A Few Fun Cards

Here are some cards I've made over the last few months.....

I don't think I'll ever get tired of butterflies or flowers or stamping with watercolors! 

This one was an experiment with colored pencils.  It's different from what I normally go for, but I like it :)

Watercolor Resist Valentine's Cards

Last week my son and I experimented with watercolors and crayons to make some crayon resist Valentine's Cards!  They may look a bit amateur- ish, but they were fun to make!  Plus, nothing beats a home made Valentine's card :)

Here's a simple tutorial I put together for you:


Materials:
white card stock or watercolor paper
white crayon
watercolor paints
paint brush

Step 1:  Draw a design or write a Valentine's message on the front of a folded piece of white card stock or watercolor paper.  This is kinda hard to do because you can't see very well what you are drawing or writing.

Step 2: Load up some watercolor paints on a paintbrush and paint over the area you just drew on with with crayon to see your design come to life!

Step 3:  Let the paint dry and add any other embellishments you like.

Fruit Printing Party

I am endlessly amazed at the creative ideas I come across in blog land.   When I came across the idea for making prints with watercolors and strawberries at The Hello Lucky Blog, I was so excited to try it out!  I would never have thought of this myself... but really... the possibilities are endless!

This blogger made strawberry prints by cutting the strawberries in half, painting some watercolors on them and pressing them to paper.  So cool!  I really got into it and tried a few other fruits to make some fun cards. It was a party!

My favorite prints by far are the ones from limes... they look like some kind of sea creature!

Even pears make nice prints!

I have a feeling I will be doing more of these.  There are so many foods to try this out on!

Father's Day Cards

Father's Day is almost here, so my son and I spent some time making cards this week.  I don't think any of the guys in the family check this blog too often, so I'm safe sharing them here.

I came up with a simple card for my Dad and a little sack of peanuts for my husband...

and my son made his own original creation.  He isn't too interested in trying to write in cards yet, but man, he has fun with glue sticks and hole punches!

Stamped Paper Cards

If you tried out the Watercolor Stamped Paper Tutorial or the Stenciled Watercolor Tutorial, then you have some nice card-making possibilities at hand.  If not, check out the tutorials- they are super easy ones.

I combined parts from both of those projects to make these here.  Take a look!

Happy and bright cards are my favorite kinds...they just make me smile :)

Recycled Painting Cards

Alright, so I went a little crazy with the card making last week.  I went through all my watercolor paintings and took out the ones that I considered to be  "failures".  They just didn't look that great standing alone, but I must say, they do look pretty good as cards :)

My biggest fear in painting, other than it not turning out well, is the fact that I might waste materials.  I am what you may call a cheap-skate.  I hate wasting stuff, especially art materials because I have very limited resources right now.  So it relieves my waste-hating mind when I can recycle paintings that didn't turn out.

These last two come from my Straw Painting experiments.  They weren't "failures"... just experiments that I didn't know what else to do with.   I think I could make more of these!

Abstract Watercolor and Ink Cards

my latest cards.....

I actually made these paintings months ago while playing around with watercolors and ink.  It's a therapeutic thing for me and they work well as cards too!

A set of lions

Last weekend I made my first custom order ever!  It was pretty fun actually :)  A lady wanted a set of lion cards, just like the other watercolor animal cards I have in my Etsy shop.

I've had quite the dry spell with my shop this year.  Until the other day, I hadn't sold a thing since last December.  So I decided to take a few risks and actually pay Etsy to feature some of my stuff.  Looks like it worked!

I've decided that if I want to make this work I have to take more risks.  Naturally, I am not much of a risk taker, so I think this will be good for me :)

Just a question for those of you with Etsy shops....  How do you promote your shop?  Have you had any luck with advertising?   Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

Two Cute Birthday Cards

Among other cards and letters from family, I received two super cute birthday cards from my awesome sisters last week!  So, of course, I had to share them.  I may have to copy these designs in the future :)

I usually don't like to make a big deal out of my birthday.  I don't like huge parties and I don't even have my birthday listed on my FB profile- shocked?! Ya, it's not my thing.  But I absolutely LOVE getting cards and phone calls from my family-  they make it special :)

Tropical Watercolor Cards

I have something new in my Etsy Shop.... cards!  These were made using stencils, watercolors, and patterned packing tape.  Pretty easy to make and super fun.

The tropical theme of these cards makes me want to head to California or Hawaii!  Yep, I'll just keep on dreaming.

I'm liking all of them, but I have to say.....the palm tree is my favorite :)

Check out these Tropical Watercolor Cards on Etsy!

Stenciled Animal Cards

Here are a few animals cards I made using watercolors and stencils.   I found this set of stencils at the dollar store and have been experimenting with them.  Brushing watercolors over them creates a really cool effect.

I added some patterned packing tape from Michaels for a border for this rhino card.   Patterned packing tape and stencils are some of the coolest inventions ever!

Manly Birthday Cards

June is coming and that means.... birthdays! Yay!  Its not mine, but 5 of my family members', so I made up a few new cards.  Hopefully they are manly enough for the men  :)

Recovering

Hey guys! I'm still here!

My doctor gave me no hint as to how sore I would be after those shots, so I was totally unprepared for the pain that has kept me in bed most of the week.  I haven't made anything this week and I'm missing being in my creative element.  Hopefully, this soreness will wear off soon so I can get back to making stuff!

In the meantime, here's a card I made last week.  You may be tiring of reading my raves over patterned packing tape, but let me just say that it is one of the most genius creations ever made!

Watercolor Cards

I have some new card designs using only watercolor and ink!   The only problem is that I made the mistake of making them on cheap card stock and the watercolor bled through a little on the other side.  So, next time I make these, I'm going for the good quality paper- the thick stuff.

Cranberry Stamp Cards

I found another awesome idea last week!  Using cranberries for stamps!  I never would have thought of that myself, so its a good thing I found the idea over at AlisaBurke.

So, to start out, you cut some cranberries in half.  They have a cool design inside that I never noticed, probably because I had never actually bought fresh cranberries before :)

And to make it easier for stamping, I stuck toothpicks in the ends.

Then you dip them into ink or paint and press them onto your paper.  This first card here I used ink.  For the other two below it I used tempera paint. Its really easy and you also have lots of cranberries left over to make some yummy bread with!