CAS Watercolour May 2020 Reminder - Night Sky

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's time to play with the CAS Watercolour Challenge where we're looking for a NIGHT SKY card.  You can find all the details HERE.

I made another Brusho background because they work so beautifully for night time skies.  I used more of the Lamp Black Color Bursts for this background and just a touch of the Cobalt Blue and Purple Brusho Colours.

I used an older die to cut out the circle fence and bird in black cardstock and inset both the background and die cut into a white panel that I'd embossed with SU!'s Woodland embossing folder.  I had also sprayed the background with Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist before adding it to my card so it really shimmers like all the stars on a clear night.  Here's a closer up for you...

My sentiment comes from SSS's Tiny Words stamp set and I figured this would be a great masculine birthday card.

I hope myself and the rest of the DT have inspired you to play along (HERE) with our Night Sky challenge...you have until the 24th to link up.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour May 2020 - Night Sky

Hello friends.  It's time for a new challenge here at CAS Watercolour and Jenny is our hostess this month and she is looking for water colored NIGHT SKIES on our cards.

I admit this challenge stumped me for a bit, until I thought of my Brusho Colours and Winter...and then it all came together with this:

I am absolutely in LOVE with the way this came out!  I started with a piece of TH water color cardstock, and then used mostly Cobalt Blue Brusho and just a bit of Purple Brusho and Lamp Black Color Burst.  Once it was dry I splattered just a bit of Copic Opaque White to resemble falling snow.  I added a die cut tree border from Penny Black and then stamped my sentiment in Night of Navy ink using Penny Blacks Yuletide Wishes stamp set.  Such a simple card really, but I think it really packs a punch! 

Make sure you check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and our special GD this month and then play along with us right HERE.  Remember to keep your card CAS, use WATER COLORING, and have FUN!  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with in our gallery!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour April 2020 Reminder - SPRING FLOWERS

Hello friends.  Just a friendly little reminder that there's still time to play along with us this month at the CAS Watercolour Challenge where our hostess Susan would like to see SPRING FLOWERS.

Being from West Michigan, what would Spring be without Tulips?!  (LOT's of Dutch people settled in West Michigan way back when, so Tulips have always been a part of our landscape here!)  I used another Impression Obsession stamp (E7754) to come up with this CAS card:

I stamped the image in Versafine Black Onyx and then heat embossed in clear and then used my Aqua Painter and Lemon Tart (PTI), Mustard Seed DI (TH), and Old Olive (SU!) inks to water color the tulips.  I used a Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle Die to cut out my image and then added a strip of black cardstock and half of a Leafy Branch die cut (Pinkfresh Studios) behind the rectangle before adhering to a white card base.

There's quite a few beautiful cards already in the gallery, but we'd love to see YOU and your beautiful SPRING FLOWERS in our gallery too!  You can check it all out right HERE to play along.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour April 2020 - Spring Flowers

Hello friends.  This months challenge at CAS Watercolour is being hosted by Susan and she would like to see SPRING FLOWERS.  So not just any flowers like roses, daisies, etc., but SPRING flowers!  Think Snowdrops, Daffodils, Tulips, Crocuses, Dogwood, Cherry Blossoms, etc.

One of my favorite Spring flowers are Lilacs.  Not only their wonderful smell, but I just love the beautiful purple colors and the tiny, petite little blossoms all clustered together with the green foliage!  Here's what I came up with using an Impression Obsession stamp (H8731):

I started by stamping the image in black Versafine and then heat embossing in clear.  I used Highland Heather and Gorgeous Grape inks and my Aqua Painter to water color the flowers and then used a Polychromos pencil to add a little detail to the centers of the flowers.  The leaves were water colored with Old Olive ink.

My sentiment is a 2 part die from Pinkfresh Studios called Sentiment suite: hello and I used vellum for the back piece and black for the top piece.  A few clear sequins finished off my CAS Spring card.

Make sure you check out all the beautiful inspiration from the rest of the DT and our Special GD right HERE, and then play along with us!  We'd love to see the gallery flooded with SPRING FLOWERS!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour March 2020 - Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a little reminder that there's still time to play along with our Luck of the Irish challenge over at CAS Watercolour.

I don't know how Irish this card is, but I had fun playing around with a few different Brusho and Lindy's Magicals powders that I had added water to, and then painted several different backgrounds till I came up with one I liked.  I also did some splattering on the one I chose, and the splattering had some Lindy's Magicals in it, so there's some really pretty sparkle on it, which of course I couldn't seem to capture with my camera!  But IRL it really makes this card not quite so plain!!

I kept this card very CAS using only a white frame (PTI's Pierced Feature Frames) and a simple die cut from Poppystamps (Hampstead Bloom) that I thought I might be able to loosely term as a 4 leaf clover!  

I added a simple white embossed strip on black for my sentiment (The Greetery's Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You) to finish off my card.

This challenge is still open till the 24th, so check out all the inspiration and play along with us right HERE...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour March 2020 - Luck Of The Irish

Hello friends.  Time for a new challenge at CAS Watercolour, and this month Julia is our hostess and she would like to see some LUCK OF THE IRISH on our cards!

This was a bit of a challenge for me because even though I have a wee bit o Irish in me, I don't own a single Shamrock, Leprechaun, or even a pot of gold stamp!  I do have several gnome stamps though, and even improvised a bit with some shamrocks, and came up with this card...

After stamping this image (SugarPea Designs - Gnome For Christmas) on heavy weight cardstock and then clear embossing, I water colored him using my Zigs and then popped him on a scrap of DSP I found in my pile.  I framed him out using MFT's Peek-A-Boo rectangle die and then went to work on the shamrocks using 4 tiny hearts (die cut from Impression Obsession DIE052-I) glued to a thin strip for a stem.  I thought about water coloring them with my green Zigs, but in the end decided to leave them white...artistic license and all that!!

Pretty simple card but I kinda like how it turned out!  I left the sentiment off as I'm not sure if I'll actually use this for a St. Patrick's Day card or something else.  Make sure you check out what Julia and the rest of the DT came up with for inspiration for you (and our special GD's too), and then play along with us!  You can check it all out right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th and remember to keep it CAS and to also have FUN!!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Reminder - RED & BLACK

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that the CAS Watercolour Challenge is open till the 24th, so you still have time to play along with us!  This month we're doing a color challenge with RED & BLACK and you can check it all out right HERE.

One of my favorite Penny Black stamp sets is critter celebration and I thought it would be cute all done up in RED & BLACK!  Take a look:

Isn't that mouse just the sweetest holding a gift and sitting right inside that pretty RED flower?!!  I stamped the image in black and then clear embossed before water coloring with my Aqua Painter and Distress Inks.

After my image was dry, I matted it with a piece of black (my white space) that I used MFT's Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window on, and then adhered both to a white card base.  I left the sentiment off as I'm not sure what I'll be using this card for yet.  Very simple card but I love the way it turned out!

This challenge is open till the 24th and we'd LOVE to see YOU in the gallery!  You can check it all out right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Feb. 2020 - Red & Black

Hello friends.  I'm hosting this month at CAS Watercolour and I do love a good color challenge, so I thought February would be a good month for RED & BLACK!

I have a Twofer for you today, because I wasn't sure I liked the 1st card I did...anybody else out there their worst critic??!!  I made a 2nd card that I liked, but the more I stared at my first card, the more I liked it!  Let's just say my water coloring is a little abstract and maybe a bit of Impressionistic!  Haha...works for me!

I used Rubbernecker's 4 Red Poppies stamp and colored directly onto the red rubber with SU! markers and then spritzed with water before stamping onto my water color cardstock.  I used Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, & Merry Merlot markers on the stamp several times and a tiny bit of black to get the (kind of) definition of the poppies.

I did a simple matting with black cardstock and then adhered both to a white card base before adding my sentiment (Altenew's Best Sentiments).

Here's my 2nd card...

I used SSS's Poppy Frame and die cut it twice...once from black cardstock, and once from water color cardstock and then water colored the pieces with my Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints.

Once my pieces were dry I inlaid them back into the black frame and attached to a layer that I had cut with The Greetery's Nordic Frame Dies.  My sentiment is from an older PTI set.

Make sure you check out all the lovely inspiration from the DT and our special GD Michele, and then play along with us right HERE.  Remember to keep your cards CAS and use RED & BLACK (neutrals are fine).  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with!  (this challenge is open till the 24th)

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Jan. 2020 - COOL COLORS

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with the COOL COLORS challenge at CAS Watercolour.

Bonnie is hosting this month's challenge and she would like to see you use COOL COLORS on your CAS water color cards.  If you're wondering what colors are considered cool, take a look:

                                    

And here's what I came up using some of those colors and a Serendipity Stamp (540HUM Sled)...

I stamped my image in black ink and then embossed with clear before water coloring with Distress Inks.  (Weather Wood, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Dusty Concord, & Peeled Paint)  I did use a touch of Sahara Sand ink to color the sled, even though I know it's not a cool color...I just couldn't bring myself to make the sled blue, green, or purple!  I used a Spellbinders oval die to make a frame for my piece, and then added a popped up sentiment banner using Altenew's Best Sentiments.

This challenge is open till the 24th, so check it all out HERE and play along...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Jan. 2020 - Cool Colors

Hello friends.  It's a brand new year and welcome to a brand new challenge at CAS Watercolour where Bonnie is our hostess this month and she is looking for cards using COOL COLORS.

I admit I had to look this one up...COOL COLORS are Violet, Blue Violet, Blue, Blue Green, Green, & Yellow Green.  I love blues and violets for Winter scenes, so here's what I came up with:

I started by making my background with the smooshing technique using Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet Distress Inks.  I added a die cut Winter scene (AE) over the smooshed background and then matted to a black layer before adhering to a white card base.

Next I added a die cut snowflake from PTI's Silver White Winters that I cut in half before adding half to the top and half to the bottom of my main image.  My sentiment is also PTI (Winter Hills).

What will you come up with using COOL COLOURS?  Remember to keep your card CAS (You'd be surprised how many we have to disqualify because they are way too busy...CAS means a lot of white space surrounding your main image.  Check out the definition on the side bar HERE if you're uncertain.)  Most of all, have FUN...isn't that why we craft in the first place?!!  Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the rest of the DT and our GD Chrissie, and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Reminder - Monochromatic

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play with our last challenge of the year at CAS Watercolour and we are looking for MONOCHROMATIC cards.

I used water coloring and a stencil to come up with my background for this card...

I used a technique that Betsy Veldman used HERE (scroll down to the 3rd video) with The Greetery's Frosty Flakes Stencil and distress inks in Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, & Salty Ocean.  Here's a closer up of the background:

Once my background was dry I added my line of die cut trees using Memory Box's Evergreen Window (I trimmed the window part of the die cut off so I was only left with the trees) along with a strip of white cardstock that I tore to mimic the snow hills.  A simple matting with Blueberry Sky cs and my stamped sentiment (PTI's Christmas Blessings) in Blueberry Sky ink mounted on a white card base finished off my card.

If you need more inspiration, make sure you check out what the rest of the DT has come up with (HERE) this month...you will be blown away by their BEAUTIFUL cards and also from our Special GD Birgit.  This challenge is open till the 24th, so come play along with our MONOCHROMATIC theme...we'd love to see YOU in the gallery!!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Nov. 2019 - Monochromatic Challenge

Hello friends.  It's a new month and time for a new challenge at CAS Watercolour!  Our hostess this month is Karen and she would like to see MONOCHROMATIC cards.

A while ago my sweet friend Michele came over for a play day and brought a beautiful wreath die from Pinkfresh Studios that I had to play with!  I ended up using a piece from my stash box that I had water colored using Lindy's Magicals in Autumn Maple Crimson that has beautiful deep reds all the way to light pinks...and perfect for this monochromatic challenge!!

This wreath die is so full of delicate and fancy cuts that I left my card pretty simple to let all those magical colors shine!  Here's a closer up...

I wish my camera had picked up all the shimmer and shine that is part of Lindy's Magicals, because this card really comes to life with all the sparkle!!  I added a strip of Scarlet Jewel cs that I ran through my SU! Subtle embossing folder to ground the wreath that I added off center on the white card base.  My sentiment is from the Stamptember SSS/Gina K Festive Flower stamp set and I also added just a few iridescent jewels from Lucy's Little Gems.

Check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT and our special GD Birgit for some awesome inspiration, and then show us what YOU came up with using a MONOCHROMATIC color scheme!  Remember to keep your card CAS, use Watercolouring, and a Monochromatic Color scheme...we can't wait to see you in the gallery!  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Reminder - Maple Leaf

Hello friends.  Just a reminder that the October CAS Watercolour Challenge is still open for another week, so dig out those Maple Leaf stamps, dies, or stencils and come play along with us!

This month we are also celebrating our 3rd Birthday, so come play along for the chance to win one of the two SSS $25 gift cards!

I have another Twofer for you today using a very small Maple leaf stamp from Clearly Besotted's Autumn Flowers stamp set.

I used 3 Gina K ink cubes (Wild Wisteria, Red Velvet, & Jelly Bean Green) to ink up the stamp and then spritzing with water before pressing into a strip of white cardstock.  Before each one dried, I used my Aqua Painter to blend the colors together a bit more.  Once dry, I added it to a white card base along with a thin strip of Wild Wisteria cs and then stamped my sentiment (PTI) above the thin strip.  Very CAS and I love the combination of the colors together!

This card is very similar but uses more traditional Fall colors for my Maple leaves.  I also added one of the larger Maple Leaves from the same stamp set (Autumn Flowers) and then a thin strip of Pumpkin Pie and gold mirror cardstock.  This sentiment is also from PTI.

Make sure you check out all the beautiful inspiration from the DT and our Special Guest Ros, and then play along with us right HERE.  Remember to keep your card CAS, use a Maple Leaf, and Water Coloring.  Don't forget that we're celebrating our 3rd Birthday too, and that we have prizes to win, so come join in...can't wait to see YOU in the gallery!!

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!