Twinkling H2O Class Cards

Good morning!

Today's cards are a couple of the ones that we made at last week's Twinklin H2O class that I had at Gina's store. I forgot to take a photo of the third one... oops!

The first card shows watercolor washing. We added several drops of water to a Pink Paint Pot and let it sit for a few minutes to start dissolving into the paint. After a few minutes, we took out flat paint brush to stir the paint, adding more water if it wasn't a blendable consistency. The paint becomes almost like an acrylic paint, which makes it super easy to paint a background with. On my sample card, I used a lightweight watercolor paper that I picked up at Archivers, but at the class we used a heavy 140lb. watercolor paper which worked much better. Because the paint is heavy and wet, a heavier paper is best. All their washes look better than mine because of it.

After the paint dried, we stamped the T-Shirt in Black Stazon and everyone decorated their tees the way they desired. We used an awesome Basic Grey paper pack for the main papers and the coordinating fibers, buttons, and glazed brads to accent. I love it when things coordinate so easily, don't you?

This second little card is just 2x2 - isn't it cute? Perfect for tucking into a little gift bag. We used Nana's nursery Girl paper pack and picked paint colors to match the sparkly paper. Then, we painted directly onto the rubber stamps and stamped the two images onto Bazzil Textured white cardstock. This technique is a little tricky with these paints because if you get too much water on your paint, you loose the crispness of the image, but if you don't use enough water, you won't be able to stamp it at all. Thus the small size of this card... more time to practice the technique!

Have an awesome rest of your day and thanks for checking in with me today!

Jessica

Details on Cards: Little Tees, Framed Flowers, Tag You're It, Twinkling H2O, aquapainter, Basic Grey Sugared Paper, Glazed Brads, Buttons, fibers, Fiskars Flower Border punch, Marvy Scallop Circle yellow punch, Marvy Heart punches - purple & pink, DCWV Nana's Girl Nursery paper

Girl Friends & Blog Candy Winner Announced!

edited to Update: We have a WINNER!! Random.org picked poster #9:

Congrats to you Jessica!! What a year it has been for you. I can't wait to take some more classes with you at the store. Way to go!!Peggy F(lefsegirl)
July 25, 2008 9:38 PM

Whoohoo, Peggy! I'm so thrilled for you! Email me the stamp set of your choice and we'll get it right out to you!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to comment and leaving me some love on my new blog. It has been so fun meeting you all & I'm already planning my next blog candy which I'll post in a few days.

and... Happy Birthday to my Dad! I hope you had a great day!

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Isn't Melanie's new 'Little Tees' stamp set adorable? I love the versatility of her T-shirts - there's just so many ways that you can use the stamps to create whatever look you're in the mood for! I've seen such great cards made with this set already and am sure there will be many more awesome cards coming soon once everyone receives their orders!

On this card, I decided to paper piece one of the T-shirts, but not in the traditional paper piecing fashion. Instead of using patterned paper, I pulled out my 'Friend by Definition' Stampin Up Background stamp and stamped it on white textured paper in SU's new In Color Tangerine Tango. Then, I stamped Mel's T-shirt in black and colored the collar with an orange Copic marker and cut it out.

The other T-shirt was stamped on textured white paper with SU's new In Color Pacific Point. Then, I took my Sakura glitter pen and watercolored with it blending the glitter and the ink to soften the blue a little. My tutorial Watercoloring Sakura Style can be found here. The hearts are an old Family Treasures Corner punch I've had for a while. Both sizes were a perfect size for decorating this little Tee.

When I was at CHA, I met an amazing designer for Ranger named Wendy. She showed several techniques with Rangers Perfect Pearls, Distress Reinkers & their mini misters. I tried it out on the cuttlebug background papers - it's really hard to get a photo of the shimmer, but I hope you can see it a little better on the photo below.

Today on her blog, Studio 490, Wendy has a tutorial with step by step pictures of how to get this look. Go check it out - she also shows how to use grungeboard to make an adorable flower. Don't hate me, but I have a 'Wendy original' flower and tag just like the one she shows for her tutorial - signed by the artist herself!! How lucky am I?! If you go to her blog, tell her that her BFF Jessica from CHA sent you. That's what she signed on the back of the flower she gave me, so if SHE can call me her BFF, you'd better believe I'm going to call her that!! LOL!

Speaking of Distress Ink information, Cindy from Starlitstudio compiled an awesome list of notes she took while watching Tim Holtz in action at CHA. It's a valuable tip sheet for those of us who love Tim Holtz's Distress Line with Ranger and are eager to learn how to use all his cool stuff! I had the chance to meet Cindy at CHA too - she is such a sweetheart. Her altered notebooks are so cool.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jessica

Card details: Little Tees, Friend by Definition, Studio G mini abc; SU paper & ink: pacific point, baja breeze, tangerine tango, ww; SU basic black; Family Treasure corner heart punch; SU scallop border, key tab punch; EK success connected heart punch; Cuttlebug, embossing folders; Sakura glitter pen, aqua painter; Ranger: mini mister, perfect pearls, old paper distress ink refill, inkssentials blender & foam; Queen & Co. orange brads

New Opportunities; New Friends - BLOG CANDY ALERT!

Card Details: Summer Harvest, Versafine Black ink; Clear Embossing powder; peerless watercolors; twinkling h2o's; aqua painter; crystal lacquer; Nestabilities; SU ribbons; Glitter Dots; Stickles; Primas; CraftT Colored Embossing Paste

I'm so excited that Gina has invited me to join her design team! It has been a pleasure working for her at her store in McFarland - she's the best bosslady ever! Thanks for the opportunity to work and teach at your store and now to be on your design team, Gina!

Card Details: Whatever Floats your Boat; SU solid & dsp & coordinating inks; EK Success Star Punches; Cuttlebug & Embossing Folders; Stazon; Koh-i-noor pencils; OMS; blending stumps; Sakura Glitter Pen; Fine Detail Staedtler pens; SU My Way arrow punch, scallop border punch & corner rounder; Dollar Store Gems; MM mini eyelets; paper piercer; Ranger's Inkssentials White Gel pen; SU square punch; Marvy Scallop Punch

I am also blessed to call Rupa - one of her talented illustrators - my friend. Isn't this little mouse sweet? I love this newest set of hers and so does my 7 year old daughter Ashley. Tonight, she made me a sweet little love note with this mouse image... one I'll treasure always!

Card Details: Flowers for Daisy; Bazzil Cardstock; K&Co. dsp; SU ww; Versafine Black ink; Clear Embossing powder; Nestabilities; Copic Markers; Sanding block; EK Success large corner rounder; Basic Grey Archaic Fibers & Glazed Brads

And then there's Asela. I have been a fan of hers for several years now. Her coloring is always gorgeous. I'm so thankful when she takes the time to describe in detail her coloring steps. I've learned a lot from her - wouldn't it be awesome to take a coloring class from her?! Her illustration style is so classy and she is a great addition to GinaK Designs. I'm looking forward to seeing many more stamp sets from her in the future!

The cause behind Flowers for Daisy is so touching and one that only makes me admire Asela and Gina more. (click on their names to read the story behind the stamp set.)

Card Details: Little Tees; SU '08 In Colors & WW & coordinating inks; SU scallop border punch & round tab punch; Hero Arts gems; paper piercer; Ranger's Inkssentials White gel pen; Cuttlebug & Embossing Folders; Sakura Glitter pen & aqua painter

I was able to meet Melanie last weekend when Gina and I went to CHA. She is full of ideas for some awesome stamp sets - I'm excited to see what she'll come up with next. This T shirt set is such a great idea and one that I know will get a lot of ink!

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So, how about some blog candy to celebrate my design team news!

Since this is the first time I've ever done this how about we make the question nice and easy....

What is your favorite GinaK Designs stamp set?

hmmm... maybe that's harder than I thought! I love them all, but if I had to choose only one, I think I'd pick Just Keep Swimming because I love those sea critters! They're perfect for any coloring medium!

Comment on this post with your favorite GinaK Stamp set by Monday, July 28th at 7 PM and I'll choose one random winner to receive the stamp set of their choice.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jessica