Watercolor Garden

A Hero Arts image was white embossed on a page from an old book.  It was colored with watercolor.  I added some narrow lace and a double bow.

Man Oh Man

We have a series of male birthdays in our family this time of year so I'll be showing some cards with more manly features.  This one has one of the old Boleo images (remember those stamps?!).  It was gold embossed on vellum and cut out.  I added some "nail heads" and patterned paper.

A Cut File

Isn't it fun now and then to have an excuse to create a baby card?  This one actually went to a new grandmother.  I cut the onsie using an electronic cutter and it flips open to reveal some text.  I cut a white circle for the collar then used a corner punch for the focal point.  The rest of the circle I cut with scalloped scissors and I also punched little dots.  I added a few little rhinestones and a silk ribbon bow.  By the way, I couldn't make this card until the official announcement was made because the parents didn't want to know the gender of the baby until it arrived.

Alley

This was another artist trading card that I made for the 100 art theme challenge.  I took the photo near the downtown parking garage in our community because I liked the combination of elements and mostly muted colors.  I suspect the "tagging" was done by the store owner but I didn't go in and ask.  I  added a bit more flavor using some shadows around the edges but otherwise it is as it was.

Snowball

This card was inspired by the beautiful snowball bushes that bloom in our area in the spring.  The flowers were punched and I added a bit of glittery ink to the centers.  Some of them are pupped up for dimension.  I also added some white pencil dots around the edges.  The stem was die cut and embossed and the butterfly is an embossed die cut.  I added a punched border and the text is hand-written.  The design was finalized with some thin dark green and white satin ribbon.

Roses Can Be Fun

It's great when you digitally capture a photo that you like,  Now we can  improve our photos with the various photo enhancing software.  I've used PhotoShop Elements for years and am very happy with it.

The first photo was adjusted just a bit and then I started playing with filters.  The middle photo made use of one of my favorite filters, poster edges, which defines all of the edges in a photo.

For the third photo I played with some blur effects which brought out the center flowers which I thought were the focal point.  Does it make you feel a little dizzy?

It's just fun to experiment and play.  Sometimes you say "wow" at the result and other times you say "eewww" but you'll never know what you'll end up with.

Joy and Happiness

I actually think this card is a little weird but I'm posting it anyway.

The doily is a Cheery Lynn die cut and I backed part of it with a dark gold circle.  The flower  and leaf images are Hero Arts colored with Distress Ink and I added a black brad for the center.  The text strip is Stampin' Up and I highlighted a portion of the text with colored pencil.

Love Life

This is another $1 stamp.  I colored with markers and added some dimensional dots.  Some gold metallic ribbon and a heart-shaped button complete the design.  About as simple as you can get.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

This is one of the digital trading cards I used for the 100 art theme challenge.  The photo was taken at a tulip farm in Oregon a few years back.  We were a little ahead of the prime time to see the tulips fully in bloom but there was still a lot of color.

The theme for this card was "flowers."

Watercolor Tulip

I did a simple watercolor class via DVD and this was my first completed project.  I can use it later in collage work by tracing it on white tissue paper and adhere it to a background.  It's complete with the addition of color to the white tissue.  Now that's what I call versatile.

Love Is In The Air

I stamped this image in black, once on light blue and again on white.  I cut out the flower portion on the white piece and popped it up.  I added a punched border and ribbon.

Squares In Blue

This inked and embossed background is another one I did at stamp club.  Not only did I add ink to the embossing folder, I also ran the ink pad over the design after it was embossed to highlight some of the raised areas.

The butterfly is a Stampin' Up embossing/die cut and the flowers are punched.  I mounted the four squares on white then wrapped it with some white ribbon.  This was mounted onto teal and a flourish punch out completed the design.

Iris In Bloom

You know it's spring when the iris are in bloom.  The first one to pop open in my garden was this dark rust one.  It's a beauty!

Artist Trading Card

I did this trading card as part of the 100 theme art challenge.  The theme for this one was "revolver" and I thought a cowboy went perfectly with it.  I do all my photo work in PhotoShop Elements 9.

Another Dollar

This image is another dollar stamp.  I colored it with colored pencil and added some Enamel Accents dots and punched it out with an oval punch.  The oval was distressed then adhered to an embossed piece of black.  The black was matted on dark green and baker's twine went around the piece before placing it on the card front.

Doily With Blue

This is another of the backgrounds we did at stamp club by inking an embossing folder.  I added half of a doily that I cut using my Cheery Lynn die cut.  I layered thin satin ribbon on top of seam binding for the edge.  The white portion of the flower is punched and then embossed and the blue portion is from the wedding section at Michaels.  I added rhinestones for a little variety and elegance.

Poppies In Bloom

The color in the yard is getting pretty bright now that the poppies are in bloom.  The spread like crazy so there will be quite a number of them before they are done for the year.  Those  fuzzy pods that form prior to the blossom are unique and offer a little clue that the bright orange will soon follow.

$1 Stamps

You gotta love those rubber and clear stamps in the $1 bins!  I got this one and had to put it into a design.  The background is splattered acrylic paint and the white border is embossed with a Stampin' Up folder.  The butterfly is a punch and I added little rihinestones.  Easy peasy, though cutting the curves took a little more time than had I done a straight cut.  But variety is the spice of life!

The Glory of Former Days

On Saturday, May 7, the old Grand Junction train station was open for National Train Day.  The first photo shows the interior of the building in it's full glory as built in 1906.  The depot was proclaimed for it's beauty.

The second photo is the current ceiling.  It is in sad shape an needs a lot of restoration work.

The third photo shows a portion of the wall and ceiling.  The walls also need a lot of help to be restored.  It's my guess that one of the private owners started the restoration by tearing out portions of the building and I can easily imagine that it was a daunting task.  But the floor and wooden seats are still in pretty good shape!

The depot is for sale and "Friends of the Grand Junction Depot"  are raising funds.  Hopefully one day the station can be restored to its original beauty.

Bed, No Breakfast

This small calico cat has adopted us and visits often.  I think s/he likes to sleep in our yard because it's the only one around that doesn't house a dog.  We usually find her in this corner by the fence or under the back deck where it's cool and shady.  S/he doesn't belong to anyone in particular but the neighbors feed her and leave their garage door open a bit so she and another cat can come and go.  She has, on occasion, also spent some time in our garage though we don't encourage that.  S/he is quiet and doesn't cause any problem except that we find pieces of dead bird in our yard more times than we like.  Maybe the culprit is this calico - maybe it's the other cat.  We'll probably never know.

More Quilting

I used a diamond punch and two different patterned papers to create this chevron quilt design.  The flower is rolled ribbon adhered to a circle of cardstock.  I also added a strip of ribbon down the center and punched leaves.  The border punch is Matha Stewart in two colors.  No stitching required!

Masculine Card

It's sometimes more difficult to come up with cards for guys but this simple geometric design in neutral colors seems to fit the bill.  I have a need for a lot of guy cards in late May early June for family birthdays and Father's Day and there's some advantage to getting them all taken care of in one short timeframe.  That seems easier than continually changing modes while creating.  I have all of them ready so you'll be seeing more in coming days.

The two small tan squares are thin wooden pieces to which I applied Liquid Applique.  It adds a "faux suede" look that is unique.  I apply a thin layer, let it dry and then heat with a heat gun and the magic happens!

Colorful Chickens

I took a photo of my "chicken" plants.  Most of them survive nicely over the winter and look good in the spring even if they don't have a lot of color.  But, speaking of color, I played with the photo in Photoshop and came up with this "watercolor" look with enhanced color.  What a good way to bring out the color that is otherwise so subtle!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all my visitors who are celebrating this day.

This frame was created with a Spellbinders die cut and is popped up.  The flowers were stamped and die cut and the leaves were punched.  The butterfly is a Stampin' Up Sizzix die cut/embossing folder.  Text is from Daydream Stamps and is one of my favorites, a Helen Keller quote.

I'm Seeing Stars

Sometimes it's fun to make the inside of the card special.  I did this card for our stamp club exchange which had a theme of "stars."  For the card front I used a Sizzix die cut for the stars to make a "faux" embossed look.  I also used a PSX stamp and added some star stick ons.  The text and inside stars are Papertrey.  The stars on the card inside are attached to strips of acetate so they appear to be floating and they are adhered to a little "pocket" in the lining.  This is a fun idea for lots of different occasions.  The floaters cold be flowers, balloons, etc.

Cupcakes

Who doesn't like a cupcake?!  There were punched from patterned paper with the paper liners and candle cut by hand.  The cherry and heart were punched.  I used an embossing folder for the background and set the cupcakes on a border made with a Martha Stewart edge punch.

Lace Trading Card

"She Set Her Sights on Harry Now That Prince William Was Spoken For"

The background is gold and purple paint.  I added a length of  lace and the frame is a section of a Stampin' Up embossing folder.  I added gold spots to strategic areas.

Fashion ATC

I became a fashion designer to complete some trading cards.  The background is some sheer ribbon with a flocked design.  I added ribbon and a small flower to the waist of the dress.

The template for the dress is available at www.positivelysplendid.com

It was actually designed for wall hangings and there are several versions.

Simple Silhouette

This is another simple design.  I don't usually use cream and white together but liked it in this case.  The background is Stampin' Up and the image is Tim Holtz.  I added black satin ribbon and bow.

Ornate

This is actually a pretty simple design.  The stamped image is Bo Bunny.    The butterfly is a Sizzix Stampin' Up and the flowers are punched.  I added rhinestone centers to the flowers and butterfly body.  The card is matted on black and then adhered to a pink card.

Local Setting

One of the backdrops of our community is Mt. Garfield which is  northeast of town.  The interstate passes near the base and there are some interesting formations to view.  This is one of them.