Watercoloring is relaxing!!

So for my birthday last year I asked for only one thing...a subscription to the Lets Make Art box.  It delivers to your door four watercolor projects, complete with paint, paper, and instructions.  There are weekly paint alongs and full tutorials for each project.  I considered this the gift that would keep on giving as I would have no excuse not to paint since I would have everything I needed without having to step foot out of the house....

I shared two of my projects on this blog post...along with the paintings my daughters did with me. 

Since then I have painted this fun tree branch...I think I'm going to redo it with more fall leaf colors:

And then this weekend I worked on this piece...

I have to say that I adore Sarah's teaching style.  She's super zany and cookey, so she's perfect for me to learn from.  She constantly reminds you it's just paint and paper...don't worry.  The world needs more Sarah type influence...

I am super excited to start incorporating watercoloring into more of my projects.  I think it would be awesome to watercolor through a stencil....

If you have a chance...check out Sarah's site and take a peek at her tutorials...I think you will be inspired just like I was...

Happy crafting...Lynda

2019 Spring Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

It's time!!!  Love when the Coffee Lover's Blog Hop happens...having lived in Seattle for almost 18 years.....I have a good collection of coffee themed items...so I love to participate in this hop!!  So...welcome to my first card for the Spring/Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!

I've been watercoloring a lot lately and enjoying the feel of imperfection that can come from using this medium.  For my first card I stamped the images from the Warmth of Winter Unity KOTM 12/14 onto watercolor paper using Versafine black ink.  I then used Prima Pan Watercolors to color her in.  I just love this image and have used it a lot for cooler weather greeting cards and projects.

I then trimmed the image and rounded the corners.  I then inked the edges and added some glossy accents to the heart on her cup.  I then rounded the corners on the pattern paper and added it to the card base; rounding the corners on it as well. 

Since tomorrow is Monday....this sentiment is very true...Caffeine is a girl's best friend...

I hope you will pull out your coffee themed items and join in the fun!  I've got a few more cards in the works...

Happy crafting...Lynda

Watercolor practice

So for my birthday I asked for a subscription to a monthly watercolor kit.  This kit is delivered each month and contains 4 paint along packages; which include paper, paint, and the outline for each project.  Each week there is a paint along night and step by step tutorial videos that go along with each package.    The idea for me was it was a dedicated night to paint; which was then replaced with swim practice, choir concerts, art classes across town......to sum it up...kids schedules have gotten in the way.  Well I finally started playing...

Well I've been practicing and the girls and I painted the fall island together:

I think we did amazingly well considering this was our first attempt.  We used cutting mats from the kitchen as boards for our paper to be taped to and were able to watch the tutorial from the Youtube video on the large tv in the living room; which made it super fun!

This was my second robin painting and I think I am finally starting to get the hang of it.  I of course see all the things I would and should do differently next time, but that is what art is...it's an expression and takes practice. 

So I'll be rinsing out my brushes and practicing a bit more this weekend...good clean watercolor fun.

Happy crafting....Lynda

Beautiful life canvas

Recent events within the crafting industry have made me do a lot of soul searching for what my true purpose is for creating and sharing.  I feel best when I use art to express myself.  I love being inky and painty and just get messy.  Being creative is a great stress reliever for me and since my job is very analytical (finance), being artistic exercises the other half of my brain and allows me to be a bit "illogical" for a while; which is a good thing.  I love being able to invoke feelings and emotions with colors and images.  I love finding new ways to incorporate things I have in my stash into projects in unusual and unexpected ways.  The idea of being able to share a project to teach others that creating beautiful things is as easy as following steps makes me happy.

This canvas is a prime example of just those things...paying homage to the start of spring and blending techniques together to create something that I adore.

I started with a small canvas from the Artists Loft line by Michaels.  I picked coordinating papers by designer Aga Baraniak; from her Bohemian Romance line; using paper from the 8x8 paper pack and the Mixed Media Pack.  I decided to make my flower from this wonderful journal paper in the paper pack.  I cut out a single leaf and then used it as a pattern to cut the remaining petals.  I inked the edges of each petal and set them aside.

I picked a piece of green from the mixed media pack and cut out leaves for the flower stem.  I then used a stylus to etch in veins on each leaf.

I then picked out the base papers for the canvas.  I trimmed them to the size of the canvas and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the canvas.  I then set it aside to dry.

I loved the rough edge on the brown paper I used on the bottom and left the edges that rough around the entire canvas.

I used blue watercolor paint to change the top piece from white to a sky blue color.  Using white paint, I started to add some extra details to the solid colors.  I like to use bubble wrap to add fun circles to my projects. 

I found this fun piece of cutout paper in the Mixed Media pack and thought it would make a fun stencil.  Using the same white paint I added some of these rose images to the canvas for extra details.

I really like the image left behind using this as a stencil:

I cute a long piece of jute and wound it into a circle.  I then added it to the flower center using Mod Podge.

I love how much this jute adds to the flower...  I then used a black marker to add little details along the stem and other places on the canvas for some character.  Once all the details are just so, cover the entire surface with another layer of Mod Podge to seal it in.

The title is cut from the top piece from a single sheet of the Compose your Life Beautiful Life paper by Aga Baraniak.  I added it to the canvas using Mod Podge, drawing some lines around each cut out piece and then sealing the surface with a final coat of Mod Podge.

I adore this canvas; from the rough texture of the brown paper at the base that looks like dirt, to the veins I added to the leaves and the little scraggly bits of jute extending from the flower center..  It makes me so happy to look out into my garden and see the colors of Spring popping out all over and this canvas reminds me of that.

Happy springtime crafting.....Lynda

Growing in Unity Day one

Welcome Unity friends....I am so excited to be sharing with you again this year creations I have made using images from Unity Stamp Company!!!

Today I thought it would be fun to share with you how you can use some packaged cards and add some stamping to them to create unique one of a kind greetings.

I picked up these two different font style thank you cards from Michael's around the end of the year.  The paper is very gritty like a watercolor paper, so they were perfect for this project.  Here is what they looked like beforehand:

I then stamped this bird from the Love the Little Things KOTM June 2013 in Stazon ink onto each card.

I then colored the image with  Derwent Inktense Pencils and used a waterbrush to move the colors around and blend them to create the background. I love how these pencils allow you to create fun and unique backgrounds so easily.

I hope this project has you looking at packaged plain cards a bit differently from here on.  It really is a fun way to create unique one of a kind greetings!

Until tomorrow...have an awesome day!!!

Happy crafting....Lynda

Growing In Unity Day Five

Welcome to my final day as the Growing In Unity Guest Designer.  I have had such an amazing week and would like to thank Unity for the opportunity to share my love of stamping with you all.  And a special thank you to everyone that has dropped in along my journey this week.

In case you missed my Edit to my post yesterday...I realized when putting my stamped images into the spot where I keep them that the image from yesterday's card was not actually from the same kit as the other cards....so I set out last night to make an extra project for today's post to make up for it.

So, today I have two projects for you featuring the Wildflowers & Wings SMAK 4/14 kit.

This is the original project I created which is a card featuring the butterfly from the kit.  It was stamped with Stazon ink onto watercolor paper.  I colored the image using Derwent Inktense pencils.  I then backed the image with blue cardstock and mounted it onto a card base that I covered with this cute pattern paper.  I added the single strip of coordinating cardstock behind the image to balance out the card.  I then went in with a white gel pen and doodled all around the card.

For my final project I went back to the wonderful open flower from the kit.  I stamped it over and over again using Stazon ink onto watercolor paper.  In the end I had to make three masks to create this stacked flower arrangement look.  I then colored the image with Derwent Inktense pencils.

I then ran a piece of washi tape thru my printer to get the word on it.  Then put it and a piece of red washi along the spine of the journal.  I then adhered the colored image to the front of the journal.  This journal will be for my June List challenge.  I finished the image putting white and black dots along various parts of the flowers to add some depth and interest.

I hope you have enjoyed my projects this week featuring mostly the same kit, Derwent Inktense pencils and watercolor paper.  I have to say that I am hooked on these pencils now and how vibrant the colors are.

In case you missed any of the projects featured earlier this week:

Monday's project: 

 

Tuesday's project: 

 

 

 

Wednesday's project:   

Thursday's project: 
 


Please be sure to leave a comment on this post and the others from this week as I get to pick two lucky people to win a wonderful Unity prize!!!

Be sure to check back to see if it is you...

Happy crafting....Lynda

Oh...now...time for a shameless plug of sorts because I may still have your attention...

I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little bit about an organization that I am so proud to be part of....Hearts for Happiness.  This non-profit organization was established by my daughters sixth grade teacher in an effort to promote the spreading of kindness throughout our community.  You see here in our school district each sixth grader is required to participate in twenty hours of community service during the year and this teacher came up with an idea that has done such amazing things.  It started with the hearts...these are repurposed circles from wine barrels...and since we live in the middle of the California wine country it kind of makes sense to start there...well if you press them just so you can bend them into a heart shape.  The sixth graders learned to bend the bands into hearts.  And then we taught them how to tie beautiful bows for these hearts and we set up shop all around the community selling the hearts; in front of our school, at local farmers markets...at a holiday light show.  From the sale of these hearts Random Acts of Kindness are performed by the students throughout our community.  Simple things like baking cake pops and giving them out, recognizing kids on the playground doing kind things for others or as my daughters and I did this past weekend...making coffee filter flowers and leaving them on cars on Mother's Day.

I am so excited to be part of this organization and the message of spreading kindness that it represents.  We are working toward putting together a curriculum and a way to create small chapters of our program across the country...one school and district at a time.  If you could take a moment and like our facebook page....and if you know of a school in your area that could use a little kindness...drop us a message and we can share how you can start a program in your area to teach this wonderful life lesson!

Thank you...kindness matters!

Growing In Unity Day Four

Welcome to day four in my week as the Growing In Unity Guest Designer!  I am so thankful for the opportunity to share my love of Unity with you and for each one of you that has dropped in to take a peek this week!  I am having the BEST time and so appreciate all the sweet comments.

Edited...I realized this stamp is not from the same SMAK kit...this flower is from the No Clue How Beautiful SMAK 9/15 set...so tomorrow I will for sure have to share two from the other set...sorry for the confusion...I had images stamped ahead and had this one in the wrong bag...  For today's card I am using the Wildflowers & Wings SMAK 4/14 stamp set again.  This time I picked the floral grouping and stamped the image using Stazon ink onto Strathmore watercolor paper.  I colored the image using Derwent Inktense Pencils.  I used my waterbrush to saturate the edges around the image and tore it from the page for a fun distressed look.  I then use the brush to pencil technique to put the darker intense color around the torn edge of the image.

I really like how fun these pencils are to watercolor with. 

I had someone ask me why I was focusing on just one stamp kit.  For me I like to see what all can be done with one kit and decided to challenge myself to see if I could create different  unique looks using the same stamp set and medium this week. 

So there is one more day after today....

 

So, if you missed either of my other posts from this week you can find them here:

 

Monday's project: 

 

Tuesday's project: 

 

 

 

Wednesday's project:   

I hope you will drop by again tomorrow to see what my final project is.  Also, be sure to leave a comment along the postings this week since I get to pick two winners that will each receive an awesome prize from Unity!!

Hope to see you tomorrow...
Happy crafting....Lynda

Growing In Unity Day Three

Welcome to Day three in my week as the Growing In Unity Guest Designer!!!  I am so happy you have stopped by!  And a special thank you to everyone that has dropped by my blog this week!

Well if you have been stopping by on prior two days you may have picked up on a theme for my cards this week... the Wildflowers & Wings Smak 4/14 kit.  When I was a Growing In Unity gal last year I showcased all five projects using the same paper from the same pad, so I thought this year I would make all my projects using the same stamp set.

For this card I used two images from the kit.  I used Stazon ink to stamp the image onto Strathmore watercolor paper.  I then used Derwent Inktense pencils to color in the image.  I then washed the background with a few of the pencils.  I then scraped the image with my scissor edge to create this rough and uneven look.  I kept it simple and mounted it onto the single cardbase.

 

 

So, if you missed either of my other posts from this week you can find them here:

 

Monday's project: 

 

Tuesday's project: 

 

 

Be sure to leave a comment as I get to pick two names to receive a wonderful prize from Unity.

 

See you tomorrow...

Happy crafting...Lynda

 

 

 

Growing In Unity Day Two

Welcome back.  If you didn't drop by my blog yesterday pop back over and take a peek at what I shared on this post.  Thank you so much to everyone that did drop by yesterday!!

Today I'm using a different image from the same stamp kit as yesterday; Wildflowers and Wings SMAK kit 4/14.  I stamped this flower image onto Strathmore Watercolor cold press 140 lb paper using Stazon ink.  I then ran the paper through my printer and added the sentiment.  I then set the sentiment using my heat tool.  I then used my Derwent Inktense pencils to color the image.

I LOVE how vibrant these colors can be.  I created this color blocked looking background by simply scribbling three colors in random squares behind the flower.

Once the image was dry I backed it onto a piece of pattern paper that had this fun grid design and then onto a blue cardbase that I cut specific for this tall card.

I hope you will come back each day this week to see what I have created for you using these wonderful stamps from Unity!

Be sure to leave a comment as two lucky commenters from this week will win a wonderful prize from Unity!

Until tomorrow...
Happy crafting....Lynda

Growing In Unity Day One

Pinch me quick!  I'm a Growing In Unity Gal again this year!!!  I was jumping for joy when I was able to be online in time again this time to get a spot to show off my Unity love!!!

Lately I've been dabbling in watercoloring.  There seem to be a lot of different ways to achieve this colorful look on your projects.  For this project I used my Derwent Inktense Pencils.  I first stamped my images using Stazon ink onto watercolor paper.  I have found that this combination of paper and ink give me the best results without any warping or paper tearing from over saturation.

I am using an image from the Wildflower & Wings SMAK 4/14 kit for this project.  Once the image was stamped I ran the paper through my printer to add my words.

I watercolored my image and then trimmed it.  I then backed it with yellow and black cardstock.

The entire image and matting was then added to the front of this journal.  This book will contain all the information on my new landscaping.  We just moved back to California and after years of living in the Seattle area, coming back to a dry climate will make gardening a challenge for me for a bit.  So I'll use this journal to keep track of what I plant, when I plant it, where it's planted and how it does.

I love how bright these pencils are and the vibrant look is perfect for this project.

I hope you will join me each day this week as I share more projects created using the wonderful stamps from Unity Stamp Company.

Be sure to leave a comment as I get to select two names to receive an awesome prize from Unity at the conclusion of my week!

Happy crafting....Lynda