Easy Watercolor Floral

 Hey there!  Todays project is an easy and versatile watercolor card using Zig Clean Color markers and a sparkle pen or paintbrush.  My color scheme for this card is one I don't use often.  I wanted to challenge myself to use the red/orange/yellow color family more often in the coming year and started with this one.  Another challenge I gave myself was to use more of my studio supplies, rather than continuously going back to old favorites and my comfort zones.  I've had the Zig markers for quite some time, but wasn't a huge fan of them.  Now that I've done a few cards with them, they are really fun and easy to use.  On this card, I employed a paintbrush to give me both soft and hard edges as well as a bit of dry-brushing on the yellow flower.  Dry-brushing is using your brush just slightly damp; you want enough water to allow your color to move, but just a little so that the brush marks show.  On the large petal on the top flower you can see some of the texture of the brushstroke. 
Below is the color palette I chose as a starting point.  I have a whole board on Pinterest of palettes that I look through when I can't decide what color combo to go with. 


Here is the link to the tutorial on my YouTube channel if you want to see how I created this project from start to finish.  My supply list is below.

 Supplies
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper
Versamark ink
MISTI
Ranger Turquoise embossing powder
Zig Clean Color brush markers: 70, 51, 47, 31
Concord & 9th You Are Enough
The Greeting Farm God is Awesome
Wow Metallic Copper SF embossing powder
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die
Pale Yellow Pearl cardstock
Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock
Scor-tape

 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you are encouraged to get outside of your comfort zone and try something new.  Catch you next time!


Much love,
Jasmine

Ink Blended Angel

 Hey there!  One layer cards aren't something I tend to do, but this design is probably as close as I get.  I wanted to do something soft and easy and these colors are what I tend to gravitate towards.  If you have trouble with ink blending, here's a few things to try. A) Lessen the pressure of your hand with the blending tool.  Less pressure means less friction between the tool and the paper leading to easier gliding over the surface.  B) Hold your tool at a slight angle so that the full surface of the tool is not on the surface of the paper.  C) Layer your colors where they meet.  Go back over where two colors meet with each color.  This will help to blend out any edges or tool marks and help to brighten each shade.  D) Practice your blending.  It doesn't go perfectly the first time for anyone and the more you practice the easier it will become and you'll get the hang of it.  I used Distress Inks for this project.  They are designed to work with the techniques I used.  Every brand of Dye ink pad the I've tried has worked with the ink blending technique, but not all of them with work with the stencil and ink lifting technique so I would try them on a scratch piece before your card project to make sure.  Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and all my supplies are listed below. 

Supplies:
Distress Inks: Wilted Violet, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Cracked Pistachio
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock
The Greeting Farm God is Awesome
Archival Jet Black ink
Echo Park Flurries stencil
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen
Little Things Gilded Rose sequin mix
28 Lilac Lane French Quarter embellishment kit
Delicata Golden Glitz pigment ink
Simon Says Stamp Smoke cardstock
Scor-tape
Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue

As always I'm happy to answer any questions you may have and I'd love to know what you think.  Don't forget to subscribe!  See you next time.

Much love,
Jasmine

You Are Enough with Concord & 9th

 

Hello!  I've decided to start todays post with the color palette that I started my card with.  With this palette in mind, the card began to emerge...

Starting with colors in the blue-green/teal arena, I stamped the flowers.  The stamp set I chose is one that you have the option to layer or not.  I stamped the line images and followed up with the layering pieces.  Blending the brown tones around the edges highlights the embossed pattern from the die as well as creates contrast between the colors.  Adding the Bronze embossing powder to the sentiment provides a textural contrast as well as sophistication.  To finish off the front panel, I added sparkle to the flowers using a glitter brush pen.  To keep it light, I didn't bring the brown tones in to far.  I wanted to take advantage of the white space.  Using the same colors in the flowers, I ink blended around the edges of the card base to tie everything together and complete the card.  I'll be honest, I did think about adding sequins, but liked the simplicity of it without them.

 Here is the video tutorial on my YouTube channel if you'd like to see how I created this project from start to finish.  My supply list is below.

Supplies:

Concord & 9th You Are Enough

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock

MISTI

SSS inks: High Dive, Spring Rain, Scuba, Blue Jay

Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die

Wow Metallic Copper embossing powder

VersaMark embossing ink

Distress Inks: Brush Corduroy and Ground Espresso

Scor-tape

Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Let me know if you have any questions, what you think and what you'd like to see next.  See you next time!

Much love,

Jasmine

Polar Birthday Slider with an Alcohol Ink background

Hey there!  I have such a charming project to share with you today.  I started off with the Let It Snow set by The Greeting Farm.  It's a winter themed set and prefect for cold weather outdoor fun and isn't isolated to Christmas, but can be used for Christmas as well.  I love how the penguins are drawn in action.  One is walking toward you and the other is sitting on his bottom, so I chose to color him as if he was sliding across the ice and having a great time.  For the background, it's quite a simple technique and once you try it, you'll not only love it, but also get tons of ideas for different color combinations to use!  Make an effort not to get frustrated if you can't get exactly the same background twice; each one will turn out a little different.  I keep ones I don't like so much to die cut words and shapes out of.  When using metallic mixatives with this technique, it can resist stamping over the top.  An easy way around that is to heat emboss or stamp several layers when using dye inks and Archival works well (the MISTI comes in very handy here).  In the video tutorial on my YouTube channel I demonstrate all the Copic coloring as well as the Alcohol Ink background and how to build the channel for the slider mechanism using foam tape.    My supply list is below.

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm Let It Snow S&D
My Favorite Things Surf & Slide die
Bristol cardstock
Colorbox white pigment ink
Stampendous Winter Wonderland embossing powder
Copic coloring: Bear: W0, 3; N4; C00, 8; RV 10
Scarf: B14, 18, 28;  Cup: B01, 02; E25
Penguins: C 00, 2, 6, 7, 8; YR 04, 15, 20
Ranger Glossy Cardstock
Alcohol Inks: Turquoise, Indigo, Sky, Patina, Pearl
Alcohol Blending Solution
SSS Snowflake Border die
DCWV Foiled Cardstock in Silver
3M foam tape
Scor-tape
Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue

What do you think?  I love this one and as it's going to one of my nephews for his birthday, I hope he was fun with it too.  I have found that kids and adults alike love the dynamic cards so much more.  My little niece likes to take hers to school and playdates and that just warms my heart!  Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for hanging out.  See you next time!

Much love,
Jasmine

You Are Loved with Concord & 9th

Hello!  Todays project was inspired by my longing for spring and looking forward to the end of another brutal Michigan winter.  A goal of mine is to make better use of the hoard, I mean stash, of awesome stuff in my studio rather than always buying more new things.

Watercolor is one of my favorite mediums to work with.  Zig Clean Color brush markers are a fun way to create watercolor effects without having to have traditional watercolor paints.  I have had the 60 count set for quite a while, but never really got around to playing with them.  Going through my stash, I pulled out the You Are Enough set by Concord & 9th.  It's lovely and I thought it was perfect for a spring welcoming project.  This design is perfect for a birthday, thinking of you, encouragement and sympathy or condolences.  Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and my supply list is below.

Supplies:
Concord & 9th You Are Enough
Zig Clean Color brush markers # 26, 27, 32, 36, 40
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pen
Archival Black ink
MISTI
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die
DCWV Twinkle Glitz
Little Things sequin mixes in Passion Flower and Pearl Necklace
Tombow Mono Multi glue
Scor-tape

I really enjoyed the process making this card and am loving how the Zigs work.  They easily give a watercolored look while staying bright and you can use lighter colors to blend out darker colors rather than water.  They also have a really wide color range.  Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to know what you think.  See you next time!

Much love,
Jasmine

Shaking Sliding Flying Dragon with MFT Magical Dragons

Hello!  Todays project is a fun interactive card with a shaker element as well as a slider element.  I've had the idea for this card for awhile and decided to give it a try after coloring my pink and gray dragon.  Copic coloring can be intimidating, especially if you're not confident in your skills.  Like most things, the secret is in practice.  The more you practice the better you'll get.  Here is the video tutorial on my YouTube channel if you'd like to see how to create this card from start to finish.  My supply list is below.

Supplies:
My Favorite Things Pink Lemonade cardstock
My Favorite Things Spin and Slide discs
My Favorite Things Surf and Turf dies
My Favorite Things Magical Dragons stamp and die sets
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die
Bristol Cardstock
Neenah Cardbase
Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers: Dragon- RV 00, 21, 23 C 00, 0, 2, 3, 6, 8  Clouds- RV 00, 81
Zots mini glue dots
Little Things Deep Fuchsia sequin mix
3M Foam tape
Scor-tape
Tombow mono multi glue

This design is really versatile and fun as well as easy to construct.  If you're looking to improve your Copic skills, I recommend Sandy Allnock's Copic Jumpstart class which is available on her website.  You'll learn about color theory, blending groups and how to get texture with your markers like the texture on my dragon.   Thanks for hanging out with me and I'll see you next time!

Much love,
Jasmine

Birthday Boys big and small with MFT Magical Dragons

 Hello and welcome 2017!  I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and happy start to the new year.  One of my nephews has an early January birthday and this card was inspired by him.  He loves shakers and dragons, so why not put them together?  I've been hearing about Bristol cardstock being nice to use with Copic markers because it's super smooth and has good weight.  Usually I use Crafter's Companion Spectrum Noir with my Copics, but I have to order it online and it's not inexpensive.  I used Bristol with the bottom dragon and SN with the top dragon and although the coloring is pretty much the same, I wanted to give a demonstration with each cardstock in the video.  Both cardstocks perform excellently with Copic markers, but the Bristol is available locally and is a better value.  Here is the link to the video on my YouTube channel if you want to see how I created this project from start to finish and my supply list is below.

Supplies:
MFT Magical Dragons stamp and die sets
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Bristol cardstock
Crafters Companion Spectrum Noir cardstock
MFT Tropical Teal cardstock
MFT Sour Apple Sparkle cardstock
MISTI
Copic markers: YG06, 17 G05, 09
Sizzix frame die
3M foam tape
White pigment ink
Wow Metallic Platinum Sparkle embossing glitter
Acetate
Little Things Mountain Lake sequin mix
SN Clear Sparkle pen

Thanks for the visit!  Don't forget to subscribe to my blog and YouTube channel so you stay up to date each and every time I post new content. 

See you next time!

Much love,
Jasmine