Flower Power

This week I decided to play with my new Mason Jar Flowers stamp from RubberMoon. It's so sweet and so much fun to color in!

For the card above, I began with a scrap of watercolor paper. Whenever I have left over ink, or paint, or anything like that from a project, I like to smear it onto cardstock to use later as a background. That's what I did here. It's a combination of Colourarte Twinkling H2O's left on a brush and a blob of Liquid Pearls that came out when I was trying to get the gunk unstuck.

Since my background was already in place, I simply stamped the image using StazOn Jet Black ink. I colored it in with Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils, using a combination of wet and dry.

For the card above, I again used StazOn Jet Black ink, but this time I stamped the image on glossy white cardstock. 

I painted it in with Twinkling H2O's. You can't tell from the scan, but the whole thing shimmers so prettily! It needed a little something extra, I thought, so I dipped my wet brush into my paint again and did a little splatter effect.

The little flowers were punched from orange cardstock using an old Marvy Uchida punch that I have. The "hello" sentiment is part of RubberMoon's Hello Sunshine stamp.

Once again, I've managed to create two completely different designs using one stamp. I tend to let the colors take me wherever they want to go.

Where do the colors take you?

Creating 100 Artsy Bookmarks - Using Rubbermoon Stamps

When visiting the Sunview Elementary School 3rd Grade classes a couple weeks ago (as a visiting author - I recently published some books), I really wanted to bring some special giveaway to the kids. A small, simple artsy gift to remind them of the writing pep talk I gave to them. Since the four classes consisted of over 20 kids per class, I decided to create 100 bookmarks (25 per class, so the teacher could keep a couple as well).

So how do you create 100 bookmarks when you really don't have much time on your hands?

Here's how! And it's also very fun!

MATERIALS:

• 2 sheets of 15x20 (or larger) 90 lb watercolor paper.
• Gouache paints
• Brushes of your choosing - and sponges to add textures
• Rubbermoon art stamp (I chose the typewriter - one of my favorite stamps - because I was giving a writing pep talk).
• Exacto knife and/or paper cutter

1. Use a large brush or sponge to create a wash to over the whole paper. I recommend getting both sheets out and painting them simultaneously. I painted one at a time only because I underestimated how many pages I would need to create enough bookmarks - didn't plan properly. Painting both sheets at once will save you time.

2. Just start painting away! Use a variety of brush styles to paint. I like to use a soft brush to make swirly shapes and a stiff bristled brush to create spattering. I also love to use sponges to add texture.

3. After your paintings have dried, it's time to cut them up (you COULD start rubber stamping now or after cutting)! First I used an Exacto knife and ruler to cut large chunks that would be easy for me to slip into my mini paper cutter (which is very small - used for scrapbooking). If you are lucky enough to have a large paper cutter, just use that! Chop strips to the size of your liking. In order to get as many pieces done as possible using two sheets of watercolor paper, I cut mine in various sizes, averaging 1.5"x 3".

4. After cutting all my pieces, and counting to make sure I have the 100 slips of paper I need, then I placed the strips onto a newspaper and started stamping away. Yes, you could do this BEFORE cutting, but it was important to me that every single bookmark had a recognizable amount of the  typewriter image visible on the bookmark. 

And VOILA! You have one hundred bookmarks to use as giveaways!

I wish I would have been prepared enough to add stickers with my website info on the backs, but live and learn, I guess! I highly suggest you use these fun giveaway bookmarks as business cards if you like, adding a stamp or label of your own on the back with your contact and/or website info! This is certainly something I plan to do, because making these bookmarks is SUPER fun!

A Visit from Purple Sun Studio!

Don't be a chicken.... strut on over to Teresa Cox Kolar's blog, Purple Sun Studio now for a FABULOUS (not poultry) tutorial on how to make this delicious piece of art:

using these RubberMoon stamps:

We are SO happy to share this with you. We love Teresa and her beautiful work. Her tutorial is full of humor and awesome tips and techniques! 
While you are there make sure to follow her and leave her a comment too! 

We hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Sending You Moonbeams,