye and Handmade Ribbon in White.

I love to create simple watercolored backgrounds to match the fabulous ribbons from Crafty Ribbons.  And can you believe that background was done with watercolor brushed from the dollar store?  Look at the vibrant colors!

Come and visit the Crafty Ribbons challenge blog every two weeks for a new challenge, and enter for you chance to win some awesome ribbons from Crafty Ribbons!  You don't want to miss out!

Just Wanted to Say...with Crafty Ribbons

Wow, thank goodness, spring is hopefully coming soon.  I have had about enough of winter this year lol.  And on that note, I created a fun Hello card for Crafty Ribbons for you today.

I created this card using the Halftone Hello stamp and die set from Altenew, some sequins from my stash, and these gorgeous ribbons and lace from Crafty Ribbons:

35 mm Satin Ribbon in New Turquoise
9mm Music Notes, Grosgrain
Morlaix Cotton Lace in White

You can find these and many more ribbons and lace in the online store at Crafty Ribbons.  Don't forget to come and join us for the bi-weekly challenges over on the challenge blog for your chance to win some Crafty Ribbons goodness!  See you there!

An Animals Only Challenge over at Crafty Ribbons :)

Well, this was a fun challenge :)  The theme for this week's challenge at Crafty Ribbons is to create something using only animals, no humans.  For those of us that enjoy our usual creating with human character images, this was a bit of a challenge, but I think it turned out pretty good :)

I used the Animal Cuddles Digi Bunnies for this project.  I resized the image so that only the girl bunny was on my card panel, and colored her using my Copics and Prismacolor Premiere pencils, and topped the card with some Animal Cuddles - Bunnies Grosgrain Ribbon.  So cute!  I love it :)

This challenge starts right now so hurry up and enter for your chance to win some fabulous ribbon from Crafty Ribbons!

Crafty Ribbons Inspiration Hello :)

 I have another fun card for you today for Crafty Ribbons.  I created this fun card using some Morlaix Cotton Lace, Handmade Ribbon Label, and Vintage Butterflies Ribbon - French Stamps.

I completed this card by also using the Hello die from Altenew, some Rhinestones, and a Spellbinders die.

Come and join us for the bi-weekly challenge over at the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Blog for some fun and inspiration and a chance to win some fabulous ribbon!

Thankful Crafty Ribbon Inspiration

I have some Crafty Ribbons inspiration for you today.  I have created a Thankful card using some beautiful lace.

I created this card using a lace stamp from Recollections, a sentiment stamp from Joyclair, Shades dye ink from Sweet Stamps and the Morlaix Cotton Lace in Ivory and the Handmade Ribbon Label in Cream from Crafty Ribbons.

Their ribbons and lace are fantastic quality and look so pretty on any project.  Come and join us for our bi-weekly challenges over at the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Blog for some fun and inspiration and a chance to win some of this great ribbon!

A New Year and a New Challenge over at Crafty Ribbons!

It's time for the first challenge of the year at Crafty Ribbons!  I have created two Christmas Tree ornaments from their fabulous ribbon :)

I had some fun with these, and yes, I know Christmas is over, but that's ok.  I had a great Christmas and I figure I can drag it out if I want to lol.

I created these ornaments using the following ribbons from Crafty Ribbons:
Christmas Charm Ribbon - Winter Scene, Christmas Charm Ribbon - Charms, The Festive Combos - Tree, and 35mm Satin Ribbon - Cypress

Come and join us over at the Crafty Ribbons Challenge Blog for some fun and inspiration, and a chance to win some fabulous ribbon!

Merry Christmas! with Crafty Ribbons

Hello everyone, Christmas is slowly creeping towards us, but at a steady pace at least!  Are you ready yet?

I have created a fun Christmas card today for Crafty Ribbons, using the Christmas Charm Ribbon - Badges.

You can this and many other fun Christmas ribbons over at the Crafty Ribbons website.  Our 12 weeks of Christmas challenges are over for the year, but come back in January and join in the new bi-weekly challenges over on the Crafty Ribbons challenge blog!

Christmas Traditions Challenge with Crafty Ribbons :)

It's my turn to host the 12 Weeks of Christmas Challenge for Crafty Ribbons, and for the theme this week, I chose Christmas Traditions!

One of the traditions you find very common up here in the north is pinecones :)  You will often walk into a friend or relative's house during the Christmas season and find a bowl of pinecones, lol.  Au naturale, or painted, glittered, or dressed up.  It doesn't really matter, cuz it's the pinecone that counts!

So in honour of this Christmas tradition, I created this holiday card using a pinecone stamp, and some Wink of Stella, and finished it with some gorgeous Christmas Charm Ribbon - Snowflakes.

Have you joined us in the 12 Weeks of Christmas challenges yet?  If not, there is only one more left after this week!  Come on over and join us for your chance to win a prize from Crafty Ribbons!

The Greeting Farm's Holiday Anya 2 with Quick Creations

Hello!  I am here today with my very fist The Greeting Farm creation for Quick Creations :)  This is Holiday Anya 2 and she is just so cute!  I enjoyed creating with her and coloring her up, and I definitely will be doing more creating with these fun stamps!

I colored her using my Copics and Prismacolor Premiere Pencils in the following colors:

Skin:  E000
PC927, 939, 1029
Hair:  Y21
PC1034, 943, 945
Dress:  YG03
PC912, 908
Sash:  R12
PC924, 937

I completed this project with paper from the Lawn Fawn "Snow Day" Collection, some Christmas ribbon from Crafty Ribbons and stamps and snowflake dies from my Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic box ;)

You can find several TGF stamps in the Quick Creations online shop, and Noelle Martin is great with customer service.

Come and join us as well for the monthly challenge over on the Quick Creations Challenge blog for a chance to win!  See you soon :)

Peace Joy Love Christmas Tags with Crafty Ribbons

I have been a busy little beaver lately, with the new job and Christmas is only 3 weeks away!  I still have to finish my Christmas shopping, plus...the holiday Craft Show season is upon us!  Phew, that'll keep a girl busier than usual that's for sure!

For my inspiration post for Crafty Ribbons this week, I have created some cute little Christmas tags, using watercolor and embossing powder, as well as the Peace Love Joy ribbon from Crafty Ribbons, I think this is my favorite of the new ribbons for 2015.  It is so classy looking and appropriate, especially given the amount of tragedy throughout the world.

You can find this ribbon and plenty more exclusive gorgeous ribbons on the Crafty Ribbons website!  And you can also come and join us for the bi-weekly challenges over on the challenge blog!  We are still in the midst of our 12 weeks of Christmas challenges, where we are having a new challenge every week, so hurry up and join us!

A Frosty Christmas with Crafty Ribbons

It's another week, another challenge at Crafty Ribbons, and our challenge theme this week is "Frosty Christmas"!  And what does that theme remind me of?  Well, snowflakes of course, and all the fun different and dainty shapes you see in the frost on your windows.  That's probably my favorite part of winter, well, that and the hot chocolate and warm fuzzy blankets :)

I have used the Coming home for Christmas ribbon from Crafty Ribbons on this project, along with dies from Lawn Fawn and stamps from Stampin Up.

The weekly 12 weeks of Christmas challenges run right until Christmas, so you have plenty of time to jump in :)