Tag Archives: watercolor

Octopi – Free For All Challenge #650

Today’s Free for All Challenge is funny animals! Yes please! I had this dad joke just waiting for a card.

If you’d like to use this on your cards just right click on the image below and save it to your computer.  If you use it, I’d love to see it, so please tag me @cardsbyjennifrann and #thestampingactuary.

HA! I love it! I’ve also combined this with the loose watercolor MIX challenge. I stamped the 3 octopi (?) and loosely watercolored them. Then I dug out this fun gelli print out of my background drawer and printed out the first part of the joke for the outside. It was a quick and easy card to make before we left for the beach this morning.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Round Up – Teapot Tuesday #689

It’s Teapot Tuesday.  Today’s Tea Party is for Gracie’s 95 year old father-in-law who is isolated in his assisted living facility due to Covid restrictions. Rex loves the outdoors and used to have a farm, so I took the opportunity to use this farm/math joke that I found when I was looking for a different joke recently.

It’s made with Retro Board font.  I can’t remember where I got it.  If you’d like to use this on your cards just right click on the image and save it to your computer.  If you use it, I’d love to see it, so please tag me @cardsbyjennifrann and #thestampingactuary.

But I was so focused on the farm and the joke that I forgot about Polly’s SMILE challenge. Oops! Sorry, Polly!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Stampers Delights Progressive Challenge – October

Are you a member of the Stampers Delights Delights Facebook Fan Group?  Have you seen the Progressive Challenge?  Join each month to receive the monthly image for free!  I just love this month’s sweet pumpkin!  Click below for details:

This week’s Watercolor Wednesday Challenge was watercoloring pumpkins.  So I printed out my digi for some no line watercoloring.  I used my Spectrum Aqua markers and a technique that we learned in last week’s Watercolor Wednesday Challenge.

I don’t know about you, but fall puts me in a plaid kind of mood and making my own plaid backgrounds is one of my favorite things to do. I grabbed a piece of MFT Natural cardstock and some fun fall colored Spectrum Noir markers and went to town.

Click here to find lots more inspiration on the Stampers Delights blog.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Linking to the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday – Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes

CASology Clean and Simple Challenges – ONE

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Castle Hill Lighthouse – Watercolor Wednesday #65

It’s Watercolor Wednesday!  And those three words are not as scary as they were a year ago.  I actually had a lot of fun with this particular challenge.  Loose sketching and painting has always been my thing.  I’ve always been the type to slap the paint on and hope for the best.  The video tutorial linked in the challenge had us sketching out a lighthouse scene with Sharpie and then coloring with simple watercolor washes.  I wanted to paint a Rhode Island lighthouse, because this card s going to this week’s Tea Party recipient, Tom, who is a former coworker of mine.  One of my other coworkers asked if I would make a card for her to send, and I thought a Rhode Island lighthouse would be great to remind him how much support he has over here in Southern New England.  Here is the reference photo that I used of Castle Hill Lighthouse in Newport, RI.  It’s about an hour from my house.  

As usual, I made two cards this morning, using my Spectrum Aqua markers scribbled on my Waffle Flower Crafts Water Media Mat.  I cut both papers to small squares and taped them down to some scrap paper.

I’ve used two different papers for my watercolor today.  I won several different kinds of Hahnemuhle paper from an Instagram giveaway hosted by Sandra at lifeimitatesdoodles.  Go follow her page–her work is amazing! I took a photo of each painting on top of each paper pad, so I could look back for future reference.

The Bamboo paper has more of a hotpress texture to it.  I like them both for different purposes, but today I found I had more luck with the Agave paper.  Here is the card that I made with the Bamboo paper:

I’m entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday Challenge – Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Lavender Fields – Watercolor Wednesday #45

Today’s Watercolor Wednesday was really fun and easy.  We followed this video for how to watercolor a field of lavender.  It’s just the right amount of loose, random watercolor that’s right up my alley.  I set myself up like I usually do for Watercolor Wednesday, with two pieces of Fabriano Hot Press and my Spectrum Aqua Markers scribbled onto my Wendy Vecchi Make Art Stay-tion:

First steps were to wet the paper and paint a very loose background using the wet on wet technique.  The artist then sprinkled sea salt onto her paper.  I don’t have sea salt.  I tried kosher salt.  It didn’t make nearly as big a splash as hers did. I really should get some sea salt.

After it dried, we applied more defined grasses, stems, and flowers, as well as some splatters.  It was nice to see my lavender field form:

After I finished, and set my paintings aside to dry, I did my clean up routine.  I hate to waste the pretty colors left on my art station, so I spritz them with water and mop them up with some pieces of cardstock.  The layers upon layers of mopping up ink, or cleaning off stencils make interesting backgrounds that I keep in my background drawer for die cutting or other use on future cards.

I finished my card by lining the border with gold Wink of Stella and adding a bit of splatter with it.  And I added my sentiment by stamping the “Thinking of” from a Papertrey Ink sentiment and a Catherine Pooler die cut from black fun foam.

I’m entering this card in the Word Art Wednesday Weeks #485-#486 Anything Goes Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Moonlight Skating – Teapot Tuesday #661

It’s Teapot Tuesday!  Today’s Tea Party is for mother and daughter, Dee and Carol in Wisconsin. Dee recently turned 99 and Carol is having serious health issues. We are sending them paper hugs at a time when they are not able to be together.  Dee is a self taught artist and has had a tradition of painting her front picture window with a winter/Christmas theme every year since 1963. You HAVE to watch this video slideshow of all of her paintings throughout the years.  It’s so fun to watch how her art evolves over the years and even more amazing when you think that she was well into her 90s by the time she was painting those last ones:

Our Teapot Tuesday challenge is to make black and white cards with a pop of color inspired by these fabulous holiday window displays.  Watching the slideshow made me think of how my watercoloring has evolved over the last year with the Watercolor Wednesday challenge. So I was inspired to watercolor a black and white scene. You’ll recall from yesterday’s post that I have several Virtual Stamp Night cards left to make.  Shelly’s challenge is to include a moon on our cards.  So I went to Youtube looking for a tutorial of how to watercolor a moonlit scene.  I used some masking fluid to mask the moon and stars and quickly watercolored the scene using Black Soot Distress Oxide ink and the Black Spectrum Aqua Marker.

Not a bad scene.  Now for the pop of color.  I stamped, cut, and colored some skating critters from Paperie Ink.

This arrangement looks good to me.  So I die cut the background with my MFT Stitched Rectangle die, glued on the animals and trees with tape runner and foam squares.  As usual, I finished my card with some Stickles for sparkle:

Since I always make two cards, I am all set for sending one to Dee and one to Carol. I hope they enjoy their cards and can see how Dee inspired them.

Do you know someone that could use some well wishes, encouragement or all around warm fuzzies? Consider nominating them as a guest of honor (a.k.a. destination station) for an upcoming tea party. Send your request to jacqueline via PM or e-mail [email protected]. Include SCS Teaparty Request in the subject line.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Virtual Stamp Night!

This past weekend was Virtual Stamp Night! One of my favorite weekends of the year.  The theme was Parks & Recreation which resulted in a lot of fun cards.  I spent two hours each night on Zoom meetings with my dear SCS friends.  Chatting with them always puts me in a good mood!

There was Lisa’s Zoo Animals challenge:

My dad has a T-shirt that says “Every zoo is a petting zoo if you’re brave enough.” I chuckle every time I see him wearing it.  I also chuckle every time I put it on a card.

Then there was Sonja’s Marble Technique challenge:

I got out my Wow! embossing powders and tried the Embossed Marble Background tutorial.

Kelly challenged us to “Trail off the Page”:

And Rebekah’s Swing Challenge:

The swings were always my favorite thing at the playground.

Rita wanted to see flower silhouettes on our cards:

Misti’s challenge was to use some form of transportation on our cards:

I’ve never gone out on a canoe at the park, but we do take our boat out from the boat ramp at the park regularly in the summer.  The trick is–you have to time the tide or you’ll get stranded.  I just love this Avery Elle Camp Wanna-Stamp stamp set!

Melody’s challenge had to do with slides:

Why did they cross the playground? To get to the other slide!  My kids cross the playground often to get to the other slide.

Lee gave us a fun sketch:

This card focused more on the “recreation” part of Parks & Recreation.

And I hosted a “Sports at the Park” challenge:

That’s what my kids said is the most fun thing to do at the park.  Play sports.  Just this month, they have played both baseball and basketball with friends at the park.  This little bear is playing baseball at the park.  But I think he has a black eye.  “I wondered why the ball was getting bigger…then it hit me.”

And I still have six more VSN Challenges to finish.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!