Calligraphy and watercolor go hand-in-hand...

Calligraphy is so hot in stationery these days, so I'm extremely happy that it's making its way into card making as well! Here I've used the Calligraphy Classics stamp set, along with some watercoloring/painting of my own.

To make these, I started off stamping the sentiment in a lighter pink color, then used a wet paintbrush to paint over it. When dry, I stamped the sentiments again over the top in Pure Poppy. The leaves were painted by myself with a teal watercolor paint and a tiny bit of gray and black mixed in. Before I did the leaves, I actually stamped 2 flowers with the Paper Clippings: Thinking of You stamp set.

Swing by the Scrapbook Expo blog to read the tutorial!

Hope you are having a great day!

DT Tips: Achieving a Watercolored Look with Stamped Images...

Welcome! I've had some questions on this previous post of mine on how I blended the bird to get the watercolor look, so I created a video for you today with a new card and the technique of stamping images and blending them to make them look watercolored. I hope you enjoy watching it, and please let me know if you have any questions!

Here is the video tutorial, and I apologize that the video is so small! I can't seem to figure out how to make it bigger on my blog. Please click HERE to watch it at over at Papertrey Ink's YouTube channel! Thanks!

The stamps used on this card are The Sweet Life, Spring Woods stamps and dies (bird and branch) and Bold Blossoms (sentiment). Have a creative day!

Watercoloring stamped images...

Happy hump day! Spring break is over for us, thank goodness. Ha. I love my kids, but honestly being with them for 10 days was exhausting. lol This week is flying by! Catching up on cleaning the house (I like when it stays clean for more than an hour!), laundry and some assignments. Yesterday I had a post due for Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog, and I felt like painting with watercolors. I started with some flowers and branches...

Then I wanted to add a pretty bird, so I used the Spring Woods stamp set, stamped it with Aqua Mist and Tropical Teal (it is a 2-step stamp), then added a tiny bit of water over the top to blend it to make it look painted.

Would you have guessed that the bird was a stamp? So easy, right!

Swing by to see the full tutorial and finished card at the Weekly Scrapper blog! I'll be back with more projects either today or tomorrow! :)
Danielle

Introducing What the Doodle: Feather and Keep It Simple: Encouragement...

Today marks the beginning of the March reveal for the new products coming out at Papertrey Ink! I get to show you a couple of fun things today, the new What the Doodle: Feather stamps and dies, and the Keep It Simple: Encouragement stamps.

On the first one, I stamped and heat embossed the feathers around the edges of the card, then painted them in with watercolors (just on regular cardstock).

"Hang in there" is from Keep It Simple: Encouragement stamps and "friend is from the feather set.

Hang In There card:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Versamark, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening

PAPER: white, Summer Sunrise

DIES: none

OTHER: watercolor paints, white embossing powder, clear sequins.

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Next is a card set. I first stamped and heat embossed the two feathers, then colored them in with Copic Markers.

Then I added some ink blending in the background with Aqua Mist ink, and a sentiment in Tropical Teal from What the Doodle: Feather over the top.

If you like to color, this is a great set! I loved working with it!

Hello Friend card set:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Aqua Mist, Tropical Teal

PAPER: white

DIES: none

OTHER: white embossing powder, Copic Markers, clear sequins.

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On the last card, I used the What the Doodle: Feather die cuts to trim some feathers from Papertrey Ink's Sheer Basics Vellum. Then I dipped the ends in gold embossing powder and heat embossed them. I trimmed a few little cuts into the feathers to give them a bit more definition.

The white splatters are made with white watercolor paint and water mixed together, and I just sprinkled them over the top with my paintbrush.

Hello card:

STAMPS: What the Doodle: Feather

INK: Versamark

PAPER: Smokey Shadow, Sheer Basics Vellum

DIES: What the Doodle: Feather

OTHER: white embossing powder, gold embossing powder, twine.

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There are also some beautiful feather papers coming out as well, but I didn't receive them in time to use them for my post. Everything you see here that is new will be available on March 15th at 10pm EST at Papertrey Ink. Visit Nichole, Betsy and Melissa to see more fun new things coming soon!

Creative Cardmaker: Do the Splits...

In my Creative Cardmaker post over at Scrapbook Expo today, I'm talking about splitting your card fronts! I have been noticing this as a trend quite a bit lately...it's not really a new technique, but I really wanted to give it a try! It's a great little spot to house a sentiment and really draws your eye to it!

The card front is actually just cut with a paper trimmer, but Papertrey Ink has these really cute Sentiment Splits dies that are shaped with curves and fun shapes that will cut a little spot for your sentiment also!

The Peonies on Parade were stamped and embossed with white embossing powder, then colored in with Papertrey Ink ink pads: Lovely Lady, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf and Ripe Avocado inks. I stamped the ink pads onto an acrylic block, then painted them onto my flowers with a tiny bit of water. I used the Big Hugs stamps and dies for the sentiment and Soft Stone cardstock in the background.

Please stop over to Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog to read more!

Creative Cardmaker: Liquid Gold Gilding...

Happy Tuesday! Today over at Scrapbook Expo's Weekly Scrapper blog, I have a step-by-step tutorial for you on using Liquid Gold Gilding paint on cards with a quick and easy design. These cards literally took me only a few minutes and don't use many supplies at all...one sentiment stamp, paint, paintbrush, an old pencil and a black ink pad. Stop over to read more!

We have a snow day today, so I'm getting started on my Papertrey Ink goodies for this month that will be released on February 15th! Check out these pics of Kati with our neighbors! :) The girls are thrilled to get a day off today! We've gotten over a foot of snow, and it's still coming down. Enjoy your day!