In the Studio with Heather and Leslie

This morning I had time to practice a brayered card that I made a few months ago (April 16).  I have Lili and Natasha coming on Friday and they want to learn how to make "Night Sky at the Lake".  I wanted to try making the card again since it had been a while.  I didn't want to be teaching something that I couldn't remember :)  Anyways, it turned out great, so I'm ready to go for Friday.  I also wanted to try watercoloring some Tiger Lilies and I'm happy with they turned out as well.  Will make them into a card at a later date ... this morning I was just experimenting.

In the afternoon, Heather and Leslie joined me in the art studio.  We had fun spending time creating together.  Leslie made three awesome cards using lots of techniques.  Heather made some main images to be made into cards later (two, I think), plus she managed to stock up on die-cuts and stamped images before she left.  Thanks Leslie for the delicious chocolate chip cookies!!

For some reason I was stuck on an image that I had brayered ... just couldn't figure out how to finish the card and what colors to use.  After Heather and Leslie left, I took a short break and then headed back to the studio.  This time I had a plan and I managed to finish my card.  I'm pretty happy with it.  Hope you like.

"Snowy Trees for Christmas"

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Christmas Greetings, Patterned Pines, Short & Sweet (SU!)

Paper:  Always Artichoke, Glossy White, Whisper White (SU!)

Ink:  Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Whisper White; Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker

Accessories & Tools:  Speedball Rubber Brayer, post-it notes for masking, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges, Baja Breeze ribbon seam binding, white gel pen, toothbrush, water mister, sticky strips and dimensionals

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I created a mask with a post-it note to mask the snow area on the Glossy Paper.  I brayered Bashful Blue ink for the sky and then brayered Sahara Sand ink on top of the blue to create a wintery blue hue.  I sponged Sahara Sand ink along the top of the mask to highlight the horizon line.  I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to find the best position to stamp the trees, removed it, covered the "hills" part of the stamp with masking tape because I didn't want them to show, inked the stamp with Soft Suede ink, removed the tape and then stamped the image.  I removed the post-it-note mask and then used the Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker to draw in the missing trunks at the bottom of the trees.  I repositioned the mask lower on the snow and sponged along the top to create some hills in the snow.

I used the white gel pen to add snow to the tree branches.  I then misted the toothbrush with lots of water, swiped it across my Whisper White stamp pad, added more water and then used my thumb to flick the bristles, letting them release drops of white paint that make it look like it was snowing.  Beautiful!

I made a frame from Always Artichoke.  It's so easy to make a frame without having to have die-cuts like Spellbinders - I plan to write a short tutorial in the next little while.  I stamped the snowflake (in Whisper White ink) from the Patterned Pines set and the snowflake from the Short & Sweet set, randomly over the Always Artichoke frame.  I mounted the brayered image to the back of the frame and tied the Baja Breeze ribbon seam binding around the frame, knotting it at one side

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I stamped the sentiment in Always Artichoke ink onto Whisper White cardstock and cut around the words.  I mounted the sentiment on top of the ribbon using sticky strips.  I mounted the framed image onto the card base of Always Artichoke, popping it up with dimensionals to add depth.