What Mistake?

Are you ever in the middle of creating something and end up making a mistake on part of it? This happens to me a lot. Usually I trash it and start over. But today's card shows how I was able to recover from that mistake and still use it.

I used some of the Nuvo Glimmer Paste with a stencil on a piece of cardstock. I'm not sure how it happened but once I pulled up the cardstock I realized a bunch of the glimmer paste had smeared. Of course my first thought was to scraped off the extra and throw away the cardstock and start over. But then I took another look and thought I would just see if I could work with it.

Turns out I had just the perfect flower and leave stamp and die set that would be a great focal point but still  mostly cover my mistake. Day made!

Purple isn't a color I use much but love how this card ended up turning out. It was a birthday card for a friend who's favorite color is of course purple.

- Jessica

Blues Watercolor

Happy Monday! Hope you all are having a lovely spring so far. It is by far my favorite season and I love the extra sunshine and all the blooming flowers.

Today I have a birthday card to share with you. I made this card for my niece back at the beginning of the month. She prefers blues and isn't a fan of floral, so I had to think a bit outside of the cards I would normally design. But I ended up loving how this card turned out with the blues/greens and neutrals.

I started out by creating a watercolor wash background then added some metallic silver watercolor to give it a bit more pop. I used that as inspiration when choosing the silver glitter paper to diecut the "happy birthday" which I then adhered onto some blue vellum. The vellum was attached with some staples to keep an edgier feel. But then I noticed the vellum was getting a bit lost over the watercolor and so I grabbed some simple black and white striped papers to layer underneath. Finally I finished by adding just a few sequins.

- Jessica

MOJO Monday 489 card

I do love a good challenge or sketch to push me into a quick creative session. This sketch for MOJO Monday 489 was such a great jumping off point for me. And a challenge not only gets me creating but also blogging again.

Saturday I received a recent online purchase that included the new Ranger Distress Oxide inks. I was soooo excited to play with these and make some inky backgrounds. Only I suddenly realized I had no clean ink blending foam. So I looked around my craft room and though I'd experiment with some art brushes I had bought to use with acrylics and watercolors. They worked so beautifully for a soft wash of color!

In that same package I also received the new Wplus9 Petunia builder stamps and dies. I pulled out my papertrey inks and got busy stamping flowers then diecut them while watching tv. I wasn't sure how the papertrey ink would layer over the distress oxide inks but I wanted to stamp the leaves directly on the card. They stamped perfectly and I couldn't be happier with how this card turned out using all my new product goodies.

- Jessica

Watercolor Shaker Card

I still have all the 😍  for shaker cards! It's all the sparkle really that I'm attracted to. If they weren't so time consuming and I knew all my recipients would love them I'd probably make only shaker cards, ha!

This card also incorporates my love for ombre'. First I used ink with a blending tool to create the panel, then I used a diecut on the panel. Next I placed the frame back into place to add some added interest to the shaker window.

- Jessica

Recycled Planner

At the beginning of a new year I, like so many others, always have old calendars and planners from the previous year. Sometimes I throw them away and sometimes I save them.

This planner is just a few years old 😉  I actually only used it for about a month then gave up. But I kept it all this time thinking surely I could recycle it and make something nice from all the lovely art inside. Turns out these pages are perfect for cards! The planner pages are about 6 x 8.5"h, so I do have to crop them. But I love how the cards turned out and can't wait to make more. This particular planner had the art on about every 4th page. And it's a double sided art page so if I wanted to keep the planner pages to reuse I could...or if I'd of used the planner pages and wanted to save those I could also do that.

Just a fun little project and worth taking a look at your planners and calendars from 2016 and beyond! Also a great idea of you are on a "no buy" for 2017.

- Jessica