Under the Sea

This cute octopus is from the new Beach Days stamp set found in the Seasonal Expressions 1 Idea Book. He really stands out in a sea of watercolor blue and the nautical Regatta papers.

What I love about this card~ Can you see the embossed hearts in the ocean watercolor? I love the technique and think it looks so cool with the Cricut Cut octopus and Regatta papers. That "heart" Summer banner is also cut out on the Cricut and then quickly stamped. It all comes together with the awesome star and anchor papers and some denim blue twine!

All of the products on this card can be found in the Annual Inspirations Book as well as the Seasonal Expressions 1 Idea Book. 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.

Watercolor Butterfly

Last week I decided to get out some really old watercolor paper. I wanted to experiment with some water coloring using our stamps and re-inkers. After a couple attempts I liked one of the images and created a card with it.

I am submitting this card to Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week for their "green with envy" theme! Be sure to stop by their blog to see all the fabulous green artwork! I chose to feature Pear for my green! It's so bright and happy!

To make the butterfly I lightly misted my watercolor paper with water. Then I put a few drops of Lagoon and Pear re-inker on a plastic saucer and gently mixed them so they were touching. Then I stamped the butterfly image in the ink and stamped it on the watercolor paper. The inks will bleed into the paper. I then dried it with my heat tool. Lastly, I stamped the butterfly in black ink and cut it out.

I'm sure there are all sorts of ways to achieve a "watercolor look". I was simply just playing and experimenting and I suggest that you try whatever you like. Who know what you'll discover and the best part is you'll have fun!

Mayberry Bunny Boy

Here are some sweet little Easter cards made with some left over scraps of Mayberry paper and the most darling little bunny boy stamp. I would love to share with you how these cards were created. It all started with some left over scraps of Mayberry papers from my "home" banner workshop this past Wednesday. {thanks Pat!} I tend to accumulate a huge bag full of scraps and hate to waste anything. So you gotta get creative!

I trimmed the triangular pieces down into squares using up a good portion of the paper. I then trimmed 3 of the corners and mounted them on colonial white card stock as shown~

** Picture Tutorial **

How to water color an open image stamp without smearing the outline.

Some of you may already know this technique. It happens to be my favorite way to water color an open image stamp and I avoid getting that smearing or bleeding from the darker outside line.

1. Stamp your image in a light ink color. If I am using browns I will use Bamboo ink like I did for this project. If I am using black I will first stamp in a light gray.

2. Using a waterbrush pen and ink fill in your image. Here I used Bamboo for the bunny's body and just a dab of Smoothie for his ears and nose.

Sky blue for his jacket. They are looking pretty blah right now...

The final step is to stamp your outline over the entire image. Ahhh, the beauty of clear stamps! Now you can really see Bunny Boy. That final outline of Cocoa ink really brings him to life and no smears! See the difference.

He's so cute now and ready to go hopping down the bunny trail!!