Die Cuts

Faux No Line Water Color Using Peerless Paints

~ graywhiskers ~ Leave a comment

Wow!  Has it really been three months since my last post?  Where has the time gone?  Wedding and baby season definitely keeps me super busy every year.  With that season finally coming to a close, now I can focus more on keeping my blog updated with cool new techniques and beautiful crafts.

Today I wanted to show you a simple Thanksgiving card I made using Peerless watercolors.

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This is the Peerless Watercolor booklet. The “Complete Edition” is a misnomer, there are more than 40 other colors available!

If you have never used these water colors before, I highly recommend trying them.  They are super easy to use, come in bright colors, and very inexpensive.  (I got this booklet at my local paper crafting store for around $15.)  As a bonus, they blend absolutely flawlessly, so they are perfect for no fuss painting.

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The colors come in sheets or in liquid form.  Each sheet of pigment has a corresponding page with the color name and some ideas on how to use the color and what other colors to mix it with.  Refills for the booklets are available.

There are many ways to use the Peerless watercolors, but I like to just snip off a small IMG_3357piece of each of the colors that I would like to use.  You can put each little section in a small dish, but I just line them up on my glass cutting mat.IMG_3364

Next I touch a wet brush to the square to pick up some of the color and simply paint!

IMG_3368Picking up the color doesn’t take much water, and it goes very far.  You can keep using the small squares pigment for quite awhile before all the color is exhausted.

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You can use clear or white for this technique.

For this card I wanted to do a no line watercolor, but I do not have a very steady hand, so I decided to fake it with some clear embossing powder.  The watercolor will resist all of the areas that have been embossed, so it’s okay if you go outside the lines!

First, I embossed the Scarecrow from Lawn Fawn’s “Happy Harvest” in clear embossing powder.  I painted it in with: brilliant yellow, flesh tint, Japonica scarlet, Mahogany brown, Sepia brown, and sky blue from the Peerless Complete Edition.  I used the Peerless Metallic in Copper for his buttons.  Next, I stamped the corn stalk from the stamp set and embossed it with yellow embossing powder.  I colored the background with distress inks (Victorian velvet, squeezed lemonade, and fossilized amber).

I wanted my sentiment to IMG_3346follow the curve of the cut circle I was using so I laid my acrylic block over it and simply curved the sentiment as I mounted it to the block.

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I embossed the sentiment in Metallic Copper embossing powder to match the copper in the scarecrow’s buttons.

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Look at how beautiful and shiny it is after embossing as compared to before!

I adhered all the pieces on some gorgeous embossed wood grain paper I got from my local paper crafting store and added a ribbon.  Super easy, and very cute!

For more information on Peerless Watercolors, check out their website.

If you would like to try out any of the products I used on this card, check out the links below!

Thank you for stopping by!

(Please note that while I do receive compensation from Amazon for items bought through the following links at no extra cost to you, I never recommend products that I don’t use and love myself!  I was not asked by Amazon or any of these companies to use their products or provide these links.):

Peerless Watercolors

Silver Brush Round 4

Lawn Fawn- Happy Harvest

Distress- Victorian Velvet

Distress Squeezed Lemonade

Distress Fossilized Amber

Judikins Clear Embossing Powder

Anti-Static Powder Tool

Lawn Fawn Watercolor Card

~ graywhiskers ~ 1 Comment

Hello friends!  Today I have a super sparkly card to share with you.IMG_2475w I made this card for the Lawnscaping Challenge: Sparkle and Shine challenge.  The stamp set I used is Lawn Fawn‘s “Color My World”.  I have had this set for a while and had yet to use it, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity!

IMG_2463wI used a scrap piece of Pow Glitter Paper for the front of my card and different colors of solid scraps for my crayons.  I black heat embossed the crayon image onto the scraps and fussy cut them out.

I then used my yellow Derwent Inktense pencil to draw a very light outline of where I wanted my color splashes.  I used an Inktense pencil here because I wanted the line to fade away when I did my watercolor painting.  If I had used a regular lead pencil for the outlines, the lead would have become “trapped” under the paint and I would not have been able to erase it. IMG_2450w I didn’t want to be stuck with gray outlines.  Eek!

Finally I carefully painted in the different areas with my shimmer paints.  I made sure not to overlap any of the paint where the different colored areas met because I didn’t want the colors mixing.  The paints I used for this card are very inexpensive shimmer paints that I bought at my local paper crafting store, Impress.  You can find these paints here.

For the sentiment on the card, I just used the one that came with the set and heat embossed it in Liquid Platinum IMG_2493wembossing powder from Ranger.  I love this embossing power, it has a beautiful sheen but isn’t too over powering since I didn’t want to loose focus from my watercolor background.

To finish the card off and to make it extra sparkly, I went over the tips and ends of the crayon images with my clear Wink of Stella brush pen.  This made the images look like sparkly crayons wrapped in regular paper.

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Here are a few close-ups of the pretty sparkles! I love the look the Wink of Stella brush pens give without being so messy!  Quick and Easy.

I hope you guys liked this card and thank you so much for stopping by!

Here is a list of the materials I used to make this card. (Please note that while I do receive compensation from Amazon for items bought through the following links, I never recommend products that I don’t use and love myself!  I was not asked by Amazon or any of these companies to use their products or provide these links.):


Color My World Stamp Set

Inktense Pencils

Pow Glitter Paper

Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper

Lawnscaping Challenges Blog Hop

~ graywhiskers ~ 89 Comments
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Welcome to my stop on the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog Hop!  This blog hop is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine…coffee.  So pour yourself a cup, sit back, relax and happy hopping!  You probably found your way here from the Stampn’HI blog.
If at any point you find yourself lost during this hop, here is the Blog Hop order:

Also remember to check out the Lawnscaping Challenges website.  The Lawnscaping Challenges website is packed with information on our generous sponsors along with how to win some great prizes.

SPEAKING OF PRIZES…  Winning prizes on this hop is super easy, all you have to do is leave some great feedback and comments on the blogs featured in this hop.  Since you wanted to do that anyway, why not get rewarded for it?  Just leave a unique comment (don’t copy and paste the same comment on each blog) down below for your chance to win.  You have until the end of the day on June 28th (11:59PM EST) to get your comments in.  Winners will be announced on the Lawnscaping Challenges blog.

For my project I did a going away card for a coworker who got promoted.
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I made a custom sentiment “We will miss you a latte” by selectively inking one of the sentiments in the “Love You a Latte” stamp sets.  I decorated the background by repeatedly stamping the cute little bean from the stamp set in different directions.  I distressed the background so it looked like it had coffee spilled on it and a coffee ring.  I made the coffee by putting some wet distress ink on a circle die and pressing it on the paper.
Thank you to our amazing sponsors for not only inspiring our crafting but also supporting this blog hop.  Remember to check them all out: there’s Lawn Fawn, Ellen Hutson, The Ink Road, Crafters Companion, Spectrum Noir, The Alley Way Stamps, Newtons Nook, Faber Castell, and Right at Home!
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If you encounter any errors along the hop, please email Laurel directly at laurelbeard at me dot com. Please do not leave them in the comments.
Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop!  Next up is Mel’s Card Corner.

Operation Write Home: Finishing Strong

~ graywhiskers ~ 36 Comments

finishingstrongbadgeOperation Write Home, a charity that has supported heroes with handmade cards since 2007, will be closing later this year. All cards need to be sent in by August 1st, so I’m helping to get the word out!

I was inspired by this Pretty Pink Posh sequin mix.
I was inspired by this Pretty Pink Posh sequin mix.

The theme for the Finishing Strong blog hop is appropriately “Red, White, and Blue.” Instead of going with a traditional navy blue, I chose to be a little different a use a more teal blue.

I made a simple shaker card with cardstock that coordinated with the sequins.  I used velum for the shaker window and embossed the sentiment on it.  IMG_2356wIMG_2331w

This card fits perfectly with the Operation Write Home “Love Cards” theme.IMG_2359wWhile you are making cards to send to Operation Write Home, please make sure to stick to their guidelines.  We want to ensure as many cards as possible get to our Heroes overseas.

Let’s help Operation Write Home get the word out to as many people as possible!  Like and share the posts in the blog hop, and get your cards in by August 1, 2015.  Let’s make the “Finishing Strong” campaign a success!

For more information on Operation Write Home, visit their website.  To start at the beginning of the hop, click the banner at the top of this post.

Wood Die Cuts and Ombre Backgrounds

~ graywhiskers ~ 1 Comment

Welcome, welcome!  Today I have the next card in my little series featuring the new Hero Arts Ombre ink pads.  If you missed my post introducing these new ink pads, find it here.IMG_2269w If you missed my post introducing these ink pads, find it here.

Here is what I used to make this card (Please note that while I do receive compensation from Amazon for items bought through the following links, I never recommend products that I don’t use and love myself!  I was not asked by any of these companies to use their products or provide these links.):

For this card, instead of simply stamping an image in the ombre ink, I thought it would be fun to make a background using my ink blending tool.

IMG_2235wTo get started, I put a brand new foam pad on my blending tool to make sure I didn’t have any color transfer.  I will keep the foam pad with the ink pad for future uses.

Light circular motions will ensure a nice smooth blend.
Light circular motions will ensure a nice smooth blend.

To make the ombre background, I started by inking up my blending tool with only the lightest color on the ink pad.  I gently blended the color around and towards the middle of the background piece in circular motions.

I repeated this for the medium and the darkest colors.  The medium was a little more difficult because the color strip is much smaller than the blending tool.  The blending tool will pick up a bit of the other two colors, but that is okay because it will all blend together!

It may look splotchy now, but just wait until it dries!
It may look splotchy now, but just wait until it dries!

To finish up the background piece, I went over the whole thing one final time with the lightest color to blur the lines between the colors.

Notice how much smoother the background already looks after just a few minutes of drying.
Notice how much smoother the background already looks after just a few minutes of drying.

For the color scheme on this card, I decided to go with a yellow contrast.  I cut two strips from a tone on tone yellow pattered cardstock piece and adhered them to the front of my background piece.

I wanted to keep this card pretty causal so I decided to add some natural elements.  I chose to use some linen thread (very similar to hemp cording, just much “fuzzier”) and some wood.  Yes, wood.  Did you know you could die cut wood?  I got some very thin wood pieces from my local stamping store, but any thin piece of a softer wood like balsa would work just fine.  Treat it like you would any piece of card stock.  Put your die in place and run it through your die cut machine.  Easy peasy!  For mine, I used one of the oblong tags from the “Chalk Talk” set.

Next I made the sentiment.  I decided it would be fun to make this card using just die cuts.  IMG_2234wNo stamps!  I die cut two word bubbles.  I cut one from white cardstock, and one from yellow.  From the white I cut out the sentiment “HI” using my “Little Letters” die set.  First I lined the letters up on my cutting mat and used some washi tape to keep them in position and taped them to my word bubble.  To prevent the white from being too stark against the pretty background I added aIMG_2263w touch of color to the edge and blended it in towards the middle using my blending tool.  Then I adhered this to the front of the yellow word bubble.

Finally, I adhered the wood tag to the front of the card and tied the linen thread to the front of the card.  I adhered the word bubble to the front of the card with a little foam adhesive to give it a bit of dimension.

IMG_2267wI hope you enjoyed this card and thanks for stopping by!

New Baby Card

~ graywhiskers ~ 3 Comments

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share with you how I made this cute card for a dear friend of mine who is expecting her first baby using Hero Arts new Ombre Ink pads!  If you missed my post introducing these new ink pads, find it here.IMG_2218editedw

Here is a list of the materials I used (Please note that while I do receive compensation from Amazon for items bought through the following links, I never recommend products that I don’t use and love myself!  I was not asked by any of these companies to use their products or provide these links.):

I also used some other basic card making supplies, like a paper trimmer, foam tape, and adhesive.

I highly recommend this glass cutting mat. It's super easy to clean (even dried on glue), you can cut on it, and it has guidelines. I much prefer this mat to other silicone alternatives.
I highly recommend this glass cutting mat. It’s super easy to clean (even dried on glue), you can cut on it, and it has guidelines. I much prefer this mat to other silicone alternatives.

For this card I decided to use my ombre ink pad to make a background.  First I taped my 4.25″x5.5″ background piece to my glass cutting mat.  I taped the background to the mat so it wouldn’t move while I stamped my background images and also allowed me to draw guidelines where I wanted each stamp to go to ensure they were all evenly spaced.

To accomplish the ombre effect, I started in the middle of the background piece (where I marked “center” in the photo) and began with the medium color on my ombre ink pad.  I used my Belinda’s Border hash line stamp to make three horizontal rows using the lines on my mat as a guide.IMG_2194w  I repeated this process above the medium lines with the darkest color from the ink pad, and below with the lightest color from the ink pad.

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I thought this was a fun way to create an ombre effect with the three colors separately.

IMG_2201wNext I stamped and colored my image.  I used my colored pencils for the inside of the oven and the bun, and I used my Copic markers for the outside of the oven.  I added three little dots to the cheeks with a white gel pen.  Next, I prepared the cardIMG_2199w base.  I took a standard A2 sized card and adhered some coordinating strips to the top and bottom. Then I adhered my background panel and oven to the card base.

For the sentiment I decided to do some embossing.  With the background and the image being so  bright and colorful, I didn’t want the sentiment to get lost.  I chose the slate gray embossing powder from Stampin’ Up.  IMG_2204wFor a finishing touch, I decided to decorate the inside of the the card using some selective inking.

I love the moon and stars on this mobile but didn't want to use the whole stamp.
I love the moon and stars on this mobile but didn’t want to use the whole stamp.

First I took the mobile stamp and maskIMG_2226wed off everything except for the moon with some washi tape. Then I inked up the stamp with blue ink and peeled away the washi tape.  This allows me to stamp only the moon image.  IMG_2228w

I repeated this process with the stars in some gold ink. This allowed me to make a custom image to finish up the inside of my card.

I hope you enjoyed this card, and thank you for visiting!

I am not affiliated with or compensated by Lawn Fawn, I just think their stuff is awesome!  For more information on Lawn Fawn and their adorable stamp sets, check out their website and blog.