One last post with some cards for the current Online Card Class. This one has been very interesting, and I spent quite awhile yesterday playing with different kinds of watercolor mediums and different techniques. A few ended up on cards, and more than a few ended up in the wastepaper basket, but that’s to be expected. I learned quite a bit in the process, and enjoyed it, regardless of the outcome.

The first card ended up being one of my favorites despite the fact that about half-way in to watercoloring the heart, it was simply awful. Instead of tossing it, I started dropping in more color and it ended up totally different (and much better) than what I expected. This came from the Day 1 lessons using watercolor markers. I played around with Akashiya Sai Watercolor Brush pens which I received as a Christmas gift last year. Because I owned those, I was reluctant to order any Zig Clean Color markers, but I’m glad I did as I find them much easier to use. Both were ultimately used on the card below.

I white-embossed the heart from the new Simon Says card kit stamps, ” Here’s Looking at You,” and then watercolored it. The sentiment is from Papertrey’s “Round and Round” set embossed in Liquid Platinum. Since none of my metallic cardstocks matched, I used a technique Jennifer McGuire showed in a Day 1 video—edging a piece of cardstock with Versamark ink and then sprinkling on the embossing powder. Voila! A perfect match.

The next card uses the traditional watercolors in pans or palettes (Day 2.) This time I used the Kuretake Gansai set which I love for it’s bright colors. The card itself was inspired by one that Debbie Hughes created for this month’s Simon Says card kit.

The stamp is from a free set sent to me by Simon Says called “Your Birthday,” and the die cut is from Papertrey’s “Swoosh” set. I carefully (learning from earlier in the week), dropped on some Heidi Swapp gold spray and added a few sequins.

There are actually two cards (just different embellishments) for the Day 3 technique of using watercolor pencils. Most of them were Inktense pencils, but a few are from a set I bought years ago by Staedtler. It was a bit of a challenge to find the kind of image I wanted, but I found this old wooden stamp by Stampington which worked out perfectly.

The sentiment is from Simon Says (another favorite card kit set) called “What’s Brewing?” The die cut (also Simon Says) was cut from a failed watercolor background. (Actually there are no failures with that technique. I save them all for exactly this purpose!)

I started the last card first, and abandoned it, but finally decided I could “save” it. The only change from the first card is that I die cut some banners (Papertrey’s “Sketched Shapes”) from some DCWV vellum I picked up at Michaels. I adhered a MME enamel dot on top.

Now I need to get back to Project Life, and our trip!

When I first saw this inspiration piece ten days ago, I was determined to participate in the blog hop this month. It’s been quite a few months since I’ve been able to.

Nicole challenged us to try Betsy Veldman’s chalkboard technique, and that’s one I’ve never tried. It took awhile to find appropriate stamps and to get the design the way I wanted it, but after that it went pretty quickly. I used stamps from the “Wee Folks” Mini Market kit, “Modern Wood Mats”, and “Natural Beauties.” It’s definitely not my CAS style, but I’m pretty happy with the end result.

To keep with the fall color scheme, I mounted it on a Canyon Clay card, and added three small leaves punched from scraps. A wooden button from MME holds them together.

While I had my supplies out, I decided to try a much more traditional card, using one of the techniques from the Online Card Class on watercoloring. I tried a couple of things, but finally inked the image, then spritzed it with water before stamping it on the watercolor paper. The wreath didn’t really bleed that much, but the berries did enough to give them a sense of dimension. 

This card is very much CAS, and definitely my style. I added a bit of Clear Star gelly roll pen to the berries which give them a nice shimmer.

This card uses one of my favorite sets:  “A Wreath for All Seasons”, and “Think Big Favorites #16.”

I also spent quite a bit of time trying to create a card with this week’s Make It Monday technique. I finally gave up for today, but may be back if I can find a sentiment that will work better than I one I wanted to use.

I haven’t quite finished watching all the videos from the last day of the Online Card Class:  Exploring Mediums, but I have two more cards to share. The first one is another from Day 1, using gold embossing and watercolor markers.

I’ve become a fan of Simon Say’s “One With Nature” set. I die cut the solid leaf shape from a piece of Memory Box paper in my scrap pile. After embossing and watercoloring the leaf on Tim Holtz watercolor paper, I mounted it behind the green layer and bumped it out onto a white top-folding card. The sentiment is from Papertrey’s “Petite Pots.” A rather artsy interpretation of a fall leaf.

When I was watching Jen Razsa’s video yesterday for Day 3 on using colored pencils, I had no intention of trying to draw a design for a card. Later, though, I came upon a pumpkin image on the internet, and thought I’d give it a try. Like most new techniques, I learned a lot doing this, and would make some changes the next time. 

I drew and colored the pumpkins with a combination of Inktense and Staedler watercolor pencils. The sentiment came from two Simon Says sets, “Giving Thanks,” and “Happy.” I’m a little happier with the splatter on this card than I was on the last one.

I tried a couple of other techniques but didn’t come up with anything that was worthy of including on a card. There’s still a lot to try. All of the Online Card classes include a lot of content!

Let’s just say that Day 2 of the Online Card Class on watercolor was a lot more challenging than Day 1. I’m a huge fan of the no-line watercolor technique, but find it nearly impossible to execute. I must have watercolored ten little animals tonight before I finally got one I was willing to use on a card! Not that I think it even looks easy to do, but it never looks as difficult as I find it to be. But eventually I ended up with one little piggy and made a birthday card.

I used a combination of tube watercolors and Zig Clean Color markers that I swiped onto my craft mat and picked up with a watercolor brush. The stamp set is Baby Party Animals from Simon Says which has the cutest little animals, and a font I like a lot for the sentiment. I used a piece of Summer Sunrise card stock to mat the watercolor piece (Fluid Hot Press) and then mounted it with some fun foam to a top-folding card made from Orange Zest.

In the midst of watercoloring baby animals, I got so frustrated I pulled out Papertrey Ink’s Happiness in Bloom to try Jen Rzasa’s technique of swiping your stamp with Distress Inks and then misting them before stamping on the watercolor paper. I’m not a huge fan of the end result, but like the little animals, it was a learning experience.

I used Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks on a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper. Then I sprayed the card with some Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine. That’s another technique I could use some practice with. The “birthday” sentiment was stamped on a piece of watercolor paper that I’d use to create an ombre effect. It just happened to match perfectly.