Handmade Christmas 2017: Easy Watercolor cards with Koi and Fine-Tec Metallics

 It's the fourth post in my Handmade Christmas 2017 series and I have 4 easy watercolor cards that are perfect for mass production.  I used 1 stamp set, 3 watercolor palettes and 1 sheet of 9x12 watercolor paper.  You don't have to be a master watercolor artist to make these cards.  If you can move a brush from side to side, you can make these.  Easy peasy. I wanted to keep products to a minimum by using them in different combinations on each card so that you get variety without needing/using tons of different things.

Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and my supplies are listed below.

Supplies (used in each card):
Canson XL 140 lb Coldpress watercolor paper
Hero Arts SD412 stamp set
Archival Jet Black ink
Koi Pocket Feild Sketch watercolor palette
Silver Black Velvet brushes
MISTI
Versamark
Green tree on red mat:

• Fine-tec- Red and Bronze paints
• Lindy's Stamp Gang Candy Cane Red Gold embossing powder
• Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
• DCWV Red Foil cardstock

Green tree on Gold mat:

• Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder
• Viva Decor Pearl Pen (or Nuvo drops)
• Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
• DCWV Gold Foil cardstock

Blue wash on Gold mat

• Wow Sparkling Snow embossing powder
• Fine-tec Inka-gold and Luna-gold paints
• DCWV Gold Foil cardstock

Blue/Bronze on Red mat

• Cosmic Shimmer glue
• Elizabeth Crafts True Red microfine glitter
• Doodlebug Red Velvet cardstock
• Wow Sparkling Snow embossing powder

 I hope you enjoyed todays post and video.  Watercolors are really quite forgiving and these are a really easy way to get your feet wet ;)  Merry Christmas!

For His glory and much love,
Jasmine

He is Worthy Watercolor with Scrapbooking with M.E. Boutique

Todays project is my second Design Team card for Scrapbooking with M.E. Boutique and it's gorgeous while easy.  I started out by arranging my stamps on a 4.5" x 6" piece of watercolor paper in my MISTI.  You'll want to use a stamp positioner with this project because watercolor paper can be tricky to stamp on with the uneven surface.  I stamped on the smoother side of my paper using Archival ink.  I chose Archival because it's waterproof and a dark black.  It did take several stampings to get each word smoothly even.  Because I stamped it several times, creating several layers of ink, I set it aside to dry for an hour or so before moving on to adding my watercolors. After taping my piece down to a flat surface (I used a small craft cutting board), I wet down the entire piece with a modest amount of water and began to add paint.  I used blues, teal, pink and purple, being careful about the teal and pink mixing too much to avoid mud.  You also want to be careful about adding too much water so that you avoid getting a lot of puddles.  You can sop up any puddles with a paper towel; you don't want to let them dry like that because you can get ugly edges and hidden mud.  It doesn't show in the pictures well, but I also added a shimmer spray over the top when I was done adding color.  This step adds shimmer (obviously) but also helps to blend it a bit as well.  After it was dry, I ran it through my Big Shot with a stitched rectangle die and then trimmed added a 1/8 inch wide strip of Scor-tape to each side. After removing the backing one side at a time, I added black microfine glitter and burnished it into the tape with my finger.  After mounting to a top folding cardbase, the card is complete.  Here is the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and my supply list is below.

Supplies:
Creative Worship Worthy King
Creative Worship Words of Life: Actions
Neat&Tangled Christmas Journaling
Ranger Archival Jet Black ink
Canson XL Watercolor paper
MISTI
Gansai Tambi watercolors
Imagine Crafts Shimmer Spritz
Stitched Rectangle die
Scor-tape: 1/4" and 1/8"
Black Microfine Glitter

Thanks for joining me today!  Don't be afraid or intimidated to get started with watercolors; I know it can be daunting because it looks so easy when other people do it.  This style is a perfect place to start as it's just dabbing on paint and there's no "right" way to do it.  Let me know if you have any questions and I'll see you next time.

For His glory and much love,
Jasmine

Shaker Shake-up with Heat Resistant Acetate

 Todays project is a bit of a spin on a Shaker card.  Instead of a die cut window with stamping on the surrounding panel, the stamped image is on the window, making the shaker window the true focal point.  I created this using Heat Resistant Acetate.  Because it's heat resistant, you can stamp and emboss on it without it shrinking, warping or twisting.  A powder tool is key when using the acetate with embossing powder because of how prone to static acetate is.  I rub my powder tool over the entire area I'm going to stamp and heat emboss to ensure that my image comes out clearly.  Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and my supply list is below.

Supplies:
Concord & 9th Hello Lovely stamp set
Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies
Versamark
Wow Turkish Nights embossing powder
Hot Off The Press Heat Resistant Acetate
3M Foam tape
Scor-tape
Little Things Sequin Mixes

• Gold Dust
• Pretty Pansy

Lavender cardstock
MISTI
DCWV Gold Foil paper
Smile die
Elizabeth Crafts Black Microfine Silk Glitter
Black cardstock
Stick-It
Black Glitter enamel dots

Thanks for stopping by!  See you next time!

For His glory and much love,
Jasmine

Mermaids Mean Summer

 I LOVE these mermaids.  And I want to go swimming with them.  I had this watercolor background sitting on my studio table and that was the inspiration for the card.  It has a fantasy ocean feel that made the mermaids a perfect fit.  I don't have footage of the background in the video, but it was very simple.  Using a wet on wet technique, I added lines of blues, purple and some teal, then laid in a bit a gold and let dry.  My mermaids are colored with Copics and finished off with a sparkle pen.  Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel and my supply list is below.

Supply list:
The Greeting Farm Merisa and Maisea stamps
Gansai Tambi watercolor palette

Canson XL 140 lb watercolor paper
Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die
Elizabeth Crafts Silk Microfine Glitter Fire Opal
Scor-tape
Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen
MISTI
Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Strathmore Bristol Smooth cardstock
Copic Markers
Mermaid Merisa
Hair: RV 0000, 00, 06, 09, 02
Fins: BG 01, 05, 10, 13, 23; B 000
Skin: E 50, 31, 13
Top: V 05 BG 05

Mermaid Maisea
Hair: BV 01; V 05, 17
Fins: G 02, 16, 17; YG 41
Skin: E 50, 31, 13

Neenah Classic Cream cardbase
Powertabs clear adhesive foam
Flatback self-adhesive pearls
Little Things sequin mixes Caribbean Beach and Pacific
Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets 4 and 6 mm
Ranger Matte Medium



Thanks for stopping by and I'll catch you next time!

For His glory and much love,
Jasmine

Snowflakes and Cupcakes with Infinity Engraving

 Merry Christmas!  This little baker image by Sasayaki Glitter is quite versatile and can be used for just about any theme or topic you want.  All you need to do is change the colors and sentiment to whatever you want: birthday, thinking of you, feel better or even sympathy.  To use digital stamps, all you need to do is download the image and resize it in Word, then print it out.

I have a few techniques in this project, but none are difficult.  I colored my image with Copics and die-cut the image panel and the red panel to create an in-laid die cut look.  I created a mask to go over the image using copy paper and then stamped the background using a large snowflake background stamp and Versamark.  At this point I removed the mask.  I covered the Versamark with Judikins Sticky Stuff and heat set that.  Judikins Sticky Stuff is a powdered adhesive that becomes sticky when melted.  When using it, remove the heat as soon as it turns shiny.  Using red and green micro-fine glitter, I added it to the adhesive to create and snowflake background.  To create the sentiment, I die cut it from white card stock and heat embossed it using green glitter embossing powder and added two layers.  The green snowflake on the top left corner is a chipboard die cut from Infinity Engravings.  Here is the link to the video tutorial on my YouTube channel if you want to see how I created this card from start to finish.  My supply list is below, with links to the digital image and chipboard snowflakes. 

Supplies:
Sasayaki Glitter Baking Time image
Infinity Engraving Snowflake chipboard
Crafters Companion Spectrum Noir cardstock
Copic Markers
Mama Elephant Peek a Frame Creative Cuts
Hero Arts Snowflake background stamp
Versamark
Judikins Sticky Stuff
Elizabeth Crafts Microfine glitter in Green and True Red
Doodlebug Ladybug Velvet cardstock
Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock
Simon Says Stamp Die
Stampendous Green Glitter embossing powder
Tombow Mono Multi glue


This project was a lot of fun to create and I love how it turned out.  The snowflakes remind me of fireworks and the girl looks like she is having a great time baking Christmas treats.  
 
Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you had fun and get the time to get creative!

Merry Christmas and much love,
Jasmine

Birthday Shaker Card for Jesus! featuring Infinity Engravings

Hello!  Today's card was built around the IE cupcake chipboard die cut.  I started off by painting the cupcake and with Christmas being right around the corner, thought of a birthday card for Jesus.  I set the cupcake aside to dry while I built the shaker element in the middle.  I die cut the circle frame using two circle dies and die cut the back piece using the larger of the two circle dies.  I ran out of acetate panels that I would normally use for the window, so I die cut the circle window out of a stamp storage pocket instead.  After running the circle frame through an embossing folder to give it some texture, I blended some gold pigment ink over the texture and applied 1/4" scor-tape to the back.  Using doubled up foam tape, I cut it half lengthwise and applied it to the perimeter on the back of the assembled window piece.  This is much easier to do after removing the release paper.  With a piece of gold foil cardstock, I used the Stacked Stars die by SSS and ran it through my die cutting machine.  Save a few of the stars from the die cut pieces.  Glue the star outline to the back circle piece and trim off any excess.  I used the Purple Velvet sequin mix from Little Things for my shaker bits and added a few to the middle of the back piece.  Carefully line up the window piece with the backing piece and adhere together to create the shaker element.  The sentiment and letters are die cuts and both dies are by Lawn Fawn.  Die cut the happy birthday from black glitter paper and the letters from gold foil paper.  The snowflake background can be done two ways.  You can use either several individual snowflake stamps or a large background stamp.  You can use either a glue pad or a heat and stick embossing powder to adhere the glitter to the images.  I used the Tsukineko Essential Glue pad and a large background stamp for my card.  With the glue pad, you want to let the glue dry for 10-20 minutes before you apply the glitter.  I used Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine Glitter, which you need to burnish into the glue to get the shine to come up.  At this point I had all my elements ready to assemble my card.  I used scor-tape on the back of the shaker element to attach it to the cardbase.  I used scor-tape on the back of the cupcake to attach it to the shaker element and glue on the back of the die cut sentiment and letter to adhere them.  After all the instructions, here is the link to my video tutorial on my YouTube channel.

Supplies:
Infinity Engraving cupcake chipboard
Dylusions White Linen acrylic paint
Folk Art 227 Bright Green acrylic paint
Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-surface Glitter paint
Lawn Fawn Claire's ABC's dies
Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday border die
Lawn Fawn Stitched Circles die
Sizzix Circle die
Simon Says Stamp Stack Stars die
DCWV Foiled Stack in gold
DCWV black glitter paper
Delicata Golden Glitz pigment ink
3M Foam tape
We R Memory Keepers Basketweave 3D embossing folder
Elizabeth Craft Designs Silk Microfine glitter in Amethyst
Tsukineko Essentials Glue pad
Avery Elle Storage pocket
Little Things Purple Velvet sequin mix
Hero Arts stamp S5069 (Snowflake)
Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock
Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!  Check out the video if you want to see more in depth the process of making a shaker card.  They aren't difficult at all, but can take a little time.  I don't mind spending the time on people I know will love something like this; my nieces and nephews love these and always want to take them to school.  This design is perfect for any winter birthday, Christmas cards, miss you or thinking of you; all you would have to do is change the sentiment and name (of course ;).  The kiddos would love to help paint the cupcakes, too. 

Much love,
Jasmine

Love Everyday - Mixed Media Canvas

Welcome back! Todays project is a mixed media canvas, complete with my first video! This project was a lot of fun to put together, has several different textures and finishes and I love the colors.  The stencils and peacock die cut are from Infinity Engravings and were supplied to me to have fun and create with as a member of their Design Team, but be sure that my opinions are always true and honest.  Here is the link to my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/7Ce4CkYBrV8

Supply List:
Infinity Engraving die cuts and stencil

Oval Canvas 9"x12"
Tim Holtz Melange Tissue Wrap
Prima Art Basics Soft Matte Gel
Dylusions Acrylic Paints in Vibrant Turquoise and London Blue
Dina Wakely Heavy Body Acrylic in Blackberry Violet
Ranger Foil in Brights
Cosmic Shimmer flake and glitter glue
Versamark Ink
Judikins Iridescent Sparkle Embossing Powder
Wendi Vecchi Studio 490 Translucent Embossing Paste
Turquoise glitter
Glitter Ritz Cool Highlight glitter
Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel
28 Lilac Lane Embellishments in Winter Blues, On Lilac Lane and Party On
Ranger Glossy Accents
Elizabeth Crafts Silk Microfine Glitter in Fire Opal
Wild Orchid Crafts paper roses
E 6000 glue

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll be happy to answer them the best I can and as always, I'd love to know what you think!

Much love,
Jasmine

Christmas Project Series Day 12: Great Lakes Lighthouse Birdhouse

Hello and welcome back! Today's project is a Lighthouse birdhouse for infinity-engraving.com.  I had my 7 year old nephew in mind when deciding how I wanted to decorate it, as it will be a Christmas present since he LOVES birds.  I used paint, texture paste, glitter, mica flakes and metal and resin embellishments to give it a life by the lakeshore vibe.

 I started by giving my lighthouse two coats of gesso, letting it dry between each coat.  I followed the gesso with a coat of Dylusions London Blue paint.  After that was completely dry, I added my texture.  Using White Sand Texture Paste by Prima, I added copper microfine glitter and mixed it in to add shimmer to the texture and add opacity when it dried.  I wanted it to look like wet sand drifted up from the waves.  Using the Flourish stencil by Tim Holtz, I added my texture paste thickly over ever other flat side of the lighthouse using a palette knife. 

I added more of the paste mixture around the lighthouse around the base to add to the wet sand drift look.  While it was still wet, I carefully added mica flakes to simulate rocks.  If you wanted this to look like an ocean lighthouse, you could add tiny seashells.  I'm a Michigander, which means the Great Lakes and freshwater, so plenty of sand and water, but no seashells.  I finished it simply with a metal winged-heart embellishment over the door and a resin butterfly resting on the top, both of of which are attached with hot glue.  To hang it, drill a chain into the top of the lighthouse.  I plan on laying a few strings and ribbons on the top to attract some birdie's to make a home come spring.

Thanks for hanging out with me today!  I hope you had fun and learned something new.  Feel free to ask any questions and let us know what you think.

Much love and Merry Christmas!
Jasmine