Mid-Summer's Portable Projects

While in reality I'm working at my craft-table, but in my imagination I'm sitting in at a table in a campground with a stack of these pre-stamped mats ready to color. Then bring them home to add a sentiment and attach to a cardbase (or use in a scrapbook layout or journal page). These projects are just the ticket for such mid-summer fun.

The technique is this week's Make It Monday #173 No Outline Watercolor. This mat is stamped with the Nuts for You stamp set. All of the mats are cut from Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream cardstock. The only products that aren't Papertrey Ink are the water colors and Antique Linen Distress Ink.

This one reminds me of mid-summer so I'm entering it in Simon Says A Mid-Summer's Challenge. The flowers are from Friendship Jar Filler and the sentiment is from Forest Friends Sentiments. The cardbase is Hibiscus Burst.

It's difficult to see in the photograph but I used white watercolor and it does alter the flower from cream to white in a translucent sort of way lol.

This is with Forest Friends and Forest Friends Sentiments with a Simply Chartreuse cardbase.

Tea for Two, Tea for Two Additions and Make It Market kit: Beautiful Brushstrokes. This one really reminds me of a Jane Austenesque illustration.

 On My Couch (reminds me of a leather chair) image and sentiment with an Ocean Tides cardbase.

And another On My Couch card.

August Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and My Monthly Mojo and a Good Cause All in One

photo credit

This is the photograph that inspired Papertrey Ink's August Blog Hop.  I used one of my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp sets, Friendship Jar and the daisies from Friendship Jar Fillers. I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and used Memento markers to color them. I used repeated strokes to add shading to the flowers.

This also is my entry for Sasa's My Monthly Mojo. Every month she interviews an artist about their creative process and has a place to link a related piece.  This month we're supposed to include some notes about our creative process and why we like to share our work. Now this is a lot harder for me than just making stuff, but in the spirit of community (and a chance to win a great stamp set), I'm dipping my toes in the water :D.

When I saw the photograph for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, I knew I needed to do the mason jar and the flowers. Especially as I had stamps for those lol. I picked up the suitcase element by rounding two of the card corners with the Corner Chomper. Sometimes I like to pick up the feeling of the whole photograph (like I did last month) and sometimes just an element or two. I also made the card to donate to an event organizer who had asked My Pink Stamper readers for cards for a breast cancer survivor breakfast. And because of that I combined the red and white colors as a pink. So it's a threefer card!

Now the reasons why I like to share are usually a little less clear than my inspiration, but it's usually a combination of not having access to a lot of real-life folks who are thrilled to bits about giving feedback to my papercrafting projects and a means of keeping track of things I've made. It's also a way to give back to the online community I've learned so much from. In a larger sense, it's also given me more freedom to just put it out there for it's own sake, not so much for the feedback I get from others, if that makes sense lol. But I really do love comments. So that's me in a nutshell, full of contradictions lol.

Materials:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Fine Linen and Sweet Blush.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Memento Dual Marker Summer Sky (jar), Dandelion (flower center), Pear Tart (leaves), Angel Pink (flower petals) and Rose Bud (edge around the Fine Linen mat).
Tools: Corner Chomper (1/4").