Freshly Made Sketches #183 and ColourQ Challenge #288

Hello my friends,

This is my entry to the Freshly Made Sketches #183
and to the ColourQ Challenge #288.
This card was Princess of Clean in FMS and
was chosen as ColourQ at the ColourQ.

The inspiration to this card comes from a few challenges. I started to make this card to The Paper Players watercolour challenge but when I started to submit it I noticed that I had missed the deadline. I took the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the colours from ColourQ. I have to admit that there is a bit of grey in the background because while making this I remembered the colours wrong. I thought the grey was in the colours, I am entering this anyway since grey is one of the neutrals and I could have achieved the same look with second generation stamping with black ink. But if the ladies at ColourQ interpret my colours differently, please remove my card from the gallery. I just love the look of these butterfliers - the embossed white veins are think are so beautiful. This stamp is so detailed that it was a pleasure to colour these.

I will enter this into the challenges:
Freshly Made Sketches #183 - the sketch
ColourQ Challenge #288 - the colours

Supplies:

Stamps: Flora and Fauna 2 and Borders and Backgrounds 3 by Wplus9

Dies: Hand Lettered Thanks Die by Wplus9

Inks: Versamark, Pure Color Fairy Dust by Wplus9

Papers: Canson 180gms Watercolour Paper, Neenah Solar White 80lb, Neenah Desert Storm 80lb, Papermani Textured Card Stock 180gms

Embellishments: Neat and Tangled Spring Mix Sequins

Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful day!

Marika

CAS(E) this Sketch #120, Throwback Thursday #3 and Simon Says Wednesday Challenge

 Hi Everyone!

This is my entry to the CAS(E) this Sketch #120, Throwback Thursday #3
Inkspirational #81.

I've been anxiously waiting for my parcel from Wplus9 to arrive and it finally arrived this Monday. I was so amazed how fast it was shipped (within 2 hours after I placed my order). Delivery to Helsinki was quite fast (about a week) BUT then the parcel was held at the customs and it took almost two weeks to get here... You might be able to believe that every afternoon I was waiting the post to come like a little kid at  Christmas and every time I was disappointed. Just knowing that the parcel is just sitting at the customs to be declared kind of made me crazy... Well, it arrived and my girls and I were as happy to go through all the stuff that we had ordered. My girl wanted to colour the Miss you lots -girl and I went for this gorgeous image of a this little Chickadee. Before we started on Thursday, I went and looked up the newest challenge at the CAS(E) this Sketch. I was so amazed to see how perfectly this stamp was made for their challenge. Thanks for my friend Michele who pointed out for me who this bird really was since I think we only have his relatives living here in Europe.  I googled him and tried to stay true to his real colours, I believe he got more yellow under his chest as he might have but I doesn't really bother me - at all. 

I had a tons of fun watercolouring this image. I stamped the image with light brown ink and I used Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours and as I usually go for one colour and use the shades of that to colour and to add dimension and shading to my watercolours, I wanted to challenge myself to actually colour as it is meant with watercolours. While I was adding another washes of different colours and shades of those colours on top of each other, the bird started to look like a REAL bird. I was so amazed that I had just painted this, so amazed. I've never done anything like this before and I will certainly keep this card to myself. I would like to thank Dawn and Wplus9 for making this stamp since the design is all theirs - I just added the colour.

I will enter this into these challenges:

CAS(E) this Sketch #120 - the sketch

Throwback Thursday Challenge #3 - Use Wplus9 stamp

Inkspirational  #81 - Space - I have lots of white space in my card

Supplies:

Stamps: A new day by Wplus9

Paper: Canson 180gms watercolour paper, Colour Me 180gms card stock (grey)

Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolours: no. 61, 67, 32, 53, 54, 47, 44, 40, 20, 46

Derwent Inktense Pencils: Iron Blue (0840), Iris Blue (0900) (Background)

Thank you for stopping by today! See you soon! 

Another way of watercolouring a Poppy!

Hello!

I am sharing two cards today at Altenew blog. I used all the three layers of that builder stamp set and build up my watercolored flower. I was thinking of different ways to use this stamp set and when I came around this idea I immediately tried it out. I had my kids coming and going and I had about less than an half an hour to finish these images and I believe that magic is that - Do not think! When I was finished I thought, this really looks good and then I cleared the house next day and started filming. I really tried to make this second too perfect and the magic was gone. But I edited the video anyway, I hope you got the idea how I made it. Here are the cards:

The first one made with without thinking too much

A second one made with my punctilious mind.

Here is my how-to -video if you wish to see how I made this.

Supplies:
Stamps: Painted Poppy, Painted Butterflies, Birthday Greetings and Bejeweled by Altenew
Inks: Antique Linen, Spiced Marmalade, Gathered Twigs, Peeled Paint, Tattered Rose and Fried Brick, Black Soot Distress, Inks, Versafine Onyx BlackCard stock: The Langton Watercolour paper 300g/m2, Papermania Textured Card Stock, WHSmith Linen Effect Paper 150gsm

Thank you for visiting. See you soon!

Marika

CAS(E) this Sketch # 119, Less is More #220 and The Card Concept #33

Hello crafters!

A quick post to share this card that I made a few challenges in mind. I took the sketch from the CAS(E) this Sketch and the theme from Less is more. The colours are from the Card Concept. Here is my card:

I will enter this  card to the CAS(E) this Sketch #119,
Less is More #220 and to the Card Concept #33.
This card was CTS Favourite.

I will enter this card into these challenges:
CAS(E) this Sketch #119 - the sketch
Less is More #220 - Up up and away
The Card Concept #33 - I was inspired by the colours - Clean and Layered

Here are the graphics:

Supplies:
Stamps: Mary and Birch Tree Background by Purple Onion Designs, Painted Poppy (sentiment) by Altenew
Derwent Inktense Pencils: Pewter (81), Cadmiun Yellow (0210), Tan (1720), Iris Blue (0900), Willow (1900), Ink Black (2200), Tangerine (0300), Poppy Red (0400), Cherry (0510), Baked Earth (1800), Sepia Ink (2010), Oak (1730)
Card stock: Canson Multi Media Card Stock 180gsm

Thanks for visiting. See you soon!

Marika

Guest Designer at CASology # 142

Good morning!

Today I have an honour to be a Guest Designer at CASology. 

When Melissa contacted me and ask me to be their GD for this challenge I was so thrilled but when I got the cue word I was even more excited!! How sweet it is and how wonderful cue word for a challenge when the spring has finally come! 

Here is the challenge:

Well, the first thing that I knew when I saw the word was that I am going to be doing some Purple Onion fun this time! Their stamps are just the sweetiest in my opinion. About the same time, my friend asked me if I could make a birthday card for her aunt since she is turning 60! Sweet Sixteen turned into Sweet Sixty! The recipient is also a kindergarden teacher so I kind of tried to achieve an old story book look to this card. Maybe she would like it! Here is my card:

Here is a close-up of the mouse:

Some of you have requested that I show how I colour this mouse, so this time I filmed while making this card. Hopefully you enjoy and try it on your own. I would love to see your colouring!

If you can't see it here, you can watch it in Youtube.


Supplies:
Stamps: Wishing (partly stamped) by Purple Onion Designs, Halftone Hello (sentiment) by Altenew.
Inks: Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks, Memento Desert Sand, Versafine Onyx Black
Derwent Inktense Pencils: Tan (1720), Saddle Brown (1740), Willow (1900), Sun Yellow (0200), Spring Green (1550), Light Olive (1540), Iris Blue (0900) Cadmiun Orange (0250), Burnt Orange (0260).
Cardstock: Canson Mix Media cards stock 200gsm, Dovecraft Back to Basics IV Designer Paper Pack 150gsm
Card base: Papermania A6 300gsm
Copic Multi Liner 0.3 Black
Wink of Stella Glitter Pen

Thank you for stopping by today and please join the fun at CASology this week! See you soon! 

Marika

A watercoloured Poppy

Good afternoon my friends!

Today, I am at the Altenew blog to share two of my watercolored cards and a video tutorial how I painted the other one.

Stamps used: Painted Poppy and Floral Motifs (sentiment).

Here is a close-up:

If you like to see how this card came to together, here it is:

I believe this stamp set is perfect for watercoloring since it gives you the choice to go for loose and more artistic look or for more detailed look if you wish. This other one is made with Distress Inks and I didn't add that much of a detail. I only used Tattered Rose, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint and Black Soot Distress Inks for this one. 

Stamps used: Painted Poppy and Sketchy Rose (sentiment).

Supplies:

Stamps: Painted Poppy, Floral Motifs and Sketchy Rose by Altenew

Inks: Tattered Rose, Peeled Paint, Fired Brick, Tattered Rose, Black Soot, Spiced Marmelade, Rusty Hinge and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black and Toffee (sentiments)

Watercolours: Kuretake Gansai Tambi no.43, 31, 33 (flower), 54,43 and 51 (stems).

Cardstock: Canson Watercolour paper 180g/m2, Papermania Textured Cardstock, Brown Inspire Me paper

Embossing Powder: Opaque Vanilla White by WOW!

ATG gun and tape

Tombow Multi Mono Liquid Glue

Card base: Papermania A6 300g/ms White

Thank you for stopping today and I hope you liked there. Have a wonderful day!

Marika

CAS(E) this Sketch #117, CASology #140 and ColourQ #285

Good Afternoon!

This is my entry to the CAS(E) this Sketch #117, CASology #140
and ColourQ #285
This card was CTS Winner, ColourQ at the ColourQ 
and the Winner at CASology.

I made this card a few challenges and more importantly one crafting friend in mind. The sketch is from the CAS(E) this sketch and the theme is from CASology. What can be more spring than butterflies and bright, rainbow colours - at least that was what came to my mind when I thought of the word spring. And so conveniently the ColourQ almost had the colours that I would had gone anyway so I used their colour combo. Then I stopped and one particular person came into my mind who might like this card and she is my dear crafting buddy Kelly! If you haven't visit her before, I encourage you to do so. She is fabulous in her designs and colouring but the talent that I admire the most is the fabulous way how she uses bold and rich colours and she still is able to maintain CAS and very stylish look! This is for you Kelly! Thank you for your endless inspiration! 

I was kind of horrified to start to colour this since I don't think I am good at using this much different colours - I usually stick with neutrals plus one to two colours the most. I stamped the butterflies with light yellowish ink onto a watercolour paper and then watercolored the butterflies. I die cut the sentiment and out of white cardstock (yes! I finally got the courage to do this!!) and adhered four layers on top of each other to get the sentiment to pop up. The little butterflies are hand cut with scissors and then adhered with either foam tape or liquid glue. The watercolour panel is then adhered to the card base. 

I will enter this into these challenges:

CAS(E) this Sketch #117 - the sketch

CASology #140 - spring - butterflies and rainbow colours reminds me of spring

ColourQ #285 - Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss, Cool Caribbean

Supplies:
Stamps: Flora and Fauna 2 by Wplus9
Dies: Hand lettered Thanks by Wplus9
Inks: Antique Linen Distress Ink
Watercolour: Kuretake Gansai Tambi No. 34, 43, 33, 5, 63 and 20.
Cardstock: Daler Rowney Aquafine Watercolour paper 300g/m2, Canson Watercolour paper 180g/m2, WHSmith Linen Effect paper 150g/m2

Thank you for stopping by today! Have a wonderful Easter holidays!

Marika

CAS(E) this Sketch #116

Hello Everyone!

This is my entry to the CAS(E) this Sketch #116.
This card got Honourable Mention at the challenge.

I've been quite busy lately and haven't had time to play along at the CAS(E) this Sketch so today I decided that when the sketch aired, I will immediately make it into a card. Love the sketch from Leigh Penner- very versatile and of course I was drawn into the flower in the middle. I had this rose for half coloured so I finished it and made it into this card. 

Here is a close-up: 

Close-up where the shimmer from Wink of Stella can be seen.

I started by inking the rose and the stem and the leaves from Sketchy Rose with light water soluable ink. I believe, I used third generation stamping with the stem an the leaves. I watercolored them with Distress Inks. I created a mask from post-it notes and mask off the frame and left a rectangle to where I stamped the woodgrain background. Before that I inked the edges to get some contrast for the white space. After that I heat embossed the background and I wasn't quite patient enough and the embossing powder was stuck.. pretty much to everywhere. I kind of liked the effect so I decided to leave it as it was. The sentiment from was inked with black pigment ink and then heat embossed. I cut the flower with scissors and craft knife and it was then adhered with liquid glue and foam tape onto the card base.

Here is the sketch:

Supplies:

Stamps: Sketchy Rose and Label Love by Altenew

Inks: Tattered Rose, Fried Brick and Peeled Paint, Antique Linen Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black

Embossing Powder: Clear Matt Dull and White Pearl by WOW!

Card stock: Canson Watercolour paper 180g/m2, Neenah Solar White 80lb

Card base: Papermania A6 300g/m2

Thank you for stopping by today! And thank you for your comments and ideas for the videos. I loved reading them and got some ideas. So thank you very much! See you soon!

Marika

A rose for Her

Hello Everyone!

Today is my first DT post at Altenew blog and I am beyond excited about it. I thought about it a lot what to make and I decided to go for a little older stamp set and used Sketchy Rose as the focal point of my card. So here it is:

Stamps used: Sketchy Rose, Wood Pallet Background
and Birthday Greetings

I started with stamping the flower, the stem and the leaves from Sketchy Rose set with light water soluble ink onto a watercolour paper. I watercolored the rose with Distress Inks. Before cutting the rose I stamped the flower again with Versamark and heat embossed it with Golden Highlight embossing powder to get more interest. Then, the rose was cut with scissors and a craft knife. I used Versamark to ink up the Wood Pallet Background stamp and stamped it onto a little smaller peace of white card stock. The background was then heat embossed with White Pearl embossing powder. The sentiment is from the Birthday Greetings set and was inked with black pigment ink onto a peace of textured card stock.

Here is a close-up from the rose:

Supplies:

Stamps: Sketchy Rose, Wood Pallet Background and Birthday Greetings by Altenew

Inks: Spiced Marmelade, Gathered Twigs and Peeled Paint Distress Inks, Versafine Onyx Black

Card stock: Canson Watercolour Paper 180g/m2, Neenah Solar White 80b, WHSmith Linen Effect Paper 150g/m2

Embossing Powder: White Pearl Regular and Clear Golden Highlight by WOW!

Scotch Foam Tape

Scotch ATG and tape

Tools:

Hanart Watercolour Brush no.0

Acrylic blocks

Paper Trimmer

I start to make video tutorials next month for Altenew's blog and I would more than appreciate if you could let me know if there is a particular technique or colouring medium that you would like me to feature in those videos. Please leave your requests in the comments below and I try to make them come true. Thanks again and see you soon!

Marika

ColourQ Card Challenge #283 and Time Out Challenge #27.

Good Morning!

This is my entry to the ColourQ Card Challenge #283 and 
to the Time Out Challenge #27.
This card got ColourQ Courtier at the challenge.

Here is a close-up of a mother mouse.

On Saturday I had time to craft and I went through some challenge blogs to get inspiration. I wanted to colour and I found the colours at ColourQ very very pretty and they fit very well for the idea that I had in mind. A very good friend of mine is expecting her first child and I wanted to make a card for her. Well, I know you shouldn't brake the illusion of the future mothers that the fact of having children isn't always only tickling little toes and looking at them sleeping smilingly.. Unfortunately children grow much faster than we really realize and those snuffling little swagglings aren't so tiny for long and they turn into these "little smiling and adorable perishers". At least one of them lives in our household and does what little mouse is doing in the card - every day! I really thought these two stamps work so very well together to create this scene - so familiar for us.

I stamped images from Purple Onion Designs with light brown ink. I should have chosen a light gray ink but I wasn't thinking at the time. I watercolored the scene with my Inktense Pencils. To finish the card, I adhered a lime card stock underneath and stamped the sentiment with black pigment ink.

I will enter this into these Challenges:
ColourQ Challenge #283 - Basic Black, Going Gray, Kraft, Kiwi Kiss + neutral
Time Out Challenge #27 - CAS with optional twist of plash of one colour - mine is only CAS

Here are the graphics' :

Supplies:
Stamps: Wishing, Charlotte and Blossoming Perch by Stacey Yacula from Purple Onion Designs, Birthday Greetings by Altenew
Inks: Mementon Desert Sand and Versafine Onyx Black
Derwent Inktense Pencils: Spring Green (1550) Light Olive (1540) Fern (1560) Sun Yellow (0200) Saddle Brown (1740) Willow (1900) Indian Ink (2020) 
Derwent Metallic Pencils: Pewter (81)
Card Stock: Canson Mix Media 200g/m2, Primeco 220g/m2 Olive card stock
Copic Multi Liner Black 0.1, Copic Multi Liner Gray 0.3

Tools:

Derwent Waterbrush no.2

Acrylic blocks

Paper trimmer

Stamp-a-magic

Scotch ATG & tape

Thank you for stopping by today. See you soon!

Marika