Thursday, February 27, 2014

Watercoloured Backgrounds

I could play for hours with watercolour paints and paper. Watching the colours mix and move, never knowing exactly how it will turn out. Oh, happy days!

Then I end up with all sorts of watercoloured pieces that I don't use right away so they sit in my drawer for some future card. But then I get the inkling to play with the paints again and the vicious cycle repeats itself.

Case in point, I wanted to play in Papertrey Inks Make It Monday Watercoloured Background Challenge. I had oodles of backgrounds ready and waiting but oh no, I decided I needed to paint a fresh and new background. So I made one and thought maybe I would use two on my card, so I made another. And another, until I had seven background pieces. Was it necessary? No, but I had a ball making them!!!

Sue McRae PTI Make It Monday Watercolour Bkgrd Feb 27 2014

I used two watercoloured pieces for this card. Some pinks, corals and yellow for the sentiment piece and yellow and pink for the card background.

The sentiment from Stylish Sentiments Birthday was white embossed and the dotted lines from Background Basics Retro was clear embossed over pigment ink. I clear embossed stars onto the background and added a bunch of iridescent sequins.

I'm going to try and make another card for the challenge with one of the pieces I painted last night. Hopefully I'll be able to control myself from pulling out the watercolours again!

Thanks for visiting, I appreciate all the comments you leave for me!



Friday, February 21, 2014

Beat The Winter Blues Blog Hop!

Hi everyone!

We're so excited to be here today, because it's time to BEAT THE WINTER BLUES with a blog hop, celebrating a huge sale at one of our favorite online crafty retailers 
on etsy,  a2zScrapbooking .



Their Sale section is jam-packed full of Hero Arts items that are 50% off!!
As if that's not enough, we have an extra discount code for an extra 20% off your entire purchase!!! 

So hop along with us today (February 21st), to see some fantastic, inspirational projects made using products you'll find in the a2z Sale Section!

Be sure to comment on each of the blogs, "LIKE" our Facebook page, and enter below using the Rafflecopter widget, to increase your chances of winning a gift certificate of $25.00!!!  You have until February 28th midnight, to comment and get extra entries via Rafflecopter. Now that's sure to beat those wintery blues!

Here is the list of Hoppers! If you get lost along the way or encounter a broken link, please come back here for the full list!
Now that you have all the info, let's get started!

I made three cards today, featuring some of my fave Hero Arts stamps.

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For this first card I used the Wildflower Garden stamp with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls. Love the rich shine on the black card stock.  For the background I did tone-on-tone stamping with Small Scallop Background, a perfect image for adding subtle texture and interest to any card.

I made this card for my teenage nephew.
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I white embossed the Tweed Pattern on watercolour paper and swiped on various Distress Ink colours diagonally in greens and blues and sprayed it with water so they would blend together.  Three different sentiments were embossed onto vellum and added across the card front.

My final card was made using the image from Merriest Christmas Wishes.  
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Although this stamp was meant to be used for the holidays I think it can be used year round. 

I used Perfect Pearls again, though this time in purples and blues on black card stock to create a night scene.  For the background I once again used one of my staples, the Small Scallop Background.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Your next stop on the hop is Haven

Remember to leave comments along the way and enter the Rafflecopter contest for your chance at a prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Please note the terms and conditions:

  • Minimum purchase of $25.00 in order to receive the 20% off. (no minimum purchase required to receive the original 50% off discount)
  • The code A2ZHop20 will be good for February 21-28
  • If you spend $50.00 or more, you will also get a free gift with your purchase!!!
  • You have until Midnight February 28th to enter via the Rafflecopter widget.
  • Winners will be drawn randomly and will be contacted via email, by March 5th.
  • Please ensure you leave a current email address with your entry, so that we can contact you! Be sure to check your email, to see if you've won!
  • Any winners who are contacted, but who do not reply with their full details (so we can organize their prize) by March 10th, will forfeit their prize and new winners will be drawn.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

It's Roy G. Biv at A Blog Named Hero


Who is Roy G. Biv, you ask? It's not really a who, but a what.  It's the acronym that stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet, the colours that are found in the rainbow.  That's right, the current challenge over at A Blog Named Hero is rainbow.  We know how much you love rainbows!

http://shopellesstudio.com/

Today we're using Hero Arts and Elle's Studio products on our projects.  The Elle's Studio goodies are from the Love You More Collection and they include some wonderful rainbow inspired papers.

Sue McRae ABNH Feb 2014 Rainbow Card


I couldn't resist using Hero Arts Petals of Beauty stamp and colouring it with Memento and Marvy LePlume markers in colours that match the striped background paper.

I usually don't mix patterns but thought the dotted paper was a nice contrast to the diagonal stripes.  I also added the "love" tag and the "you" stamp, both from the same Elle's Studio Love You More Collection.

Now it's your turn to wow us with some rainbow projects.  You have two weeks to enter the challenge and a random winner will receive a gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.






Make sure you stop by A Blog Named Hero to check out the fabulous projects by the other design team members.

Thanks for visiting today!









Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Embossed Embossing

This is my last card for the Stenciled Online Card Class and I'm using the technique of heat embossing the stencil embossing paste.

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I used a Turquoise Tapestry Embossing Powder that has little flecks of gold and black in it along with a fun brass stencil called Organic Texture.

The photo doesn't capture the raised embossing very well, but it's so cool in person.

Thanks for dropping by today!