Rose Wonder

You’re in my Thoughts & Prayers

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This is day three of seven projects re-purposing leftover workshop kits.  The only thing this card has in common with the first sample is color and a floral motif.  Wow, I love how it turned out.  When I made this I thought it was lovely, but didn’t have a special someone to give it to. Sad to say that now I do.  I do love having somewhere to express sincere thoughts and feelings. This will be perfect.

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The card front was stamped with the huge image from Rose Wonder.  The small flower image is also from the same set and I used it plenty all around.  I then sponged color lightly over all of the images.  I wanted soft color not exact or even water coloring.  The color almost glows. Then I ran it through the big shot with the elegant dots embossing folder.  The look was stunning.  I nearly left the rest of the decoration off.  It was lovely enough to be a one layer card.  But I kept on and dressed it up some more.

The doily was sponged with sweet sugarplum to match perfectly, love that option.  I crumpled it up some to offer more texture.  I was surprised on how many flowers I got out of that little piece of glimmer paper in the kit.  Careful use of specialty paper sure does make it last.  I staged the doily and sentiment tag before putting down all of those flowers.  There was a nice spot for everything if I do say so myself, and I do.

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Everything was sponged and sponged some more.  It put everything in a soft focus look which lends itself to a card like this.  I didn’t want any harsh lines.  I don’t always re-create a project, but I can see myself making this one again.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Fear Not My Friend…

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

When I am wanting to convey more emotion in a card, I go directly to water coloring.  The softness it creates is perfect.  And with this card, I literally poured my heart into it.

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I wanted more space to work with so I created a larger card than normal.  This one measures 5″ x 6.5″.  Big, but not too big.  I also created my inside writing panel at the same time.  This card wasn’t going to just get a blank insert, or even a nicely stamped one. Besides, I love writing on water color paper, so very satisfying.

I stamped my floral image and sentiment first so I could control the strength of color where they were.  Then I brushed the papers with clean water to allow plenty of color movement. I kept the background light and tried to keep mixing to a minimum.  The colors I choose don’t always blend nicely, but that doesn’t stop me.  I dried, distressed a bit, and dried until I was happy.

I painted the flowers with strong color, allowed them to dry clean.  Then worked them over properly.  This included adding, dobbing, and adding color on the flower petals for a bit.  I centered the flowers with a strong yellow, but kept the color from the edge of the flower center.  Then I hit that area with a water spritzer and watched the flower bloom all over again.  The color moved nicely and then was dobbed some more.  Gold wink of stella was brushed into the petals and blended with water again.  The overall effect was lovely.

A special card for a very special friend.  She is far more brave than I can imagine.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Happy Birthday

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When you have beautiful paper you really don’t need to worry about much else.  This particular specialty designer series paper is exceptionally beautiful.  Truly beautiful.

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What does that mean for this card?  You don’t really need much else.  I kept the copper theme going along and embossed the outline and happy birthday sentiment.  Then, the coordinating die cut from the rose garden thinlits set made it very easy.  A few loops of copper metallic thread off to the side and this project was done.  So elegant with all of the foil and copper.  It will be enjoyed I am sure.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Fear Not

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This was something new for me.  I knew I wanted to have water colored bookmarks, but thought it would be smarter to make one large background piece and then trim it down to the sizes I needed.  Such a large piece of blank paper.  It was a bit overwhelming for some time.  Like the stamp says, fear not.

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After a while I felt a little more comfortable, but not all the way there.  Distressing such a large piece was kind of confusing.  I stuck with it, dried it and took it to the cutting board. When they were smaller I knew they would be wonderful.  The edges got a gentle sponging along with light stamping from the same set.

Then a quick layering on elegant eggplant cardstock, the main color I painted with, and some new solid bakers twine to coordinate and it was all done.  These will be wonderful to share with the young women I teach.  Love those girls.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

English Garden with Rose Wonder

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

The morning may be trying to run away from me, but I am trying to keep up.  I did get this set made yesterday, but haven’t had the chance to get it shared yet.  Let’s hear it for lunch breaks, everyone needs one.

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The card was the beginning of this trio, and the paper was the focus.  It is sad to say that this paper is retiring soon, I sure have loved using it.  What can be better than water colored floral paper?  With my kind of projects, not much.  Unless I sit down and paint my own, with paper this pretty I don’t have to.

The designer paper is layered on a piece of blushing bride cardstock and then on a pear pizzazz card base.  Old olive is actually the light green used in this paper, but I wanted a lighter tone and thought it looked nice.  All of the sentiments come from the Rose Wonder stamp set, there are some lovely ones in there.  I stamped, did a banner punch, sponged and then sponged another one to layer underneath.  The strip is 1/2″ wide and was left over when I cut the piece of whisper white for the inside card panel.  I love those little leftover strips, they always come in handy.

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I made a couple of gift bags with totally different dimensions in mind.  I usually work with tall rectangle shapes, but went with a short clutch concept.  The cardstock version could hold heavier tall items, but the designer series paper needs to keep it light.  I had several ideas of gift items that would fit inside easily inside, lots of chocolate to be honest.  I love sharing a chocolate treat or two, you should give it a try.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Rose Wonder

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This was a fun project for sure.  As you have heard me say so much recently, I do love to water color with my stamping.  I wasn’t sure if these two colors would come together in an attractive mix, but they did well.  Having the touches of navy with the blush as a primary is really enjoyable.

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I think I might be making the decisions a bit tricky for these bridal shower invitation choices.  I am not sure which one I like better between the two, guess I will have to come up with another one just for good measure.  I can’t spend too much time playing though, I have workshop coming this weekend.  It is fun to play though.

I stamped this huge wonderful rose on water color paper with stazon ink.  I didn’t goof it up too much, so I went with my first attempt.  I did a trial run with the colors on a scrap of water color paper just to check it out and I liked it.  So, I wet down my stamped image and got to work.  I spent a bit of time trying to be cautious, then I just went for it.  That is why I love to water color, it is pretty darn forgiving.  I even used my trial scrap as a background punch, cool right?  I do try not to waste.

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Have a creative day!

Moana