Little Leaves Sponged Card

From Adriel:

I had some flowers leftover from the watercolor spread technique I talked about in this post. I couldn't let them go to waste! =)

I used the reverse masking technique from the Little Leaves sizzlet die and sponging to create the background for my card. I love how the sponged leaves create such a lovely background on this simple card. Sometimes less is more.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Our Love of Kraft!

From Adriel:

My mom and I were talking the other day about how much we love the color "kraft". It's so versatile and goes with so many colors. It's one of those colors that is a "go-to" when you don't know where else to start. It doesn't look cheap... it's somewhat trendy. You can keep it plain or dress it up... it looks fabulous either way. If I was energetic enough, I would put my creative writing to practice and write an Ode to Kraft... but I'm not, so I won't make you suffer either. ;-) I find that I have to almost force myself to use another color and I really tried to with these cards, but my mom and I both agreed that Kraft was the only acceptable card base for these lovely and simple stamped images.

I used inks and a blender pen to give them a "water colored" look... this stamped image from Stampin' Up's Asian Artistry is just gorgeous and looks even more incredible with a bit of color. I spent an afternoon a couple of weeks ago just coloring away... it was somewhat relaxing even. Using the blender pen makes me feel like the artist that I'm not! =)

So what color are you hooked on right now? I'd love to know... it might help me try something new and get out of my rut! =D

Easter is Around the Corner

From Adriel:

When I was a girl, my grandma would have us over for a jelly bean hunt. She would hide jelly beans all over her house and in her yard and my sister and I (and later my brother, too), would have little baskets and hunt for jelly beans. We always looked forward to it!

Here's an Easter card I made last week. I intended to use a different floral stamp set, but it was packed up for a class and I decided to use something that was easily accessible. I used a retired set called "Doodle This", which is so whimsical... very pretty.

I used a simple color scheme of Pale Plum, Whisper White and Basic Black. I think the results are so elegant and sophisticated! =) I mixed up my own shimmer mist using a small travel size hairspray bottle (contents discarded, bottle washed and dried), alcohol and shimmer paint! I misted my flower with this and added a rhinestone brad to the center. The flower is beautiful with that shimmer! =)

Just something to share with you today. Hope you're having a good Monday! =)

Something Different...

From Adriel:

I know we've been showing a lot of Valentine-ish cards and things... that's just what we've been making recently! =) But I have something a little different to show you today and so let's get to it!

We have a wonderful park nearby us called the Veteran's Oasis Park that has a small lake where you can fish and nature trails and such. They have an education center facility also, with a little gift shop inside. We have a nature journal class planned there in February and May (I think!), but they were interested in selling some of our cards with a nature theme in their gift shop. So we made up some samples and let them have a look over them... blah, blah, blah...

My mom made some beautiful cards, but I don't have any pictures of those (YET)! Here's just a couple that I made in the cute 3"x3" note card that I love for something quick!

I'll try to get some pictures taken of my mom's cards, because she made most of the samples and her cards are really nice! Have a great Monday and enjoy your day! =)

Natural Beauty

We recently went on a camping trip with our families. We slept outdoors (in tents, of course!), ate outdoors, visited outdoors, amused ourselves outdoors... did I forget anything? =)

Thought I would share a couple of photos of the outdoors that we enjoyed!

BEAUTIFUL!!!

It doesn't matter how lovely man can create something... nothing compares with the beauty that God creates. =)