This year I am entering the contest. They have three categories my first is the coloring category. In the past, I’ve gone overboard trying to guess what they are looking for and add my own art. This year I made a fun little scene and I didn’t think about it. I didn’t draw a ship or add anything but the stamps I put them center stage. So here is my color entry
Next up was the Out of the box challenge! I love the out of the box challenges. They are so fun to put together. I got the idea for my HoHoHo Santa is coming to town card while sitting in my studio sorting stamp sets! Here is my entry for the out of the box category
Finally, CAS (clean and simple). I’ve had this idea since last year. I struggled with which to make for the contest and went with my other idea last year. This little baby has been waiting 360+/- days to be created. I sketched it out but waited to make it. Now that I have made it I wish I would have made it last year. Here is my CAS entry
Now, I’m not expecting to win anything, but you never know. I really do this contest for the fun of it. I love MFT Stamps (just look through my blog, you’ll see lots of their product is my literal favorite things.
I hope you get joy or inspiration from these cards. Enjoy your night!
To begin, with a “hello”! Today I am exploring some color fun with My Favorite Things & Sarah Renae Clark. (Seriously, I don’t work for MTF, I just love the product and the business practices of this company!) Now, I want to share with you about a product.
It is important to me that you know, it is a product I purchased, and I do not gain anything from sharing about it but the knowledge that I have passed on 1. a great product to like-minded peeps, 2. supported an artist! 3. a bit of fun
I am drawn to bright colors in pure forms (ROYGBIV) under many circumstances. I do, however, love all colors and recently I noticed my cards had been drawn to pure colors again and I stopped adventuring a bit into other color tones. I do love me some pastels, but they are not a go-to. Have you ever been like that? Well, with the release of the “color cube”(more on that in a minute) I was reminded to play more in the colors tones I love but aren’t my go-to colors. It’s a great way to get your mojo in a good mood. It’s all play. Play is important to creators. Mojo needs new ideas and new play often. Sometimes I forget about all the resources I have.
What is a color cube you speak of? First let me tell you about The Color Catalog. There is an artist I follow mostly because she is as silly about color as I am. I just love her. She is an Aussie and one day I really hope we meet for a coloring jam. She is remarkable and I recommend if you would like to learn a lot follow her on YouTube HERE.
She spent thousands of hours I am sure, creating a tool for people that like to color (adult coloring books and cards and what I would call fine artists) called the Color Catalog. When I purchased this product, it was for the color palettes as much as the conversions to Copic and various color pencils I owned. Let me tell you if you are stuck this is a remarkable tool to get you going! She even made a keyword search so if you are not sure what colors you want but you maybe know it’s a summer color you are going for you can find a color pallet that is keen for summer. ALSO, if you know you are using a say soft pink you can search by COLOR she really put a lot of thought into this product. I like the detail I like the detail!
Picture from sarahrenaeclark.com click for more information
I did use the Color Catalog to make the card from the Tall Hello Card I made with My Favorite Things Tall Hello Die and the Stitched Blooms.
She has now created a sibling to the Color Catalog. It is called the Color Cube (Vol 1 & Vol 2) I purchased them in a pre-order and don’t have my hands on them yet. but You can return here soon to see the review of what I think is to become a staple on my desk. As of this post, there is a special pre-order price which I think is going through October. So, if you are crazy about coloring like I am check it out.
Picture from sarahrenaeclark.com – click for more information
Hopefully, you can give Sarah Renae a peek and see what great things she is up to. DO yourself a favor and follow her on YouTube she puts out EXCELLENT content for artists!
Enjoy your weekend! It is World Card Making Day tomorrow so you know I will be back with more fun soon.
Sometimes when I get a little stuck on what to use I just stamp many images out from my “recent purchases” basket and just color them in different mediums. Copic Markers, Color Pencils, or watercolor are my usual go to for this kind of project. Then I will put them in baggies and slip them in the stamp sleeve for future use or reference.
That is how this card was started. My Favorite Things order was in the “recent purchases” basket and I couldn’t wait to color the poinsettia so I had the previous night colored them using my Faber Castelle Polychromo Pencils. In the morning I had decided to use the Reindeer Love (MSTN-011). I used my Copics as I was in a marker mood.
One of the things I love when companies put out challenges that I have those ideas knocking around in my brain. When these ideas are milling around I tend to have the OHHH I know I can use Sparkle or I can use an interactive die. Often marrying many challenges unintentionally. This particular card was born from this process. It met two challenges but also a personal challenge. (I keep a list of ideas of things to try when I am in a rut.) The challenges were 1. Simon Says Stamps (Sparkle) 2. My Favorite Things (Out of the Box – Winter Scene) and my personal list (Mix Coloring Mediums)
I still had the Pretty Poinsettia (DBD-002) on my desk while coloring the Reindeer Love (MSTN-011) and it surprised me how much I liked the two styles together. Not only are they pretty different styles but they also were colored with different medium. The be Merry die (MFT-2383) was already cut in white and sparkle so I went with it. I added some fun color cardstock Next thing I realized is I had hit on three challenges and I had a card done! Mojo returned!
STAMPtember is almost done and I should have a lot of fun new goodies to play with I did link it here because there are a few left of some of the items. Most are sold out.
Have a crafty week my friends I will be back soon with more.
Spellbinders All Dies, Hot Foil Plates & Foil; Pixie Cardstock Lawn Fawn; Pattern Paper My Favorite Things; Floss, DMC
When the stitched alphabet came out from Spellbinders I liked the idea, but I couldn’t really see buying ALL the letters. (I made a big mistake.) I bought a few to spell “Hi” and “love” well soon after these few cards I realized; I need the entire alphabet. I am so glad I did and would highly recommend if you are considering the stitched alphabet, just buy the bundle. It really opens your world to so many possibilities. (It is an investment, but really, I have used these so much that I think it was one of my better purchases for card making.)
Because I love these little guys so much, I put some tips for using these dies to be the most successful.
Tips for stitching on your paper crafts.
Choosing your thread (floss) will make a significant difference. My first craft was cross-stitching, and I can tell you a few things to make you successful.
The number of strands. Two is most commonly used, but if your floss is light on light you may want to add one or more strands to ensure your intended color shows as you want it. (In the sample above, I used all six strands
Floss comes in many brands and materials. You may want to test them on your paper before you commit.
A single sheet of card may tear when you stitch with several threads of floss. To ensure your card can hold up, simply cut two additional letters and glue them together to create stability.
Use your finger or fine tip applicator, (such as Barely Art glue tip) to apply glue to prevent seepage through the premade stitch placement holes.
remove any excess glue immediately
Make sure your glue is completely dry before stitching. (If you notice any glue at this time, use a needle to remove it.)
As a cross stitcher for many years, I learned one especially important thing. Always go in the same direction. Start each grouping in the same place.
Light is caught by the floss and keeping it in the same direction and same placement will give a better finished look.
Place your needle over the last stitch and press all other threads under the stitch you are adding.
If you have any questions, feel free to click over to the contact me and shoot me an email. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook.
Coming Soon!
I have finally been able to get everything I need to set up my YouTube channel. I will be sure to let you know once we’ve gone live. Color-A-Longs are coming soon! I’m working hard to make this a place for inspiration and education. Please share with all the crafty peeps you know. 🙂
Hello, my Lovely Friends! Don’t you just love color? I do! I also love Concord & 9th’s August 2022 release (Check it out here). I love it when companies have matching cardstock and ink options. I absolutely love the Concord & 9th colors too! (see the full-color range here). This leads us to the “What the HEX?” topic of this post.
I am always looking for ways to make fun color combos. I have color-swatches all my cardstock for assorted brands of cardstock in my stash. (Which is way too many, says no crafter ever.) Using planner disc attachments has made it easy for me to be able to remove the samples and make color combos while I am working on a project.
However, there are many times I see a color combo on card samples, other crafter’s and artist’s work, nature, advertisements, etc. That I really love and want to preserve. What better way than to document these combos in my inspiration book (Currently a Catherine Pooler journal). As I use my paper the question is always what to do with the scraps! I will often punch out as many pieces as I can then throw them in a small bag or bowl. When I see a combo I love, I usually will scribble down a color combo and later add it to my book using the scraps. For this demonstration, I made a few pages in my book with color combos I really like. Feel free to click through the slideshow below and browse these combos and use any you like.
It is my hope that this little organization/scrap usage idea will inspire you today.
Have a great day & may blessing fall on you in abundance!
