Christmas In July - part 2

I loved a card that was made by Mindy Eggen (see her card here), and knew I needed to make it myself.  My version is similar:

For the card, I used:

• Gina K - Red Velvet Ink
• Gina K - Deck the Halls Stamp set
• Gina K - Master Layouts 1
• Versamark
• Stampendous - Detail Gold Embossing Powder
• Gansai Tambi - #902 Red Gold
• Gold Metallic Paper

To make the card, Christmas Balls were stamped using Red Velvet.  Once the ink was dry, The decorations, caps, strings and sentiment were stamped using Versamark.  Embossing powder was added and het set.  Watercolor splatters were added using Red Gold watercolor. The image and gold mat were cut using the Master Layout dies.  The image was attached to the gold mat, and then added to the card base to complete the card. 

Christmas in July (Gina K)

OK, so I got on the Christmas in July bandwagon this year, partly because I got this wonderful stamp set last year, but too late to use for Christmas cards.  Its from Gina K Designs and is called Sparkle and Shine.  

Here are three of the cards I made using it:

To make the cards I used:

• Versamark
• Gina K - Sparkle and Shine
• Stampendous - Detail Gold Embossing Power (Red and Green cards)
• Stampendous - Detail White Embossing Powder (Blue card)
• Gansai Tambi - #903 Yellow Gold (Red and Green cards)
• Gansai Tambi - #906 White Gold (Blue card)
• Gina K - Red Velvet, Edible Eggplant (Red Card), Grass Green, Christmas Pine (Green Card)
• Gina K - Master Layouts 1
• Gold and Silver metallic paper

To make the cards, I stamped the main image in Versamark, added embossing powder and heat set.  The sentiments were stamped in Versamark, embossing powder added and heat set. For the Red and Green cards, darker color was brushed around the image, and then an even darker color was added at the edges. Watercolor splatters were then added.  These panels, and associated mats were cut with Master Layouts 1 dies.  The panels were attached to the mats and then to the card base to complete the cards.

Rainbow Birthday Card

I've been using my Gansi Tambi watercolors a bit more these days.  I created a rainbow with some of the colors in my set, comparing how the colors look using different amounts of water.  Of course I had to make cards with my results!  And here they are:

I used the following for the cards:

• Gansi Tambi Watercolors (I used  a red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple from the set)
• Gina K - Master Layouts 1 and 2 die sets
• Simon Says Stamp - Happy die
• Altenew - Birthday Greetings stamp set
• Gina K - Black Onyx Ink

To make the cards, I watercolored the stripes using the rainbow colors from the watercolors.  I first used just a minimum amount of water, and then repeated it using a very watered down watercolor.  These were both then cut using one of the Master Layouts 2 dies.  The mat was cut from dark blue paper using one of the Mater Layouts 1 dies.  The watercolor panel was attached to the mat. The 'happy' was cut using the same blue and the 'happy' background from white.  These were added to the watercolor panel.  'birthday' was stamped below the word happy.  The entire panel was then added to the card base complete the card.

Rainbow Thanks Card

Thanks to @czdesign for this idea!  I saw a very similar idea in one of her videos and and blog posts (see it here).  I also decided to use Cryogen Curious Metallic White paper which can handle a bit of water, has a little sparkle, and is whiter than the watercolor paper I have.  Its a paper I frequently use for Copic and Colored Pencil work.

I used the following for this card:

• Taylored Expressions - Thanks die
• Gansi Tambi Watercolors
• Gina K Designs - Master Layouts 2
• Gina K Designs - Angel Aura Rhinestones
• Cryogen Curious Metallic White paper

To make the card, I cut the Thanks out 3 times.  These were then glued together.  I used a rainbow selection of the watercolors to apply to the background.  Once dry,  it was cut with one of the dies from Master Layouts 2.  The mat was also cut from a die in the same set.  These were then attached to the card base.  The rhinestones were added to complete the card.

Paint Along Watercolor Landscapes (a Sandy Allnock class)

After completing the Stamped Watercolors classes, I decided it was time to try real watercolor.  So, I signed up for the Paint Along Watercolor Landscapes class from Sandy Allnock.   I learned a lot in this class, like red dries to a pink color, and that its difficult to mix paints to get different color greens.  There are still more lessons, so I'll see if I get better with practice.

Here is what I did for the first lesson: