Stampfest at Lynette's August 19, 2026

Don and I visited Lynette yesterday. As usual, we had a wonderful time visiting! We took a nice walk to a nearby restaurant. Then Lynette and I worked on some fun stamping techniques! In the evening we walked to a concert in the park and we really enjoyed that too. 

  

Our first project was to try out a product called Ken Oliver Color Burst. We each made six panels using it. We spritzed the panels with water. Then sprinkled the Color Burst granules on the wet watercolor paper. It was fun to see the vibrant colors "travel" and fill the paper. 

Lynette added some Color Pour to the panel on the lower right. It gave a metallic look. 

ADDITIONAL INFO AUGUST 21, 2026: For the panel on the bottom right where Lynette added a no brand Color Pour...she told me she also added Schminke Tro-Col Bronze powder to that panel. And she searched online and found it had another name:  Schmincke Aqua-Bronze.

Above are my panels. It was very fun trying out different color combinations and having some backgrounds to use in the future.

Below are watercolor panels using Natasha Foote's YouTube Dropping Color Technique #1362

 We wet the watercolor paper with a fine mist of water. Then we "dropped" various colors of watercolor onto the paper in the areas that will become a vase and flowers. Talk about a HOT MESS...

We followed Natasha's instructions, drying the wet panel with a heat tool. We then used a black 0.5 Fine tip black PITT pen to turn our blobs into flowers and a vase! It was kind of amazing! ...and very fun! Just as Natasha demonstrated we added...

the plain black outlined leaves 

and outlines of the flowers and petals 

and dots and lines inside the flower blossoms 

and more dots in the white space! 

This was a very fun exercise! 

I love hearing Natasha give us permission to work on a "loose, happy, free watercoloring project with no plan"..."it doesn't have to be perfect"... It really gives a person permission to just have fun with the process. I will admit that I was stressed a bit with trying to work through this. 

Below we followed another of  Natasha's YouTubes: Make Your Own Little CUTIES DIY #1230 

We made a circle template by punching a 1-1/4 inch wide circle punch into cardstock. You trace the round bird using the INSIDE OF THE CIRCLE and LEAVING an open area where you will draw the tail feathers. Again, we used a 0.5 Fine tip black PITT pen for drawing. We used Jane Davenport brights watercolors, a scrap of printed papers for the wings and bottom of the birdies. 

I messed up when I traced the circle, first by using the circle itself. I should have used the "stencil" part with the circle opening!  Then I did not leave an open area in my circle for the tail feathers. My birdies survived me!

Our sunburst cards were inspired by Nicole Nowosad's card on her August 30, 2012 blogpost, Jillibean Soup-Grandma's Lima Bean Soup! It's the fifth image down on her blogpost.

Supplies used:

Vicki Boutin 6 x 8 inch Storyteller Paper pad by American Crafts

Reflections set of 6 heart dies

Crimper

Love to Craft die set #2560377, a gift from my friend, Hetty-white lacy circle

Black and white twine, paper flower from Lynette's stash and paper with "friend" stamped in Versafine Onys black ink

& Friend stamp

Image above shows the template we made, estimating the widths at the top and bottom of the strips of printed papers. It took quite a while to cut each strip. I could not think of another way to be sure the strips would be long enough when cut at various angles. 

Today I decided to try again, without a template. I cut longer strips than the 5-1/4 inch height of my base paper. Then I tried to estimate the approximate widths at the top and bottom of the strips. You can see today's sunburst panel below. I think it worked out ok and was much faster to create than the template.

I finished making this card with the above panel on Sept. 8, 2026. 

Used embellishments from my stash.

The flower is from SU's Artistically Inked stamp set, stamped in Distress Scattered Straw ink.

Fussy cut it smaller than actual size, to fit the heart.

I wrote "friend" on the little home made banner cut from printed paper.

Thank you for wading through this LONG post.

Wishing you

Peace and all Good!

Saran Wrap and Cereal Bag technique, Scrunch First

 

Wanted to try Saran Wrap technique with some darker colors, maybe for guy cards. Used Canson watercolor paper 140 lb/300 g, 9 x 12 inch size. I cut that in half.  On the left, I taped the watercolor paper down by the edges with old washi tape. I neglected to tape the watercolor paper down on the right.

Spritzed the watercolor paper with water. Then added Jane Davenport Brights Palette watercolors, Fairytale, Frida and Ink colors, spritzing when needed to keep the paints wet.  

LEFT PANEL: This time I scrunched the Saran Wrap before applying to the top of the wet paint. I liked the results better when scrunching the wrap first...more dramatic lines created. 

RIGHT PANEL: Using the same cleaned cereal bag, I scrunched it first then applied to the wet watercolor panel. I taped it down with washi tape instead of placing an old heavy book on top.

You can see the difference between how the Saran Wrap, left and the Cereal bag, right create patterns in the wet watercolor paints. I like both looks. The cereal bag is more eco friendly, as it is being reused when the cereal is gone and it can be reused multiple times.

I cut a 3-3/4 x 5 inch panel and placed it on top of a 4-1/4 x 5-1/2" white card base to get an idea of how this would look. I'm thinking it would be a nice birthday card for a guy.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Saran Wrap Technique Again, Slight Variation

 

On these panels, I used a thinner Canson watercolor paper, 117 lb/250 g/m2. It comes in a 5.5 by 8.5 inch tablet. I taped both layers down with Scrapbook.com Mint Tape, re-using it from the other day. I spritzed the paper with a fine mist of water. Then I randomly added Jane Davenport Brights watercolors to the wet paper. I spritzed if the paint started to dry. 

Then I scrunched both the Saran Wrap-Left, and the cereal bag-Right before placing on the wet watercolor paint. I placed an old book on top of the cereal bag because the scrunched part wanted to unfold. The Saran Wrap's scrunched part remained in place after placing it on the wet watercolor paint.

I was inspired to scrunch the plastic wraps before placing them on top of the wet watercolor paint as shown in this YouTube: Watercolor Techniques - Plastic Wrap by Ms. Covart from March 7, 2017. I like this more dramatic design created with this method of scrunching the plastic film before placing it on the wet watercolor.

...and I'm very happy to re-use the cereal bag. It cleans up easily with plain water.

Thank you for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Saran Wrap Technique

An artist friend shared a panel of her Saran Wrap technique recently. After seeing her art, I just had to try it. 

 

On my first attempt, I cut watercolor paper into smaller pieces. Then with a brush I wet the watercolor paper panels with plain water. Then added these watercolors, Mystic, Frida and Butterfly from my Jane Davenport Brights watercolor palette. Placed Saran Wrap over and made wrinkles in the Saran Wrap with my finger.

Note: you can click on any image to see a larger version of it.

After it dried, I did not get many "wrinkle lines" as you can see in the results. My panels curled and since they were not taped down, the Saran Wrap shifted. 

On my second attempt at Saran Wrap Technique I taped two larger pieces of watercolor paper to my glass mat with Scrapbook.com Mint Tape. Note that on the right one, I used a breakfast cereal pouch. I learned about that on a YouTube, What can I use instead of plastic wrap in watercolor?... by Liz Chaderton Studio. She talked about how to use a cereal bag at the 3:19 mark in the timeline.

I tried to take a photo of the opened cereal bag. It's difficult to see on the white part of my glass mat.

Above you can see the result of the Saran Wrap layer on the left and the cereal bag layer on the right. I scrunched up the cereal bag before placing it on the wet watercolor. Then added a heavy book to weigh it down.

Here is a picture of my Jane Davenport Brights Watercolors.Colors used for the panels above are...

Left: Buzzy (yellow), Jimminy (lighter green) & Mermaid (green blue). 

Right: Best Friend, Fairytale, 70s Eye Shadow, and a little Mermaid.

I cut the panels and plan to make cards. Here is what they may look like. I probably will add a white leaves die cut, like the first card. I am thinking of using these as Thank You cards for my neighbors and friends who have been so sweet to me for the past 4 weeks while I recover from knee replacement surgery.

Thank you for visiting.

Peace and all good.

Lady Faces July 2023

I'm at it again...artist "wanna-be"! This time I'm using my Jane Davenport Whimsical Girls book as my guide. This book was meant to be a workbook. The pages are made from and labeled with different kinds of paper: watercolor, marker paper, thin craft paper, coloring paper. There are a few pages of thin, colorful, collage paper that you can tear and use with acrylic medium for mixed media projects. For now, I am using this book for ideas on how to draw my lady faces. Not working on the actual pages of this book. Also, I just noticed that Jane has a YouTube on this book. 

For these faces, I used India Ink FABER-CASTELL Pitt Artist Pen, black, F (0.5 mm) and Canson watercolor paper, cold pressed 250 g/m2. When dry, I used Superior brand watercolors (set of 18 that my sister, Grace gave me). Also used my Jane Davenport  12 pan Bright Pallette watercolor set. Once dry, I added some ink blending to darken the colors: Gina K's sweet mango, wild dandelion, lucky clover and red velvet inks. Then I added some stamping around the edges.

This is the inside of the card.

For this second card, I used colored pencils to color the lady and ink blending for the border: Gina K's sweet mango, wild dandelion, lucky clover and passionate pink inks.

Here is the inside of that card.

I decided not to color the border of this card. Really liked the lady as she is. I wasn't sure which colors to use for the background...and was afraid to ruin what I had already done.

Here is the inside.

I wanted to try the "lined" hair that I saw in Jane's book. It was more difficult than it looked. Always seems that way! Jane has written text beside many of her drawings in the Whimsical Girls book. I decided to try it. I copied her way of creating the letters-fun to do. I wanted to make this girl's purple hair a little different so I blended some red with the purple on my pallette. Also I copied the blouse design from Jane's book.

I really enjoyed the process of drawing and painting. And it was fun to make the drawings into cards that I can send to friends.

Stamps: 

Stampin' Up-Letters from Friends

Heidi Grace/Fiskars-Dreamer

Heidi Grace/Fiskars-Cherrywood Ln.

Tim Holtz Mixed Media Collection Stampers Anonymous clear stamps/stencil set-THMM114

Dimensions Crafts-Thoughts of fancy stamps

Sentiment Stamps:

Penny Black-

  Friendships...2945H

  What matters...293CH

Hero Arts wood mounted set of 3 stamps-Nicest Thoughts

Stampendous-Treasured Friend

Stampabilities-Between Friends ER1034

Thanks for visiting!

Peace and all good!

Drawing and Painting

I took some time out yesterday to draw and paint these two pieces. This lady was inspired by Jane Davenport's Fabulous Figures book, page 65. When I draw, the expressions on the faces just seem to pop up. Maybe one day I will be able to create a specific expression and be able to duplicate it.  I am an "artist wanna-be" not a real artist. I find it so relaxing attempting to draw and paint.

I could not resist attempting this scene from page 29 of Jane's Fabulous Figures book. When I saw that Eiffel Tower in the background I just had to play with this scene.

For both pieces, I used watercolor paper cut to about 4.75 x 6 inches. I started by drawing with a black Faber-Castell PITT pen. Then I used Jane's Mermaid Markers which are brush pens with a reservoir filled with vivid dye-based ink. Since the ink is quite intense, a lot of the time I brush some ink on my craft sheet then use a paintbrush and water to apply to paper. After the work was dry, I went back with Jane's white paint over pen for highlighting.

I attached my work to cardstock and created two greeting cards. The first one is going to become a birthday card for an artist friend.

I hope you find something in your day that is soothing for your soul!

August 11 Watercolor Fest with Grace

Grace and I had our second Watercolor Fest yesterday.

She treated me to lunch at Portillo's. Later we had a blast playing with watercolors.

She created this gift tag for a watercolor gift set she's giving to a friend.

Grace gave me this 18 pan set of Superior brand watercolors.

We had fun trying them out.

Grace made this lovely landscape with the Superior watercolors. I love the fence in it!

Grace also painted this scene. Aren't the colors dreamy!

I think Grace added some accent lines with a Sakura black marker in both paintings.

I made this lady sketching it first with pencil, then used watercolors. 

When dry, added accent lines with a Faber-Castell PITT black fine marker pen.

Was inspired to make these flowers after seeing this PIN

which goes to this  YouTube

After painting, I splattered paint with the paintbrust

and added accent lines with the Pitt marker.

Also added white accents with the Jane Davenport white paint pen.

I'm not good at adding the accent lines. 

Added white with the Jane Davenport white paint pen here also.

Grace and I were inspired by images found online via google searches and Pinterest.

Thanks for visiting!

July 22 Stamp and Watercolor FEST with Lynette

Lynette and I had a great time stamping, drawing and watercolor painting on Saturday.

Lynette brought drawing pencils and Yasutomo pearlescent watercolors-21 pans, that she found at a garage sale tucked inside a zippered case with elastic loops to keep everything in place. I made a sample background using them-bottom left in photo above.
For our faces, first we sketched with a drawing pencil, then we used Jane Davenport's watercolors Petite Palette Brights and Neutrals. After it was dry, we used Jane Davenport's Inkredible pen for accent.

By Lynette

By Lynette

By Laura

I was inspired to attempt to draw and paint this steam engine after seeing Mary Hambrick's wonderful steam engine on the Jane Davenport Mixed Media Facebook group. 

My dad is a train lover and so I had to give this a go! I have a set of train stamps that I used for most of Dad's cards that I make. For his next card, I may have to try and make one like this.

I'm glad Lynette was interested in trying to make a Corner Flip Card. My friend, Lola, at the Enjoy Michael Strong Yahoo Group shared one of these along with the video tutorial by Dawn Griffith. Lynette and I referred to Lola's blog, Raevon59's Blog that instructions and the video which is also on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts blog. We had to view the video a few times. Once we made the cuts in the correct place, it was easy and fairly quick. We did not add the 2nd layer of color cardstock that was 2-3/4 x 2-3/4".

Inside of Lynette's Corner Flip card

Inside of Laura's Corner Flip card

Stamps used:
Michael Strong, Stampin' Up, Hero arts, Stamps by Judith, PrintWorks

Inks used:
Distress abandoned coral, twisted citron, squeezed lemonade, worn lipstick
Versafine black onyx

Lynette and I always have so much when we get together! Looking forward to next time!

Thank you for taking the time to visit!

July 16 Watercolor Fest with Grace

My sister, Grace, and I had so much fun playing with watercolors last Sunday. I had been showing her some of my watercolor painted faces lately. We christened Grace's new set of 18 Sakura Koi watercolor pans, using aqua brushes and 140 pound cold press watercolor paper.

Grace said she wanted to try and draw a stormy sky. The scene above is Grace's artwork.

I'm still trying to draw lady faces.  I added the pink background at home, using the color called "Best Friend" from Jane Davenport's Petite Palette Brights. I used Jane's Inkredible pen to add detail to the eyes and the neckline trim. It writes beautifully-rich, opaque, dark black ink.

I was inspired to draw and paint these cat faces after seeing Cindi Banach's wonderful cat faces. She made 8 of them sharing on the Jane Davenport Mixed Media Facebook Group. Again, used JD's Inkredible pen for the black accents.

Grace and I had  so much fun watercoloring! Looking forward to our next watercolor fest!

Thanks for visiting!