A Kept Life: 04/01/2016

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Watercolor Susanna Blossom

Are you smitten with all the watercolor creations you see on line lately? I know I am! I'm embarrassed to say how much paper I've gone through experimenting and trying to get the look just right. Something so soft and loose just seems like it should be easier. The more I practice the easier it's getting. I really love working with Peerless Watercolors - you can find them at Birch Press Design where more and more craft supplies are showing up including new dies and stamps.

What I love about Peerless watercolor is how easy the colors blend together like the green and yellow areas on the photo above. Paper is so important too - my favorite is Canson #140 cold press. Ah yes.. and the perfect paint brush.. the holy grail of water color - for me it's the No. 8 brush. No matter who you ask you will get a different answer to all these questions - it's important to find what works best for you and to experiment with different products - don't give up!

Once you master the background you can layer on lots of pretty detail dies like this one from Poppystamps - the Susanna Blossom! I cut several from watercolor paper - and adhered them to the base. You need to be careful with your adhesive! If you use a liquid, like I do, you need to be aware that any leaks will reactivate your watercolors - so use it in moderation!

A simple sentiment lets the background do all the talking! Why not sit outside and paint a batch if the weather's fine? You'll be ready for anything just by adding a few die cut images!

Have a great day and happy crafting!

12 Kits of Occasions - Crazy for Coffee

What a month! Can you believe April is coming to an end? Me either! But it is the last day of the month and you know what that means right? Time for the 12 Kits of Occasions! The 12 kits is a group of friends who like to papercraft. Every month we take turns making a kit for the other members of the group. We all get the same supplies, and on the last day of the month we reveal what we made with the kit. It's always fun to see what we did the same and how we saw the ingredients differently.

This month the hostess with the mostest is Tracey McNeely from In My Creative Opinion. And what an amazing kit! Lots of coffee themed images and papers in mocha and kraft. Tracey gave us stamped images from Ellen Hutson, and Reverse Confetti, papers from Authentique and die cuts. The ingredient I'd look out for this time would be the wood clothes pins..
Ok here's what I made this time.......

My only regret? Not having more time to play! Great kit Tracey and I loved it!

Want to see more designs from the group? Head on over to our blog where you'll see one sample from each of the ladies on the 12 Kits team. Oh yes.. and a very special guest this month.. the Coffee Lover Queen herself Amy Tsuruta!!

Here's a list of the 12 Kits DT for easy reference...

Tracey McNeely - In My Creative Opinion

Marybeth - It's Time For Paper

Joyce - Cards By The Sea

Kim - Cupcakes Cards & Kim

Jessica - The Paper Parade

Sharron - On Papillon Wings

Lindsey Larsen - Occasional Crafting

Michele Ferguson - I Card Everyone

Lisa Elton - My Paper Tales

Michelle Leone - Pretty Periwinkles

Nancy Penir - Artful Notions

Have a great weekend!

Finished Size all cards 4.25 x 5.5"

Friday, April 29, 2016

Pretty Little Studio Friday Feature - Labels - Two of A Kind

Happy Friday! It's time for our Friday Feature!! That's right! Every Friday we select a product to show off and share ideas on ways to use it. Today's feature is LABELS! You can see all the store Labels Here! And just a heads up.. THERE ARE LOTS to choose from! I'm a card maker so lots of times I use labels to add sentiments to cards. Today I cut up a sheet of Treasure Island Pirate Cove labels to incorporate into the background. I love embellishing and for me.. YES! MORE is MORE!!

I started with a background of pattern paper from the Treasure Island Collection. I cut a sheet of colorful stripes (Magic Island) for the card base, and then a slightly smaller panel of the wood grain (Ship Deck Crumbles) allowing the stripes show all around the card. Next I added the labels with adhesive foam tape for dimension. Let the layering begin!

I started with selecting the images of the kids - I needed to find two mini die cuts that would work together well with the layout. I found the boy "Jack Silver Tooth" Mini Vintage die cut - but had to find him a friend! Julia Shiny Buckles was the perfect mate! I actually didn't have that die cut, but I did have the Nautical Girls Sticker Sheet with the very same image. Since I wanted to use the sticker as more of a die cut I added a little baby powder to the back to remove some of the adhesive so I could place her wherever I wanted without worrying about ripping the sticker if I decided to move it.

Now that my images were selected it was easy to decide on a sentiment and the other embellishments. The Valentine Words Sticker Sheet is loaded with lots of words that are perfect for journaling and can easily double as sentiments. They fit beautifully on tabs as well as labels from Pretty Little Studio.

For the embellishments I added two shiny flairs - the anchor is from the Anchor's Away set, and the "P is for Parrot" is from the Discover Treasure set. I love a little sparkle so I added some Ocean Blue confetti. Each bag of confetti has a great mix of elements - double sided die cut stars, star sequins, and blue sequins.

Super cute Aye Matey? Ready to play with some labels? I hope this makes you see them in a new way!

CAS-ual Fridays New Release Peeks - Day 5 Tin Roof

It's the last day of the sneak peeks at CAS-ual Fridays! Tomorrow (Saturday) you'll find all the new releases in the store! I hope you've been enjoying all the great new images and word dies. Michele is sharing projects from all the design team members and offering a $15 gift certificate all 5 days - so make sure you stop by her blog to enter to win.

Today we're showing a fun background stamp called "Tin Roof" and the new "Smile" Fri Die! There are two stamps on the set - a wide border and a skinny border - a "mini" of the big set with a smaller pattern size.

I really enjoyed inking this up, embossing it and then coloring with distress inks. The pattern was easy to line up - I stamped it twice to cover this panel.

I didn't want to cover up all that pretty inking which makes the new word Fri Dies perfect for adding a sentiment. I also added a few enamel dots to match the ink.

For this one I used the same technique - emboss and watercolor. I raised the white panels on top with adhesive foam tape so the water color portion is lower.

I triple cut the thanks word die to add dimension and a little sparkle from the gold layer. A few sequins and this one is done - clean and simple!

Want to see more projects with the Tin Roof stamp set? Here's a list of designers with projects to share today!

Just a reminder today is the last day of the CAS-ual Fridays sale - there's no coupon code required - that means you can double dip - if you use my special code below you'll save an additional 15% off the sale price!

Finished SIze 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | CAS-ual Fridays Tin Roof
Dies | CAS-ual Fridays Smile & Thanks Fri Dies

Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Fusion Card Challenge - Sweet Orange Blossom

Well Hi There! LOL! I hope you're having a great day! A new challenge begins today at Fusion Card Challenge! Isn't this pretty? It's called "Sweet Orange Blossom" It's Fusion so you can work with either the inspiration photo OR the sketch - and if you're feeling clever you can FUSE both together.

I'm always trying to put the two things together. I love that hummingbird - seeing one in my garden is always magical. If there is someone close by I always grab their arm and point so they see it too! Maybe that way I have a witness that it was really there!? They move about so fast - a blink of an eye and they're gone!

I do have a trumpet vine - just like the one in the photo - in my garden that gets visited regularly - and it's always a treat to see the hummingbirds visiting!

You know I normally embrace orange, but this time I thought I'd mix it up with some purple and blue flowers.

I saw the line that went down the side of the sketch and decided to widen it. I water colored a strip of green - using Ranger inks - smooshing technique. I wanted the green to be blotchy darks and lights. Then cut a panel of white, stamped it with the sentiment and adhered it to the card with foam for dimension.

I splattered the white base with some of the ink left on my matt before adhering the die cut stamped leaves and flowers. Those clean white spaces still bother me - better to get them a little inky!

I have a few hummingbird dies in my collection. This one is from Memory Box - the Forest Hummingbird. The pretty flowers are from WPlus9 - Spring Blooms.

Ready to see more beautiful designs from the Fusion Challenge team? Just click on their names below to jump to their blog!

I sure hope you will join us for this one. Click here to jump to the Fusion Card Challenge page.

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | WPlus9 Spring Blooms, Strictly Sentiments 2
Dies | WPlus9 Spring Blooms | Memory Box Forest Hummingbirds
Ranger Distress Ink

CAS-ual Fridays Release Peeks Day 4 - Bravo

Three Cheers for the new releases at CAS-ual Fridays!! We're working our way through a whole week's full of beautiful projects featuring the newest release. Today we're showing the new BRAVO stamp set and matching word die! Michele is sharing projects from all the design team members and offering a $15 gift certificate all 5 days - so make sure you stop by her blog to enter to win.

This set with it's fun fonts just screams "ITS A PARTY!" I tried to capture that party mood with this car. I stamped the "3 Cheers" 3 times on banners in primary colors.

I looped some circles of gold shimmer twine and adhered them to the base of the card before attaching the banners.

A polka dot embossed background and a generous sprinkle of sequins add to the party atmosphere. This close up is a good example of the different fonts in the set.

One more to share - for this one I stamped the "Hip Hip" repeatedly on the background using my Misti for perfect placement. Next I embossed the panel and adhered it to the card base.

I looped some solid pink sorbet twine to put under this simple one banner sentiment.

More sequins to add a little mood to this one - it is cause for celebration after all - must have some confetti! It's sure not like the old days when you'd put a scoop inside a card! LOL! Yes.. . much cleaner!

There's lots more to see today! Just check out what the rest of the team made!

Here's a list of designers with projects to share today!