SOTM Blog Hop: Thoughtful Flowers

Welcome to the Blog Hop for December.

If you have arrived here from Michelle's Blog, you are continuing through the hop which is a big circle of fabulous artwork!  When you are ready to move on, you will be traveling to Melissa's Blog.

This stamp set of eight different floral images and simple sentiments brings a bit of spring into the middle of winter.

To create my cards, I took out my heat embossing supplies and water colors.  I added a tad bit of shimmer with our wonderful shimmer pen!  I had just a few minutes to play and I like how they turned out.

This stamp set is available only during the month of December.  You can purchase this set for $5 with a qualifying purchase.  Contact your consultant for information or you can shop on my website as well. 

Now remember when you are finished here, you will be visiting Melissa's Blog.

Enjoy the hop,

Michele

February Stamp of the Month: Balloon Animal

Welcome to the stamp of the month blog hop.  Can you believe it is already February and we have a fun new stamp set to play with? 

You are going to love all the creative ideas you will see with these sweet stamps, Balloon Animals.  When I saw them, I knew they would be so much fun to play with.

If you have arrived here from Jacquelin's Blog, you are on the right track.  When you are finished here, you will hop right along to Jean's blog.  Now this is a great big circle so just keep on moving through and you will have at least 40 great ideas on what you can create with this stamp set. 

I thought these stamps went great with the Penelope paper packet featured in the Spring Expressions mini catalog that went live in January.  And they fit great with the cards that are created in the Workshops Your Way kit using the Little Critters stamp set.  So, I used the same card patterns, did a little rotating on some of the designs and created another set of cards with this set.  Here they are!

Now remember, hop on over to Jean's Blog and see what she has created with these Balloon Animals.  Remember, this set is only available through the month of February.  You can purchase this set from your Close to My Heart Consultant or, if you do not have a consultant, you can visit my website to purchase yours.  And when you have a $50 order, you get this set for just $5. 

Enjoy your creative time!
Michele

Valentine, Techniques and Tutorials OH MY!

I have started thinking of Valentine treat and have been posting some on Instagram (follow me @ Evergreenmemories).  Here's a great video tutorial from Close to My Heart on creating a more masculine Valentine.  And Jill shares so many techniques using watercolors, watercolor pencils, sparkles, and stars. 

Enjoy! 

Michele

Have I mentioned that I LOVE watercoloring?

Adult coloring is all the rage right now...but I feel like I have been doing this for 13 years.  Yes, stamping and coloring is therapeutic and relaxing for me and many of my customers and friends.  Guess what, so is watercoloring.  I will admit, I was a little hesitant about adding this medium to my papercrafting repertoire but I am so glad I didn't let that get in the way. 

With just a bit of water, a few colors, and a bit of water color paper, this card background was simple to create and capture the colors of this fall season.  The stamp images are added in archival black to give a bold sentiment. 

Want to try watercoloring?  I am hosting a Ladies Night out on Thursday September 24th 6:30-8:30.  Stop by and give watercoloring a try.  RSVP is helpful and bring your own adhesive.  The create and take is FREE. 

Products used to create watercolor cards are found on my website and shown in the collage below.

Happy painting,
Michele

September Blog Hop: Paper Garden

Welcome to the September Blog Hop with the Paper Garden stamp set.

If you are coming from Traci's Blog, welcome!  I know you have enjoyed some beautiful artwork!  When you are finished here, you will be traveling on to Paige's Blog to see what she has shared with you. 

I was inspired by this set to try out the new watercolors that are featured in the new Close to My Heart Annual Inspiration idea book.  (That is another blog post!)  As you will see, I tried two different techniques of stamping the images;  first I stamped in Archival Black ink and then watercolored over it and second, I heat embossed the image with clear detail embossing powder before watercoloring.

Here are a few tips and tricks that might help you.  If you heat set the Archival ink before watercoloring, the black ink stays darker.  You might also try the black Stazon ink as well.  When I used the water colors over the heat embossed image, I blotted the paint off the image.  I found that if I rubbed at all, it removed the embossing, therefore the image had less contrast.  I am not sure if this was because the paper was still wet from the paint or a characteristic of the watercolor paper.

You can purchase the Paper Garden Stamp set from your consultant or me for $17.95 or $5 with a qualifying order.  You can see the products I used to create these cards in the collage below and you can shop for them on my website.  Also, if you are local, I will be offering classes.  You can view the calendar of events here.

Now don't forget to hop on over to Paige's Blog for more artwork!

Enjoy the flowers,
Michele