Through the Purple Haze January 2020 Challenge - My first project of the year!

For my first card as DT for Through The Purple Haze Challenge, I chose to make a Valentine Card. This challenge is to use a stencil. I used a stencil for the heart in the center of my stamped image. I used a variety of water colors for this card. I used my beloved set of Sakura Koi watercolors and My Tom Bows.

I love using watercolors, as it is so relaxing to color an image. I created a background mixing pixie dust, which is very sparkly with the watercolors. I also used Crafter's Companion glitter inks too. The card came out beautifully. "The Happiest Days are Spent with You" stamp is by Spellbinders, but the heart in the center was not showing up well, thus I used a heart stencil to make the card pop. Don't be afraid to try new things.

I used a small wooden tag, and colored it with my alcohol markers and used raffia to create a ribbon. The card has a mixed media vibe. I just love how this card came out.

This month's challenge with Through the Purple Haze is to use a stencil. What could be more fun? Why don't you challenge yourself and give it a try?

Fall is here!

I for one, am not ready for Fall, but it is right around the corner. I have to admit that I do love making Fall themed cards. I am partial to the Fall colors; oranges, purples, greens, and browns. They are all lovely to work with. The older that I get, the more I like the Halloween images. I have made several Fall themed cards the past week. I hope you enjoy the fun selection that I have colored.

Bird Song by Penny Black - a relaxing watercolor project.

I was thinking back to when I first started making cards.

I had wanted to make a card for our granddaughter. I had no idea where to start. So naive! I went and bought supplies, then more supplies, and even more supplies. About $200 later, I made my first card and so the journey began. Don’t we all start out naive about what we need, and the cost?

Making cards has helped me through many tough moments in my life and I think I will forever love working with paper and inks. I have found that my favorite items to work with are rubber stamps, digital images, markers, watercolors, pencils, and inks.

 I do have a Cricut and a Scan n Cut, but I still love just cutting out my images and working with them. This week we celebrated the Fourth of July at home with our own small stockpile of fireworks. They were small, but mighty.

To me the fourth has become such a fun family event centered on our kids. There is something special about a child’s face when they watch the fireworks. I wanted to take the sense of joy and use it on a card. I am a big believer in using what you have and not buying lots of new things.

Since I did not have any fireworks type of stamps or images I decided to use Bird Song from PennyBlack Stamps.  I used my watercolors and Prisma Color pencils to create this sweet image. I really do think the image is just so innocent. The little girl is so enthralled with the bird.

Childhood should be filled with happiness and moments of pure joy.

Please join me in my Face Book group Creative Paper Crafting with Jacquie . I want this group to be a fun and safe place to share your work and tutorials too.