Watercolor Fun!*

Hi everyone!

I am absolutely, head-over-heels IN LOVE 

with the watercolor look on cards!

I just swoon every time I see them and love the new trend :)

My gallery is brimming with pinned watercolor cards to try,

and this past weekend, I 'dove in' and water-colored!

*squeals!*

 

 Recently, there has been a lot of flutter of the new

 Recollections Color Splash watercolor crayons,

 available only at Michaels in store.

One of my card groups on SCS was chatting about them, 

and I was intriqued,

but would you believe I walked by them, picked them up, 

and put them back down three times!

Yep,  the 4th time was the charm, as I'm not normally one to follow fads

and am still using my old {repeat OLD!!!} SU watercolor crayons

and TH distress inks :)

My daughter insisted I treat myself and dropped them into my basket

while I'm hemmed and hawwed ~ true story! ~ and oh me, oh my!

Worth.  every.  penny!!

They are so luscious and rich, creamy and shimmery,

just a vivid pop of color with some pearlized shine - a gem, they are!
I have many sets of watercolor crayons and paints and even the pencils,

but what makes these so much fun is the bit of shine they have 

when you hold them into the light just so :)

While I can't link up to any sites for you, 

you can do a quick you-tube search for these.

I wanted to ink up the brand new stamp A Way with Words from

The Project Bin called Anchor's Away 

and thought it would be a perfect match for the serene, soft 'ocean-y'

background I was looking for.

The watercolor look is a perfect compliment to the nautical stamps ♥

 

It's hard to see the shimmer and I have much to learn :)

The only watercolor paper I had on hand is Strathmore

heavy weight watercolor paper, which did just fine.

I inked up two of the stamps in the set with Momento Tuxedo Black

after the watercolor had already set ... 

but, I did use a heat embossing tool to speed up the process :)

I added a few sparkly sequins just for good measure -

and while I do LOVE the final cards,

I've much to learn!

I think it's easier said than done,

 and I had an ball stamping and water-coloring!

  Remember - paper crafting and card making should always be FUN!

Use whatever you have one hand :)

I still tinker with my old watercolor crayons and ...

 I even get OLD SCHOOL with my kiddie paints - 

 {a whoppin' .10¢  at Office Max

during the summer clearance ... can't beat that!}

Be as creative as you want to be ~ 

enjoy the process, savor the journey ♥

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings! 

~Kelly

Exercise your arms!

and hug more! :)

Hi friends!

There's another challenge at The Ink Spot!

It's National "Give an Australian a Hug Day!"

 so {{{{ hugs! }}}}

 I think everyone loves hugs :)

So today we are making cards 

using the word or images with the word HUG ♥

 

For my card, I'm using Riley and his friend Buster

along with the Funny Bones sentiment "Exercise your arms",

both stamped on PTI white cardstock in Momento Tuxedo Black,

colored up with prismacolor markers.

  

And have you heard about the Riley and Company Tickle My Funny Bone

stamp club?  You can find all the deets here, take a peek!

Each month, you can collect the Stamp Club kit only buttons,

stamps, inspirations, and more :)

 

Be sure to stop in and see what the rest of The Ink Spot DT

created this week ~

there are a lot of HUGS to go around :)

 

And that's it from me today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

The Project Bin ~ Coincidence is ....

 Hi friends!

I'm back with another card for The Project Bin

with a very sweet sentiment stamp from A Way with Words stamps

called "Wise Men".

What a fantastic stamp set!  

And, I just love this saying ♥

It's such a versatile stamp, too ...

perfect for that pick me up card, sending words of comfort and a cheery hello!

I've paired it with Making Memories paper pad, 

added some buttons - 

very simple card so the sentiment could be the focal point.

My boys are off camping this weekend with the Boy Scouts

so I'm going to be stamping to my hearts content!

Stay tuned! :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Entered to:  Paths of Positivity: Grace

Creative Corner - Words

 

You're SuPeR! ♥

Hi friends!

Today's card is a SuPeR surprise - to me!  
*hee hee!*

I was going to post another card yet those edited photo files

are eluding me at the moment ...

So for now, I'll share a card that I made last month

for our monthly *mystery image* card group.

This is a really fun group of SuPeR talented ladies on SCS.

 Jo was our hostess for March and sent us this cutie:

You're Super by Birdie Brown.

 

My inspiration for this card was interesting.

My youngest daughter and I were wandering through Walgreens

and we spied this huge section of Red Nose Day items.

An image of a 'bulls-eye' against a yellow cardboard sign caught my eye,

and I was channeling that when coloring/creating todays' card.

I did goof in misplacing the shield and star and lightening bolt images

that came along with this supergirl,

so my card is a bit plainer than I intended for it to be.
Not very SuPeR at all!

So I'll adjust my SuPeRmom cape,
refuel on my Starbucks in the morning 
and try again :) 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings ♥
~Kelly  

For fun challenges:  CCEE Stampers  - Red/Scene 
City Crafter - Houses

  

Awesomesauce! ~ Design Team news! ♥

 You.  are.  AWESOMESAUCE!!

You might have spied that brand new little design team blinkie ↑

in the corner of my blog!

I am beyond excited

to have been chosen to be on the design team for 

 The Project Bin stamps!

The Project Bin is a wonderful acrylic stamp company 

with "A Way with Words", inspiring and snappy and lovely sentiment stamps

for our every card making, scrapbook layouts, and papercrafting needs ♥

Sometimes just sayin' what you need to say is enough :)

   

 

Since I actually really do say this all the time,

I inked up the Awesome-sauce stamp set first!

I finally got this to work by wiggling the cardstock

through my circular nestibilites ...

 stamped in a kiwi kiss color palette and

 some fun, sparkly dsp for a pop of color!

I have been going through my computer files 

and pulling from old sketches I have had saved 'to try!'

This is the sketch, flipped ↓

 You'll be seeing a lot of cards coming up with A Way With Words stamps!

We would be so appreciative if you could take a peek at the various

place we like to hang out,

including the new inspiration blog here.

In fact, if you go to the shop,

click on any photo of any of the stamps and it will take you to the links!

 You can find The Project Bin on Instagram, Facebook,

Twitter, Pinterest and the blog, just for starters :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

And remember, A Way With Words is just a click away!

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Linking this card to the following challenge:  CMD Challenge - Green
Sweet Stampin' - Anything Goes
 

Swing into Spring :-)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

It's just me - swinging by with the Dueling Darling post today :) 

 It's the 15th of the month, the day we (the Divas -vs- the Dazzlers)

 post our cards with 1 theme, 2 hostesses! 

 Suzy and Terry are 2 of our newest group members

came up with a wonderful card kit theme:  Swing into Spring!

It's already HOT here.

really hot.

Like summer hot!

We missed spring.

We also missed winter.

And fall.

So, I'm glad for a 'paper' spring!

And I'm glad for Suzy's kit ♥

The papers are so vibrant and lush and gorgeous!

I drooled over the paper at Michaels but didn't buy it

so this was a wonderful surprise!

Everything on my card came from Suzy's kit,

except the card stock and little button

 (it was calling out for one *wink!*) 

I still have to try again with this image so she doesn't 

look like she is floating in air.

 I did go with a different sentiment on the inside of the card,

one I had in my stash :)

There was enough paper left over for another card(s),

and I'll use the wonderful flower stencil and paper flowers another time :) 

Thank you, Suzy and Terry, for a wonderfully fun month!

They also asked us to share our favorite dessert that

we like to make in the Spring :)

We love them ALL!

But a few days ago, my youngest daughter and I made

some wonderfully yummy vegetarian cupcakes 

with beautiful pink, yellow, green and blue springy flowers piped onto them.

They were so pretty!

I can't find the picture I took, but I'll keep looking :)

Meanwhile, please stop in and see what the rest of the Dueling Darlings

have created this month -

you can find them all in my sidebar :)

Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

You'll always be my special friend!

Indeed, indeed!

As an English Lit minor in undergrad college, 

I would literally swoon when I got the chance to read {or write}

 about the classics :)

 I was so enchanted by the works of so many, 

 from Keats to Chaucer, etc

that I'd often sketch out simple flower drawings to accompany passages

all in my hilariously crooked calligraphy!

I'd get out my coveted onion skin paper, my watercolors and colored pencils

and cover my walls with my handmade designs,

creating my own little Lourve ♥

When I saw the newest 3M image arrive 

for this month's 3 Musketeers creation,

I was instantly brought back to

reminiscing over those little framed pieces of 'art' :)

I've seen/owned stamps by D. Morgan in the past,

so this month's image selection from our hostess, Barb, 

was just perfect!

  My card ... 

eh,

not so perfect.

I colored the beautiful image as soon as I received it :)

Then, tucked it away to work on it.

Like.  Last.  NIGHT!

It was just one of those months weeks.

I sat down last night at 10:30 pm to put it into it's card base

and just fussed and fussed with it.

I knew in my head where I was going with it,

my card just had other ideas! 

 Sometimes card making is like that -

you stamp, ink, color, fussy cut, glue down,

tear up, start over ....

and it's the creative journey that makes us better artists.

Can I get an AMEN!

Thank you, Barb, for this splendid image.

I'm already dreaming up ideas to use

 my watercolor crayons on the 'extra' image!

Be sure to stop in and see what Barb and Jeanette

created with this image, too!

 Big hugs, Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/geoffrey_chaucer.htm