As seen in OWH sketch 96, sometimes the designer's idea is really a good one:

Despite the 'appearance' I did follow the dimensions given. Their sketch is not to scale. Again, this started with an image stamped on watercolor paper and painted with Distress Inks and an aquabrush.

The image panel is roughed around the edges and tinted with 'old paper' Distress Ink.

I chose papers to complement the image and added ribbon snippets where the sketch shopw paper strips. I gave them banner ends and folded under the left edge.

I added a silver Dazzle sticker for the sentiment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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You'll have to stand on your head to see how I used OWH sketch 95:

This sketch just wasn't working for me with the image I wanted to use so I turned it 180 degrees.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper and painted it using Distress Marker ink as the colorant.

Papers were chosen to go with the paint colors and I used a border punch to replace the bow in the sketch. 

The edges of the image were distressed with a tool and then toned with 'old paper' Distress Ink.

The sentiment is popped up on foam tape.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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When the OWH sketchmakers created #94 it's like they could see my desktop and knew what elements I had scattered there:

From cards made in recent days I still had out that new 6x6 paper pad, the butterfly stickers, and a stamp and ink. Still further back I had used the decorative paper in the strip and that was in my 'recent scraps' envelope. That made this card come together very quickly and only one element had to be cut to size.

I like the clean finish of this card.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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What's with the lopsided elements on the OWH sketches? Here's another one on sketch 93:

Well, I don't like it so I'm not going to use it! I just left that layer off entirely.

I searched through my sticker bin for this floral because I knew it would look great in this setting. The papers were selected with the floral in mind which explains why they look so good together. The background, frame and strip are all from a new 6x6 paper pad I found on sale for $1.97! I wish they were't quite so distressed but I do like them for the most part.

The 3D sentiment sticker I've had in my stash for quite a while and I've used many from these sheets. There are still more left, too (YAY!)

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

Updated: Friday, 6 June 2014 7:24 AM PDT

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OWH sketch 92 inspired me more than yesterday:

I like the way the elements overlap one another in this sketch.

I started with more of the blue houndstooth paper for the background. I also cut a piece of decoration from the same paper for the center strip. I chose a small floral with the same blue in it and then a neutral print for the smallest block.

Once the elements were all in place I used a fine marker to define the edges.

The sentiment is a gold peel-off sticker.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I am NOT in love with OWH Sketch 91:

I guess it's all in the selection of materials, and maybe I just didn't have a good 'vision' for using this one. I started by turning the sketch on the side.

Some blue houndstooth started this card by serving as the background. I had three strips of light cardstock - two were the same print. These were cut to size and adhered. I wish I had left off the cross sticker. After I had adhered the swoosh of butterflies the cross seemed like too much.

I had selected the sentiment but it was too wide to go directly on the strip. So I create a little 'banner' for it to match the butterflies.

Ddd 

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Many, many years ago I ran across an idea for a card embellishment and tucked it away in the back of my brain 'for later'. Mostly because I didn't have the punches or dies to make it come to life.

Since coupons and papercrafting sales were in my schedule a few weeks ago I made it a point to buy a heart punch and a set of flower dies. I had wanted these for quite a while and when I got them home it suddenly occured to me that I now had the elements to make this sweet strawberry.

From red cardstock I punched the heart and then used a corner rounder on the bottom. From green cardstock I diecut a flower, cut it in half and layered it at the top of the heart. The addition of 'seeds' with Liquid Pearls brings the berry to life.

I first made a card with a single berry, using a cross-hatched brown background. I used green cardstock to diecut swirls and leaves and glued everything down. I stamped the sentiment in black. Then, to tie the elements together, I outlined one word in red and created a drop-shadow on the vines in black.

Then I made a second card with two berries on it - all of the processes and materials are the same.

The two cards do use different flourishes for the vines.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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We have a new visitor to the house that, I swear, thinks she is the family dog. She comes up to the patio door and, if nobody pays attention to her she will lay down on the mat and go right to sleep.

Now I know that having a passel of kids is probably wearing her out but, really!

I ignore her but hubby shoos her down the stairs and then tosses her all kinds of treats: marshmallows, slices of bread, crackers with butter, leftovers from dinner...

She shows up earlier and earlier, now arriving on the step long before he gets home from work. 

I know, I know, "Isn't she cute?" Well, yes she is cute, but she's also eating me out of house and home.

Pathetic how that begging thing works so well.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Technically, this is not 'in the garden' but it IS plant-based!

Last Christmas a friend gave us a poinsettia. I would occasionally give it a bit of water but was forgetting so much that I finally moved it to the kitchen window. The green leaves all fell off but the blooms remained. 

Then, around the middle of MAY little green leaves began appearing. I encouraged it by watering more often and, yes, it got more leaves.

So, here at the first of July, I have a happy and healthy poinsettia that I am hoping I can keep alive until December.

Without a doubt this is the longest any plant has LIVED in my house.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I was truly saddened to need another sympathy card so soon.

I had a single one of the watercolor stamping roses left and it was already trimmed. This got bordered by a matching paper and thus began the layout process.

I found a nice, subtle paper for the background and wanted to include a border around it also. Unfortunately, I did not have any more of the border used on the feature. So I used a Distress Marker to color the edges of the white base card and trimmed the background paper to let that color peek out.

I found a large silver Dazzles sticker for the sentiment and colored it with alcohol marker while it was still on the sheet.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Someone made a gift of many fabric scraps to our quilt group. We took whatever we wanted to make quilts and I chose three coordinating fabrics: a bright yellow, a dark blue and a floral with yellow, white and two tones of blue. 

This went into my stash until I watched a video on 'tube quilting' as demonstrated by Jenny Doan of the Missouri Star Quilt Company (check it out here www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOWSp0mTTqE). It is a simple way to cut a lot of blocks all at once and they can be arranged in many ways for a great graphic look.

I made this lap quilt for a child mentored by my daughter.

I was ready for the quilting and binding just as I got my new sewing machine so, of course, I had to try it out. All of the quilting is done with bright yellow thread in the ditch. The ends are all outlined around the yellow pieces. Then both long strips are stitched between the colors. The center is quilted in a grid through all the diamonds in both horizontal and vertical directions.

I also got to machine stitch the binding - LIKE!

Then I learned how to use the fancy stitches for lettering and used that for the quilt label. I stitched with yellow on a piece of fabric to match the backing then pressed it and attached it with Steam-a-Seam².

Much more to learn on my sewing machine but this was a great start.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I wanted to use more of the watercolor stamping roses but did not have a sketch upcoming that suited the shape or size that I had remaining. So I abandoned the sketch project for a bit and pulled out some paper scraps to make my own layout.

I started with a lavender card base to coordinate with the color of the illustration and added a green swirled paper to work with the leaves. The chevron paper in a neutral creates a nice setting for the bordered centerpiece which is bound by strips of silver peel-off sticker.

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Occasionally Club Scrap puts together a 'cutting formula' for chopping multiple papers to create multiple cards for OWH sketches. They did this for sketch 90 and I used the scraps October 15, 2012.

However, I thought the sketch itself was boring and it did nothing to inspire me. So I just used the scraps I had cut up to make random cards.

Here is one of those.

And here is another:

Yeah, so NOT the sketch.

Maybe I should go back and do that again?

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Oh, I think you're going to like this one. I know I do. Here is OWH sketch 89.

So, are you thrilled yet?

I made a few 'adjustments' like widening the three strips, cutting another layer on the square, and using some gold sticker trim. I wanted to use more of the watercolor stamping images and there were none that could be cut into that diamond shape and maintain a good orientation on the bloom. But adding it as another layer just made me happy.

The key to the beauty of this card is coordinating the papers. The only pink is in the image which makes it the star of the show.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I used the heck out of OWH sketch 88 back on January 3, 2012.

At least I started out that way, cutting a zillion scraps of the right sizes. But along the way I got bored and started rearranging the parts into other configurations.

Since technically that is not 'following the sketch' I'll refrain from showing those again and just stick with the ones that do.

These cards are all about the paper and I added some pre-made paper floral embellishments. I also used some text stamps for a sentiment.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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This was a harder sketch to use than I expected when I used it January 1, 2012. Have a look at OWH 87.

There aren't that many stamped images in my collection that look good in multiples and overlapped. I did come up with a few, though, and am re-sharing a couple of them today.

On this one I used more layers than the sketch called for, stamped the image three times and colored it.

For this version I stamped three parts of a set of border stamps. It also got some extra pieces added and I used another stamp set to create the swoosh of hearts on the right.

Both of these use some scraps of 'Color-Me' papers that I had inked up.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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A perfect sketch for showcasing a beautiful image... this is OWH sketch 86:

Using a watercolor stamp image I cut it large to preserve as much of the beauty as possible. The background of pink chevron was a perfect match but needed to be separated from the image with a band of green.

Instead of using a band across so much of the image I mounted a black Dazzles sticker on matching green and trimmed it out  to the banner shape.

For the embellishment I used more black Dazzles stickers and added one on the lower left for a little balance.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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I'm glad I decided to only 'reference' all of these sketches I had used before instead of creating new works from them. Especially since some of them I had used multiple times the first time around.

Such is the case with OWH sketch 85 which I used December 28, 2012.

I made 8 cards with this sketch but will only show one of them here.

The sketch did not have any filler brads in the lower right corner but I put them on every one of the cards I made.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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You may want to stand on your head while viewing the sketch today. That's how I turned it when I used OWH sketch 84

I wanted to use more of the watercolor stamp images so I trimmed one down to work with this sketch. The background was chosen to recede and not compete with the floral.To make it blend in more I ran it out to the edges of the card instead of leaving that thin border.

A piece of tatted trim serves as the center vertical piece and I used foam tape to mount the floral panel to raise it up over the trim.

A bow of ribbon ited onto the trim brings up back to the sketch as designed - but on its head.

I used a black pens in ultra-fine and medium to do a little detailing in the image and to outline the panel with doodle lines.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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Today we will reprise another sketch that I used for a slew of Christmas cards back on November 11, 2011. This is OWH sketch 83:

Many of these used pairs of opposing papers and repurposed old Christmas cards, sticker sheets or images from a stamp catalog:

The text is also from a sticker sheet.

Ddd

Posted by studio3d@ccgmail.net at 12:01 AM PDT

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