Stuck on You!

I'm stuck on craft challenges lately. They help to launch my creativity with an idea or a sketch. This card is the result of 2 challenges this week. The first is a sketch challenge found on Freshly Made Sketches. It's pretty straight forward resulting in a clean and easy card. The other challenge comes from Heart 2 Heart Challenges which is a stitching theme. I chose to go faux!

I love the bright whimsical colors of the Prickly Pear papers, but I wanted to create more authentic looking cactus. For this I reached for an older stamp set called, Stuck on You. This is one of those sets that came with coordinating Thin Cuts making it all too easy. The more difficult part is coloring in the cactus, however I find this to be relaxing. The faux stitching is made by using some wavy Lawn Fawn Die Cuts.

Pretty clean, simple and cute! Be sure to check out these blogs for some challenges and inspiration!

Some Favorite Spring Stamps

There are only a few days left to take advantage of the Stampaganza sale! I just recently shared a few of my favorite stamp sets at a Spring Card Class. Here are the cards we made and the stamps I used. You can find all of these in the current Seasonal Expression 1 Idea Book.

This first card was inspired by another consultant Chris Lothian who posted on Instagram. I loved the combination of stamps to create an adorable scene. I used the Spring Critters stamp and the Stuck on You cactus set. These are both compatible with Thin Cuts which makes them even easier to stamp and color!

This card shows what you can do with just one stamp set. Woodland Romance is a beautiful stamp that allows all sorts of images to come together in a lovely romantic design. It especially looks amazing with the Charlotte papers and some diffused embossing!

Even though I called this a Spring class this card will get you in the mood for summer. I just love this octopus, he is so cute and ready to make a splash! Like the Woodland Romance stamp set several of these images can be cut on the Cricut. The crab is equally as cute and the banner with the sentiments are perfect for cards and scrapbooking pages.

Now you have a few more ideas for these awesome stamp sets. Which one will you choose to get for free?! Order online here.

Hug Some Watercolor Cactus

Watercolors wow me! I have recently been doing a lot of research and experimenting with watercolor. Here is a cool technique that I had to try. I have to say that it is a little strange at first to color outside the lines, but then it just flows and the result is amazing!

Look how the vivid colors just begin to spill into each other!
You can get the Stuck on You stamp set in the new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book now until the end of April. You can stamp them on their own or cut them out easily with the Thin Cuts. Order online here.

Soft Cactus?!

Is it possible for cactus to be soft? Sure, especially when they have beautiful Close To My Heart watercolors! This card was inspired by another CTMH consultant Aaron Brown. I just loved the soft color choices and the water color background.

This card will be part of my Watercolor Workshop happening next month.Attendees will not only learn to blend watercolors on images and backgrounds, but they will get to use the Thin Cuts and Stuck on You stamps. These are all amazing products that will keep your creative juices flowing!

Stuck on You

I love all the recent artwork lately with images of cactus. Living in the Southwest all my life, I've grown to love the desert and all it's beauty. Just last weekend I was talking to my husband about how lovely it is to look out across the vast desert of cactus and Joshua trees as the towering purple mountains lie in the backdrop. Especially since some peaks are dusted with just a bit of snow right now, it's my favorite! 

Close To My Heart made it even easier to create these cactus works of art with their Stuck on You stamp set and coordinating Thin Cuts. I'd like to share a few cards that I have been experimenting with. Here is just one for today that is pretty simple and straight forward. It makes me think of the warmer Spring days in the desert, no more snow-capped mountains in the background when the cactus are in bloom!

I cut out the images first with the Thin Cuts and a Big Shot embossing machine. I used watercolor paper as I knew that I wanted to color in the images. Then I simply lined up the stamp over the cut paper. I colored in with water paints and placed them on my card creating a scene.

Here is some artwork from the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book. I will share some more cards I created in the coming week!

 You can create you own cactus art by ordering the stamp set and Thin Cuts here.