Watercolor Flowers with Foiled Sentiments

I absolutely love Prima's PPP moodboard this month and had to play along!  I created a watercolor panel to coordinate with Prima's watercolor flowers and applied Christine Adolph adhesive and foil to my sentiment.  

I used my Prima doily stamp as the base for my composition. I stamped Finnabair's butterfly to pop out from the paper.

I let some watercolor drip around on the background, but wanted to keep the color limited, as to show off the flowers.  I added a Prima crocheted doily and flecked the panel with gold Color Bloom spray to coordinate with the gold bow and sequins.  It was hard to photograph the foil, but you can see below how beautifully reflective it is!

I'm sharing with: 

Prima PPP: August Moodboard

Ooh la la Creations: Something Girly

Inky Chicks: Lots of Butterflies

Crafty Sentiments: Lots of Layers

Deep Ocean Challenge: Things With Wings

Ike's World: Square Card with a Circle

Simon Says Stamp: It's Hip to Be Square

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Winner of Verve Giveaway!

Thank you so much for all of your support for my guest diva spot with Verve last week.  I'm so excited to see that one of my bloggy buddies Amanda has won the prize bundle!  Woo hoo!  Congrats Amanda!!!  To see who won the other prizes, click on over to the Verve blog.  

Tim Holtz August 2016 Leaf Tag

Somehow I found time to play with Tim's August 2016 tag.  I am trying to get in the fall mood, but still thinking summer.  So I mixed blue and orange, which to me remind me of summer and fall.  Ha!

My brayering was strange and I used a lot of sponging in Blueprint Sketch to cover it, but liked that it still showed, especially with the water flicking. I embossed my trellis die in Tea Stain Distress Embossing Powder.  The sentiment is like the fall season, sometimes it is necessary for things to die off for new life to form.  "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  Ecc. 3:1

I made a whole sheet of inky paper with a file folder so I could cut tons and tons of leaves, making this a super quick project.  I don't have Tim's pine cone die, but used a real one from a very special Girl Scouts trip.  <3

I'm sharing with:

Tim Holtz: 12 Tags of 2016, August

MFP Stamps: Orange

Art By Miran: Anything Goes

Jo's Scrap Shack: Cut it Up

Happy Little Stampers: Anything Goes with Dies

Mixed Media Mojo: Harvest

Craft-Dee Bowz: Anything Goes w/ Handmade Bow

Verve Stamps Splatters Stencils and Scallops

Welcome back to the final day of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  Today is release day!  That's right!  There's new Verve in the store this morning, including 2 beautiful new stamp sets, 3 die sets and a sequin mix just released, and they're all available to order right now!  Today's inspiration is designer's choice, our favorites from the release.  My card has bits and pieces from several of the new releases and is my favorite project so far.

I used a new stencil and texture paste to start my background, then used some Glimmer Mist sprays to add some color and shine.  I made a pool of Distress Ink and dipped my card in it to add a different shade of blue/green.  I splashed some of my sprays onto the background to create the splattered look.

I layered several paper flowers over a torn section of lace and crocheted lace, then tucked the foliage from the Great Kindness Die Set behind my flowers.  I mixed some vintage glass glitter with mod podge to form a paste, and used my palette knife to scrape it in sections around my card.

I love the flower die from the Pottery Die Set because it is the perfect shaped scalloped circle die and works beautifully with so many Verve stamps. Any product that works double duty is a great investment in my book.  Here I used the thank you sentiment from the Kindness Matters Set.  I wish you could see this card in real life, the color is so much prettier and it has a softness that didn't translate in the photos.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? Today's prize is a BIG one. We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win our ENTIRE new release! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list and all the prize info and deadlines!


I have had such a great time creating with these products and for this hop.  Thank you Julee, Divas and Hillary for an amazing week!  I hope you've been inspired by my mixed media projects and will visit again soon.  <3  Hugs, Autumn

1. Julee 7. Betty 2. Stacey 8. Charmaine 3. Maureen 9. Laurie 4. Lesley 10. Teresa 5. Marisa 11. Christyne 6. Hillary (Guest) 12. Autumn (Guest)

Verve Stamps DIY Embellishments and Watercolor Backgrounds

Welcome back to Day 3 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  We're back today with inspiration for this fabulous new release! Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Friday, August 26.  Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Potter's Clay stamp set and coordinating, Pottery Die Set.

I hope to give you a glimpse into my mixed media brain this week, so I'm sharing a little about my process for those of you who are uneasy dabbling into mixed media.  For my background, I gessoed a square of patterned card, then used Mod Podge to adhere a "grid" of watercolor paper scraps.  While the Mod Podge was still tacky, I sprinkled it with vintage glass glitter.  When in doubt, sprinkle everything with vintage glass glitter...  :)  Next, I made puddles with my watercolors, flicking the wet brush here and there to create the splatter effect.

I layered some snippets of patterned card together, with a copper embossed chipboard.  I added some tissue tape around the base for more pattern.  The watercolor pools in the crevices, creating such a great effect.

I love Verve dies because they cut thin chipboard easily and evenly.  To create a terracotta effect on my chipboard pots, I used a palette knife and scraped on texture paste, sort of like icing a cake.  When they were dry, I colored them with watercolors.

The sprigs are so amazing and will be making another appearance popping out from a 3D flower soon.  I added them here to my pots to break up the hard lines.

Want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Betty 2. Stacey 8. Charmaine 3. Maureen 9. Laurie 4. Lesley 10. Teresa 5. Marisa 11. Christyne 6. Hillary (Guest) 12. Autumn (Guest)

Verve Stamps Mixed Media Tag and Handmade Flowers

Welcome back to Day 2 of our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops!  We're back with more inspiration today spotlighting our new release! Everything previewed this week will be available to order in the Verve online store on Friday, August 26.  Today we're sharing our first projects featuring the Kindness Matters stamp set and coordinating, Great Kindness Die Set.

I used the flower dies to cut three layers of crinoline (you can purchase in the fabric section by the yard at Joann's).  I tapped both Evergreen Bough and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks onto my craft mat, then spritzed lightly with water.  I then rubbed each flower into the ink and heat set to dry.

I snipped into each petal to create more fluff in my flowers.  I scrunched them up like shown , then opened them and layered three medium and three small flowers to create one finished flower.  For my centers, I took large brads and dipped them into Mod Podge, then dipped them into Finnabair's Art Stones.  I used Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink and a paint brush to color them.

The foliage in the Great Kindness Die Set reminded me of the beautiful foliage in the New Mercies Stamp Set.  I embossed those repeatedly on my tag background with Distress Embossing Powder.

I am thrilled to add this Kindness die to my stash, it cuts so beautifully and is the perfect size!  The entire set is gorgeous.  I loved using it in mixed media.  I hope you'll be inspired to get messy with your Verve today!

Don't you want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

1. Julee 7. Charmaine 2. Stacey 8. Laurie 3. Maureen 9. Teresa 4. Marisa 10. Christyne 5. Hillary (Guest) 11. Autumn (Guest) 6. Betty

Verve Scripture Stamps Mixed Media Style

I am over the moon to be a part of the Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops with Verve Stamps this week! The new releases will be available for purchase this Friday, August 26, but until then the Divas have tons of inspiration to share, so check back daily through Friday.  Plus, you can win some shiny new Verve by commenting on each of the designer's blog posts.  Today we're sharing inspiration featuring the new Scripture Medley 4 compilation set. Check out the Verve Blog post today for more on this set and a sweet little introduction to Guest Diva Hillary Harris and me.  EEK!  :)

I loved taking these typically CAS stamps and going rogue!  All of my cards this week will created in mixed media style, I couldn't help myself...  For my Grace card, I layered torn pieces of 6x6 Prima paper to make a 5x7 card base.  I created a stencil with a sheet of chipboard and the amazing  Sprightly Sprigs Die Set.  I used texture paste and a palette knife to create a raised pattern with the DIY stencil.  I gessoed parts of the black design to tone it down.

Next, I used my watercolors to ink up my layers, very randomly.  This is a great scrap buster!  I usually let my background panel sit at the bottom of a stack of books while I move own to creating my focal grouping, then it adheres nice and flat to my card.

This stamp is my absolute favorite from the Scripture Medley 4 Set.  I am so thankful for God's Grace!  Where would I be...?  As you can see, I embossed some new Verve flowers (oops - I  am spoiling tomorrow's release!) and tucked them in with my layers.  I used the chipboard die cuts from making the stencil to embellish, along with a Prima flower.  I embossed the die cuts with shabby pink Frantage embossing powder.

For my second card, I wanted to do something more masculine and rugged, so I layered another set of Prima papers with burlap paper.  

I used the tiny foliage dies from the same die set to highlight the purchased flower.  I splashed some black gesso to complete the grungy look.  I can't wait to work on another masculine card with the "Blessed is the man" stamp!  How awesome!

Now, don't you want to win some shiny new Verve? We'll be picking a random commenter on one of the hop spots below to win today's featured products! So be sure to leave a little comment on all the blogs below to increase your chances! Check out the Verve Blog today for the full hop list, a little more about our new products and all the prize info and deadlines!

I just have to say thank you to Julee for this amazing invitation.  I am humbled beyond words and so thrilled to work with this powerful scripture set.  <3

1. Julee 7. Charmaine 2. Stacey 8. Laurie 3. Maureen 9. Teresa 4. Marisa 10. Christyne 5. Hillary (Guest) 11. Autumn (Guest) 6. Betty