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April 30, 2014

Club Scrap Blog Hop - Hydrangeas

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Hi there!  Welcome to the Hydrangeas blog hop! This month we're using Club Scrap's Hydrangeas collection.  I'm going to show you how I was inspired to use all things watercolor in my cards this month.

If you traveled here from Lisa's blog, then you are following the hop!  If you've lost your way or just want to see all the links in one place, head over to the Club Scrap Creates blog to see a list of all the talented bloggers participating today.

As now is my monthly routine, on the first of the month I created a mood board based on the theme and colors of the kit, and was really loving all of the beautiful examples of watercolors out there:

Follow Marya Kaszubinski's board Hydrangeas Mood Board - Club Scrap April Kit on Pinterest.

I knew I wanted to try to use one element of watercolors in each of my cards and while I had plenty of materials to work with, I focused on making four cards for upcoming events - Mother's Day and birthdays.  I used papers, embellishments and stamps from the Club Scrap kit and the instructions Tricia provided for the Assembly Line Card Making for February's kit, Big Deal.

I first tried out all of my watercolors on a test swatch to see what I was working with.  I'm now storing this is my handy-dandy notebook that we made at Retreat in 2013:


Then I got off to work assembling cards and using my traditional watercolors, my watercolor crayons, and my watercolor pencils.  So many mediums to choose from!


For my first card, I stamped the chevron from the Art Nouveau stamp set multiple times across watercolor paper.  I then colored in the spaces using watercolor crayons and a paint brush.  Instead of coloring directly on the paper, I rubbed the crayon on a non-stick surface and used a wet brush to pick up the paint from there.  I also made a mottled background with the same colors by painting with the watercolor crayon, then going back over with clean water.



I also cut out the "Happy Birthday" sentiment on my electronic die cutter machine in the same font that matches this month's kit.  I love how happy this card turned out!


For my second card, I used the print with the embossed flowers and colored these in with watercolor pencils.  I colored directly onto the paper, then used water and a brush to spread the color around.  To finish the card off, I took a waterbrush and the pencils I used to color the images in and flicked the color from the end of the pencils onto the paper.  I love the little splatters this creates!


For this card, I knew I wanted to color in this wonderful hydrangea image from the Borders and Backgrounds stamp set.  I first tried to stamp the image and then color it in with watercolors, but that covered up the stamped lines too much.  Instead, I took two pieces of watercolor paper and used purple and green to cover the whole piece, and once dried, I stamped over these with India Ink.  I then cut out the image and adhered with flat and dimensional adhesive.


I also used a special technique to get this variegated look to the colors.  Once you have put down your watercolor, make sure the paint is still pretty wet.  Then flick or drop alcohol onto the wet paper, and the water will react and move away, leaving some of the color behind.  It's science!  (And pretty cool!)


Finally, for my last card, I created an ombre background using my watercolor crayons and I cut another sentiment out of the same font.  (Did you know that on the first of the month, Club Scrap posts all the details of the kit, including a link to the font used?  Go check some out here!)  I left this sentiment plain, and I really like the stark contrast of the white against the springy ombre.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you drag out your watercolors (because I know you all have these in your stash.  Maybe even several sets...) and try to add some colorful elements in your cards, layouts, and projects.  And even though today is the last day of April, be sure to post your watercolor creations in Pam's challenge thread over at the Coffeehouse - hope to see you there!

Now head on over to Annette Dragon's to see what she has to share this month.  Come back in May when we're getting comfy with Club Scrap's Dungarees collection!






April 14, 2014

April Goals

So at work, I am totally all about making lists and crossing things off those lists in order to keep myself organized. (You should see my grocery list - it's grouped by sections in the order I hit them in the store.  And my packing lists for trips?  Organized by outfits, toiletries, electronics - yeah, I know I'm crazy.)  I'm really trying to get a handle on what I need to do creatively as well, so I figure a list would help here too!

Luckily, the lovely ladies at the Club Scrap message board help to keep you on track by talking about their monthly goals on the forum.  I figure if I post my goals for April here and over there, maybe I will finish some of them up!

So for April, I'm hoping to:


  1. Meet the goal for the layout challenge at Club Scrap (8 1-page layouts, or 4 2-page layouts, or a combination of both)
  2. Get my project ready for the Hydrangeas blog hop at the end of the month.
  3. Get my cards completed and in the mail for the birthday card swap.
  4. Edit my backlog of photos and figure out which ones need printing.
  5. Brainstorm for May's blog hop (I have an idea brewing already...)
  6. Organize my craft room - I'm starting out with one hour of organization a week, 'cause really?  Not much more than that is actually going to take place.  Keepin' it real, here.
  7. Catch up on the kits I have to ALSB.
  8. Organize all of my fonts, printables, cut files, etc. on my computer.
So I have a start on the first goal, at least.  This past weekend I got a few layouts done - one 2-page layout and one 1-page layout with some Club Scrap kits, and one layout with a Studio Calico kit.  I'm still catching up on my New Zealand photos, but I'm getting towards the end!  Mostly.  Kind of.  We'll see.


Bridge Photoshoot - both pages together

Bridge Photoshoot (Left) - Papers: Club Scrap Hopes, Aspen; Stencil: Club Scrap Solstice; Stamp: Amy Tangerine roller date stamp; Ink: Club Scrap Lagoon; Embellishments: Club Scrap Hopes kit stickers

Bridge Photoshoot (Right) - Club Scrap HopesAspenStencil: Club Scrap Solstice; Ink: Club Scrap LagoonEmbellishments: Club Scrap Hopes kit stickers, Amy Tangerine Remarks Yes Please stickers

Glenorchy Daytrip - Papers: Club Scrap Full Circle Jr; Embellishments: Club Scrap  Full Circle Jr stickers
Day 3 - All materials (other than kraft background) from Studio Calico Blue Note kit.  Oh, except this roller date stamp and the wood veneer stars.

So hopefully I will be back later this month to say I accomplished all of my goals!  Fingers crossed...

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