Using up Bits and Pieces

If you are like me, you have a box full of unfinished cards and card parts that are left over from classes you've taken or kits from classes you've given.

Not wanting to be wasteful when I found a watercolor flower I had done, I cut it out and decided it needed to go on a card.  I rummaged through my box of bits and pieces and ended up with the following "Aloha" card.

This is a side-step card and here's a picture from another angle.

Mermaid Mixed Media on canvas

I've been having some fun with mixed media.  I decided I wanted to do an underwater theme using Julie Nutting's mermaid stamp.  After much thought and experimentation, here's what I came up with.

watercolor background technique

This week has been a card-making week for me.  What fun I've had.

I found a watercolor technique on pinterest for background papers.  It was posted by Happy News- bits & pieces by Heather Telford and I made three cards from the background papers I made using this technique.

Here are the cards I created!

Bonnie Strebe

Shared publicly  -  4:45 PM

 

ODBDSLC250 sketch challenge

I decided to enter the current Our Daily Bread Challenge using their "Holy Angel" and "Amazing Grace" stamp sets as well as paper from their Shabby Rose Collection.

Darling Dragon

Yesterday I was going through some of my old stamp sets and came across the "Darling Dragons" set from Stampin' Up.  I've been really enjoying the things different artists are doing with Tim Holtz' Crazy Birds lately, and thought these dragons might be cute done in bright, funky colors.  This is the card I made from one of the dragons, not my best, but it was fun to do, and it gave me an opportunity to play with my new Inktense Pencils.  

ODBDSLC243 Inspiration Challenger

I decided to enter Our Daily Bread's Inspiration Challenge this week.  This side step card is what I came up with.  I used ODB "Children of God," and "Cross of Christ" stamp sets.  The card base is Stampin' Up's chocolate chip cardstock and I used designer paper as a background for the Jesus figure.  The sunset in the back was done on watercolor paper.  I used Inktense pencils to color the sun and the Jesus figure.  I cut out the inspiration with Spellbinders Labels Thirteen die.

Yesterday my new Inktense pencils by Derwent arrived and I started doodling trying to figure out how to use these amazing pencils.  They work like watercolor pencils, but are ink based and the colors are so intense.  I had a scrap piece of watercolor paper that I had stamped two birds on and for some reason I had a a couple of hearts overlapping on this same piece of paper.  I started doodling, or some might call it Zentangle.  It was really fun and these pencils are great to work with.  I decided to color one bird in using the Inktense pencils and the other bird I colored with my Stampin' Up watercolor pencils.  Both birds came out pretty good, but the Inktense bird was a little brighter.  I decided to make a page in my Art Journal out of my playing around, and this is what I came up with.

If my husband had lived, it would have been our 52nd Anniversary today.  He would have gotten a kick out of my latest art journal page.

Here are a couple more cards I made last week.  The sunflower card is made using Heartfelt Creations Classic Sunflower stamp which is paired with Classic Sunflower die made for Heartfelt Creations by Spellbinders.  I made a background paper with the Classic Sunflower Stamp and used some designer paper for the smaller strip behind the sunflower.  The flourish is from Cherry Lynn Designs and is called the Fanciful Flourish which I cut into two flourishes.  The sunflower stem is colored in with Copic markers.  

The next card is designed from Our Daily Bread's Soulful Stitches 6 X 6 designer paper collection.  Stampin' Up's pistachio pudding and Cameo Coral stamp pads were used to sponge around the pieces.  The flowers were made from Heartfelt Creation's Botanical Rose die and stamp set.  I outlined the rocker and quilt with a Faber Castell PITT artist pen in order to make this image stand out on the card.

June is a month of many birthdays in my family, so I spent quite a bit of time making cards last week.  Some for birthdays and some for fun.

I find I have so many stamps, dies, etc. that I have bought and never used.  I am trying to use all of my stuff and not buy so much.  I HAVE WAY TOO MUCH, if there is such a thing.

Here are pictures of the cards I made this week.

This card was made for one of my granddaughters.  I used Unity Stamp Company's "Beth the bumblebee Fairy" stamp as well as their chicken wire background stamp (I think it looks like a beehive).  The image was colored with Copic markers and I used Stampin' Ups label framelit to cut out and frame the image.  The frame was sponged with Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo, and the card was finished off with a satin bow.

I think all the funky bird stamps out there are soooooo cute.  This one is from Stampin' Up's "A Happy Thing" stamp set.  The split background was done on glossy paper using Versamark ink pad and Perfect Pearls.  The believe is a die cut from Little Yellow Bicycle, and the flower is Stampin' Up's "Mixed Bunch" stamp set, using their coordinate punch.  I backed the bird with some mulberry paper and placed it on some raffia with a couple of handmade small flowers made from a Stampin' Up punch.  This is a Get Well card.

Experiment in faux metal card. I was cleaning up the mess from yesterday's workshop with my friend and decided to post the card I made while experimenting with faux metals.

I used stampin' up papers and stamp sets with antique gold ultra thick embossing enamel.  The background was done on glossy paper and Tim Holtz' alcohol inks with a rub of walnut stain by Ranger.

I love, love, love to papercraft, but I love Jesus more.   

I have been a CHRISTIAN most of my adult life and the Lord is taking me on a never-ending journey.  He constantly reveals His truths to me in so many ways.

Today is the beginning of my blogging adventure - so many new things to learn!  My friend came over today and we worked on learning a new technique for our cardmaking and she helped me get my blog started.

I have recently discovered the world of mixed media and want to share my first mixed media project.  It features a peacock and I had sooooo much fun creating this piece of art.  The colors are brighter than the actual piece, but you get the idea.