Monday’s Motivation

Welcome back!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  I spent my downtime creating projects for here and loving every minute of it.  Today I am bringing you three new projects.  Although they are pretty much Valentine themed, if you take away the colors and perhaps the hearts, I’m certain you can make them fit for any occasion.

If you are new to my blog, I like to create 2-3 projects that are for beginners to advanced crafters.  This first card is rather simple.  It is intended for those who are just starting out or for those who simply don’t have enough time to create something detailed.  Just two dies were used.  One is the Nestabilities Heart set and the other is a sentiment from my own  “Quite Contrary” line all by Spellbinders. I cut the three hearts and sentiment from plain and glittered paper.  I trimmed out a design from a patterned paper that I liked and inserted it into a small envelope.  Everything then got layered on top.

This card ended up being my personal favorite which is surprising because the third card is actually my style.  I used a watercolor paper for my card base, misted it lightly with water and used a distressing tool to add ink to the paper.  I did this in a swirling motion.  When dry, I added a strip of patterned paper, a glitter heart, doily heart, a sentiment and a flower die from my line. Notice I watercolored my flowers and leaves.  I did this using a water-filled brush and watercolor paints.  My choice of paints is Windsor Newton.  That is not an endorsement.  It’s just what I like.  Pretty much whatever works for you is good.

Now this is my style of card.  I LOVE ALL art…every piece of art pretty much, though I do have my personal favorites.   If I was forced to pick what is me, this would be it. I love lots of layering with coordinating paper.  I love paper period. I love the unique color combinations out there. LOVE.  This card has a lot of the elements listed above except they have been adhered to various patterned papers. I added fun embellishments. Lots have come from my garage/thrift/estate sale finds and the garment district of L.A.  I tied it all up with ribbon and ta-dah, this card is ready to be received!  A detailed creation for sure, but filled with lots of l-o-v-e.

So tell me which one is your favorite?  What technique or style are you looking for?  I would love to face a challenge you send me or perhaps you made something you want to share.   Pics are always welcome.

Please come back on Wednesday because I will be using Seth Apter’s new stamps, dies and embossing folders for Spellbinders here that have been released this month!   I know you will love them as much as i do.  Oh the possibilities, and I’ve got plenty to share.  Hoping Seth will still be my friend;)…lol!   I will give you a hint…Valentine’s is in the air and this is a different interpretation of his art.    If you don’t know much about Seth, please go here.  He is one madly-talented, mixed-media artist. #truth. I challenge you all to get out of the box :).

So there you have it for Monday.  Hope you all get to do a bit of dabbling in the arts this week.  I will be featuring each of the Spellbinders licensed artists throughout the month as well as a lot of randomness…as always!

XO,

debi