Hello, friends!

I know it has been awhile since I've posted. Lots of things have happened in the last year, the biggest of which was I was away from my craft supplies. As a result, I couldn't create my usual cards. I did, however, become more interested in watercoloring because I received some supplies for Christmas. So, really I haven't stopped creating, just blogging.

I have now started posting again, but not here on my blog. I am now on Instagram where I share my latest watercoloring and lettering projects, along with my usual cards. My Facebook Page is still there and I post whatever I have on Instagram there as well. I have found that posting there are easier to manage than here on my blog. I've had to relearn some aspects of blogger when posting this (I'm old! :) ).

Here are some of my recent projects that I have posted on Instagram. I hope you will join me there:

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Watercolored Butterfly Cards

Before I show today's cards, a few people asked about what I meant by wet on wet technique from a previous post. here's a Youtube video that shows you what it is and how to do it. I love it for coloring backgrounds.

I have 2 CAS cards for you today using a big butterfly stamp by Indigo Blu. These were so quick and easy to make. I applied Distress markers directly on the stamp before making an impression on the water color paper.

For the first one, I added more watercolors on the stamped image and while it's wet, I loaded my brush with clean water and barely touched the wet color on the paper. This made the ink "bleed" as you see on my card. The sentiment from Tim Holtz Just Saying was heat embossed. The pearls are by Want2Scrap.

This card is inspired by the following challenges: Paper Players (colors), Fusion (inspiration photo), Our Creative Corner (smile), SSS Wednesday (favorite technique: watercoloring), Card Concept (Butterfly effect), Muse (inspiration), ATS Challenge (CAS).

For my second card, I spritz water directly onto the stamped image. Because orange and blue are complementary colors, when they are mixed, they make a neutral color. In this case, a dark grayish brown. The sentiment is by Avery Elle. The rhinestones are by Want2Scrap.

This card is inspired by the following challenges: Fusion (inspiration photo), Our Creative Corner (smile), SSS Wednesday (favorite technique: watercoloring), Card Concept (Butterfly effect), ATS Challenge (CAS).

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Watercolored Flowers

I have two cards for you today that are water colored. I just love summer flowers. Even the weeds look beautiful. :) The first card, I applied distress markers directly on the stamp, then stamped on my paper. I used Hero Arts Blooming Meadow cling stamp that I found on ebay for really cheap.

For the background I did a wet on wet technique. The pearls are by Want2Scrap. I'm entering this card to the following challenges: SSS Monday Challenge, Our Creative Corner, JUGS, Shabby Tea Room (In my garden inspiration).

My next card has a freehand watercolored flower. I was playing around to see if I can make a messy flower using the loose watercolor technique. It's not quite what I had in mind, but I like that about this technique. You never know what you're going to end up with. :).

The sentiment is heat embossed black using the WPlus9 Hand Lettered Thanks set.

I'm entering this card to the following challenges: SSS Monday Challenge, Our Creative Corner, Retro Sketches, JUGS.

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Water Color Blog Hop

It's hard to believe that I haven't posted any cards this year. This doesn't mean I haven't been creating. Since our short visit to the US changed to a temporary move, I didn't pack a bunch of supplies. So the cards I've been creating use very minimal supplies. My choice of coloring medium has been water colors because it doesn't need a lot of other things like regular stamping does.

I have been enjoying the process of learning to watercolor on my cards. When I saw that Pretty Pink Posh is hosting a water color blog hop, I was motivated to share my cards on my blog again.

Here are a couple of cards I made. They both use Penny Black stamps. The card bases are by Hobby Lobby. The first one uses the Divine cling stamp and it's colored with Peerless Watercolors. The paper is Arches cold press.

My second card uses Woodland Friends and colored with Distress inks and Peerless Watercolors. 

The heart bling and rhinestone in the first card are by Want2Scrap. The paper is Tim Holtz Watercolor Cardstock.

Make sure you check out the Pretty Pink Posh blog for more inspiration and information about prizes! And there are a ton of them, from your favorite paper crafting companies!

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Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I've been so busy with life and the added holiday goings-on. It's all good, but it's nice to take a little break to take part in today's blog hop. My friend, Amy Tsuruta, is spearheading this event with coffee-loving paper crafters like yours truly. And we have a ton of surprises and prizes for you. Make sure you comment to be eligible for my own blog candy below.

As I was planning my card, I realized of all the many stamps I own, I only have one that's coffee or tea-themed. It's a tiny 3x2 stamp set that didn't inspire me. So, since I've been loving experimenting with my watercolors, I decided to draw my own mug of hot yumminess and color it with watercolors. As you can see I'm still new at this, but the flaws add to the cup's character. :)

I wanted it holiday-themed as well, so I heat embossed a snowflake from Penny Black's All is Bright set right on the mug. The stamped tag was made using Papertrey Tiny Tags. I received that as a gift many years ago and just now it's being used. I added a Want2Scrap pearl in the center and also some fancy bling along the bottom. The panel and tag were attached using Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L Foam Squares.

Now on to giveaways. The first is mine: some lovely Want2Scrap bling! Use these to decorate your coffee-themed stamped images like I did above. I will pick the winner from the comments below.

Here are the Super Sponsors of the hop. Some info about the giveaways:

• Everyone who links up with a newly created holiday coffee/or other favorite hot holiday drink project is eligible (No back linking). 
• You can add your project via inlinkz, which will be available on Amy Tsuruta's blog at 6 am PST on Wednesday, December 10th, until 11:55 pm PST on Friday, December 12th.
• 5 prizes will be awarded to people who comment on ALL of the linked blogs!
• Please make sure to turn off word verification.
• When commenting, please make sure you leave info on how you can be contacted, so we can notify you if you're the winner.
• The blog hop is open until Sunday, Dec 14th.
• Make sure you check Amy Tsuruta's blog for more detailed info.

Happy hopping!

17Turtles	Veronica Zalis	Chris Franco
Add a Little Dazzle	Butterfly Reflections Ink	Color Cast Designs
Create a Smile	Hero Arts	Kraftin' Kimmie
Kreative Kymona	Latina Crafter	Neat & Tangled
Newton's Nook	Pickled Potpourri Designs	Poppystamps
Reverse Confetti	Stamp Academy	Stamp Simply Ribbon Store
STAMPlorations	SugarPea Designs	Sweet 'n Sassy
The Alley Way Stamps	Two Paper Divas	Verve Stamps
Whole Wild World	Your Next Stamp	Paper Smooches

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