Snow Kissed Snowman!

Hi friends! This is my second post today...I finally uploaded a card for the Dare to Get Dirty forum for monthly Christmas Card challenge and realized I should put it here also. I do love making Christmas cards...although I also send out some really cute boxed cards...for special friends and family I do hand deliver or mail out a hand stamped Christmas card!
This is the snowman featured in Power Poppy's set, "Snow Kissed." I adore this set and have made a few cards from it...but this is my first snowman. I actually water colored this up and then added a few prisma pencils for shading. I also used a bit of shimmery white for the highlights of the snowman in water colors. I am really enjoying water coloring right now.

I just ran out of this red ribbon...it is my very favorite from Stampin' Up and I've had it awhile in the Cherry Cobbler red. My snowman looks a little small here...I think it's the angle. I added some filigree die cut snowflakes sprinkled in glitter and a rhinestone that I colored up bright red with a copic marker!
Thanks so much for your visit...I always enjoy reading your kind comments. Blessings on your day!

Ode to Aspens

One of my favorite things about Fall in Colorado is the changing of the Aspens. And I realize I haven't any aspen stamps...but I decided not to let that stop me when I was watercoloring up this set from Papertrey Ink, "Mighty Oak." There needs to be a set called, "Awesome Aspen," or "Amazing Aspen," or "Artistic Aspen..." or something like that.
So, I decided to diecut the trunk in white, since Aspens do have a white trunk with those knotty
"eyes" on them.

I used Peerless Watercolors for these after I had die cut the leaves. I painted them one by one in various shades of golden Amber, green and golds, fiery red and orange hues. I stamped the sentiment from the set in a black ink to give contrast to the  card stock. I also added Nuvo gold drops (maybe I got a little carried away?) But I love the little bit of shimmer and that's one thing that is difficult to capture in water color.

This past weekend I was so excited to go to a place in the mountains with a friend I had never been to before. It was the perfect weekend to go Aspen viewing for the color change. I was able to get a pretty good photo to share here. 

Aspens near Boreas Pass, Colorado

Thanks so much for your visit today...I always appreciate your visit and hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Serendipitous Sympathy

So...this may seem like a strange title for stamping...but I have to tell a little story with my cards today. It all began when I decided to try my hand at water coloring a stamp that I had acquired through a personal sale on a stamping blog so I don't have the name of it other than Poppies. I do love Poppies and so I wanted to color this with a vibrant ink. I used some smooshed on acetate distress oxide inks and ended up with this as my final result:

I am still a novice in this water coloring venture...and I ended up adding layers of color over time. I also decided to add blues and browns and teals to my leaves so it had almost a tropical feel by the time I was done. The perfect paper for framing is a newer one to me from Stampin' Up that I just ordered, "Tranquil Tide." 
Anyways...I was pretty happy with the outcome and decided to make a copy of it to use on a future card due as : 1. I am a very slow stamper and water coloring isn't second nature to me. 2. I have had too many other health issues to spend hours on my craft. 3. I wanted to keep a copy as a color referencee. 4. Well, you get the drift...
Anyway, I made a copy. And the colors came out completely different...like my colored inks were missing the green although the printer didn't show any colors as low.

Hopefully your monitor looks a little more  clearer than mine, and if not, if you click on the photo it will enlarge. When this came out of the printer I actually liked the bleached out leaves and decided it would be a good sympathy card for this time of year (Brownish yellows and oranges and golds.) Unfortunately, I had to cancel plans for hosting a weekend at our place due once again to health...and at the same time the friends I was hoping to host also had a death in the family and we realized it was not a good time to meet up and yet it saddened me that we couldn't due to so many difficult circumstances. For me...working on cards is cathartic while I am creating.
I used some gold Nuvo  drops randomly to add a bit  more color. Now I have two cards from one water coloring and one was a complete surprise in a good way!
Thanks so much for your visit today!