Henry Says Happy Valentine's Day!

As soon as I saw this cute elephant, Henry, I knew I had to get him!
This is the first card I made with Henry, it's real simple: I just stamped him in Jet Black Staz On and colored him a little bit using the Basic Gray watercolor crayon that I could blend with a blender pen to soften and shade a little. That makes it sound quite clever doesn't it?! But really I just rubbed over the crayon lines so they blurred and didn't look so stripey! That's the beauty of the watercolor crayons, they are lovely to work with.

The set comes with various things you can add... a banner, birds, hearts, pennants and Christmas ornaments - all sized to hang from his trunk or walk along the top! Haha - I don't know why but that whole idea really appeals to me!

I wanted to use this as a Valentine's so I stamped the hearts twice and added a cheery greeting. I think it came out cute!

I hope you're having a great day and hope to be stamping with you again soon! Please let me know if I can be of any help.

Brenda

Beautiful Watercoloring using Stampin' Up markers!

Don't you love the soft coloring on this card? It took a while but I have been practicing using our fabulous Stampin' Up markers and getting the look of alcohol markers... the secret is to use a tiny amount and place it where you want the darkest colors (the centers, edges and shadows) Then take a blender pen to soften and move the color. Then at the end you take a white water color crayon and use it to highlight the centers and blend again...

I cut the top note die out of Whisper White card stock and sponged it with Crumb Cake ink to get the aged look. We stamped the flowers onto water color paper using black staz on ink. That means you can wet the lines without them bleeding.

To make the base use the Simply Scored tool to make the lines. I used a brayer to add the Perfect Plum ink. It's a quick and easy technique that give a great effect. I drew my flower stems freehand using a Stampin' Write marker and then used the blender pen to draw a little color out, bleeding the lines to soften them.

• Stamp set: Fabulous Florets, Many Thanks (retired)
• Card stock: Whisper White, watercolor paper
• Ink: Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake
• Stampin' Write Markers: Perfect Plum, Old Olive, More Mustard
• Tools: Simply Scored, Brayer, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Sponge

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments - have a great week! Brenda

A fun playdate

One of Finlay's friends came over last week for a playdate with me ;-) She worked on some super cute birthday cards and I played with this hostess set, Slice of Life, that is in the new mini - I just love it. I stamped each of the images in Staz-on on a piece of watercolor paper and then colored them in using the watercolor crayons and a blender pen. I edged the mat with the scallop edge border punch and added a strip of Sew Suite designer paper. Quick and easy. You can choose this stamp set for free if you host a workshop before the end of April, OR if you put together an order of $150+, this is in addition to Sale-a-bration sets you earn with every $50 you spend! These extra benefits make this a great time of year to stock up on card stock or adhesive or maybe something on your wish list! My calendar is filling up so please give me a call if you'd like to book a girls night out! Have a great week,

Brenda