Birthday Girl

Well I spent last week at the Scrapbook Expo with my friend and we always do the two nights. The first night is Make and Take and the second day/night is basically an all day crop.

Most of the Make and Takes are really not my style so I tend to just save the product and either reuse them or donate the supplies. I have learned over the years that I do not need my entire room and try to prepare and pack accordingly.

I usually have several things I can do throughout the day and normally I have stamps and copics but during this last expo have decided its a waste to do them because the lighting is too bad. I have a travel light but forgot it but still find when I am tired this is not the best thing to be doing.

What I do find that works, water coloring. It's low key easy enough to do when I am tired and I especially like to do it instead of the Make and Takes. I only need a few supplies to bring with me so its pretty much my go to anymore.

I just paint the panels and then finish them at home. This is the first one I painted. I really love that black and pink combo.

Merci Beaucoup

This is the last of my rash of watercolor cards I made last week. I am not sure if I care for the pairing with the pattern paper or not. At the time I thought it would look nice but then it sat there and the more I looked at it the more I wasn't all that happy with it. But if I have learned one thing in all my crafty years, some things I don't care for that much people love..go figure.

So not being stingy over my distaste of it, I am sharing the card.

FInal Altenew Card - Happy BIrthday

Ok this is my last one for awhile anyways, I promise. This time I used the dies along with my watecoloring to give this card some dimensional pop.

I also wondered how the flowers would look using two colors instead of just one, so I mixed ina bit of orange along with my pink for the petals.

And a side view so you can see the dimension

My Birthday gift

So remember I needed a gift to go with my card that I made for myself (you didn't think I was joking did you?) I decided to buy some of those yummy romantic peony stamps from Altenew. Lets just say they don't disappoint.

I have tried them two ways and so far I am liking them water colored. Mostly because I  just can't find an ink that is bright enough for my taste.

This was my first pass with these stamps and also with no line water coloring. No line coloring is very similar to coloring with copics. You use your darkest or less diluted color where shade or depth would be and then without adding more color but diluting your brush you pull the color out, and you do that twice so you have a dark, med and highlight colored area. I find this actually to be a little time consuming but very relaxing. Good for those days when your mind is too tired for creativity but you feel the need or desire to do something crafty.

I mixed the stamps with Clearly Besotted Butterfly Wishes stamps and dies to finish the card and of course a couple of added sequins to give it just a tinge of sparkle.