Watercoloring - Right as Rain

Watercolored Chickens for Spring

Hello! Spring is in the air, and what better way to celebrate than with a fun, interactive card? I used products in the Art Impressions Matchbook series to create a miniature scene featuring watercolored chickens and their coop. With the playful sentiment Spring Chicken, it’s perfect for sending a little joy!

The Art Impressions Matchbook series has many different options. You can see an intro video here.

- Stamp Chicken images in VersaFine ink on Arches Cold Press watercolor paper; heat set.
- Watercolor the images with watercolor markers. I used a combination of Tombow markers, Zig markers, and a Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencil. You can read more about watercoloring stamped images here. In addition to the markers linked below, I used two new Zig marker colors —Mid Yellow 501 and Yellow Ochre 505—purchased from Paper and Ink Arts (a small business dedicated to the calligraphy industry).
- Once dry, cut the images with the coordinating dies included with the Chicken set.
- Cut matchbook from patterned paper with the MB Template. Add watercolored Chicken elements.
- Stamp Chicken sentiment on white cardstock, trim, and add to scene.

While I primarily create die-cut cards, watercoloring offers a refreshing change of pace. This relaxing, low-tech approach engages the brain differently, often activating the right hemisphere, which is associated with creativity, intuition, and fluid thinking. Since watercolor flows and blends in organic ways, it encourages spontaneity and adaptability, making it a fun and freeing way to add a hand-painted touch to my cardmaking!

Mixed Media Birthday Card | Newton’s Nook

Hello! Birthdays are all about fun, friends, and of course—presents! Today, I am sharing a card featuring an adorable Newton’s Nook stamped image featuring two playful cats, a happy pup, and a stack of brightly colored packages. To add to the celebration, I created a cheerful balloon-filled background with a stencil.

- Ink Bristol cardstock with a light ink color – I used Tumbled Glass Oxide. Add balloons through the Bokeh Balloons stencil. I used darker inks at the top and lighter towards the bottom.
- Stamp the Sky High Celebrations sentiment in black ink on the stenciled panel. Cut panel with A2-size Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle die and add to a card base.
- Stamp Sky High Celebrations image with VersaFine ink on Cold Pressed Watercolor paper and heat set. Color with medium of choice. I used Zig and Tombow markers: Zig Dark Gray 95, Zig Orange 70, Zig Mustard 67, Zig Sand 601, Tombow Purple 665, Zig May Green 47, Zig Persian Blue 32, Zig Yellow 50, Tombow N15 Black, Tombow Burnt Sienna 947, Zig Medium Beige 76, Zig Geranium Red 29, and Tombow Dusty Rose 772.
- Add additional color with Derwent Inktense pencils: Poppy Red, Neutral Gray, Yellow.
- When dry, cut image with the coordinating die set.
- Add image to card base with foam adhesive.

Note: The Sky High Celebrations stamp set and coordinating die set can be purchased directly from Newton’s Nook and Frantic Stamper.

I shared another birthday card HERE that showcases the other image on the Sky High Celebrations set.

Purr-fect Handmade Cat Cards

Hello! Cats have a timeless charm that makes them the purr-fect subject for handmade cards. Whether playful or cozy, feline friends bring personality and warmth to your designs. These cards make wonderful choices for occasions like birthdays, Halloween, thank-yous, or just-because moments. Join me as I share a roundup of cat-themed creations from my blog archive. Click on the card image to be taken to the original post for additional details.

These two birthday cards feature stamped and watercolored cats, complemented by die-cut elements for a fun and whimsical celebration.

This larger birthday card showcases a die-cut cat wearing sunglasses with a “Happy Birthday” message, making it the perfect statement piece for any cat lover.

This “just because” card features a delightful small watercolored scene of cats, created with the Art Impressions Matchbox series.

These Halloween cards feature cats in their spooky best—one with die-cut elements to create a playful cat and pumpkin scene, and the other showcasing a watercolored cat ready for the season.

These two stamped and watercolored cat cards feature playful scenes, both created using Newton’s Nook stamps, known for their charming cat imagery. One captures a relaxed beach scene, while the other sets the stage in a cozy library.

There’s something irresistibly charming about cats on cards. They bring a playful and timeless appeal to any design! I hope this roundup has inspired you to use cats as a theme in your own creations. While putting this roundup together, I realized that many of my cat cards feature stamped images that I’ve colored. I own several silhouette cat dies and have used them on a number of cards (although none are included in this roundup). While silhouettes create a bold and classic design, most cats aren’t a solid color, so stamping and coloring allow for more variety and detail. Do you have favorite cat stamps or dies? Is there a cat-themed set on your wish list?

Charming House-Themed Cards

Hello! Depictions of houses on cards evoke a sense of comfort, nostalgia, and storytelling, inviting the viewer into a miniature world of charm and personality. My fascination with houses began in childhood, sparked by the illustration of the “Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” in Mother Goose. In this post, I’m sharing a roundup of cards from my blog archive where houses take center stage. Click on the card image to be taken to the original post for additional details.

Of all the dies in my collection, I’ve used the Lawn Fawn Build-a-House die set and its add-ons more than any other. It’s perfect for crafting scenes that suit a variety of seasons and occasions, from Halloween haunts to cozy Christmas cottages.

Mushroom houses bring a touch of whimsy to handmade cards. Here are two cards that showcase these charming homes: one with a stamped and watercolored design and another with a die-cut mushroom house. Both cards include playful gnomes adding to the magical and storybook-like feel of these creations.

The cards below feature beach huts (day-use structures perfect for seaside relaxation). These designs are perfect for sending warm and sunny wishes, no matter the season.

Smaller customizable house die sets offer possibilities for creating charming scenes. The card below shows two homes crafted from the same set, complete with trees and a picket fence for a picture-perfect neighborhood feel.

While I do have cards featuring birdhouses, lighthouses, dog houses, garden sheds, and garages, this roundup focuses on traditional and whimsical homes leaving the others for another time.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this roundup of house-themed cards! Revisiting these designs has inspired me to pull out my house-themed products and start creating more scenes! Do you use the house motif in your own cardmaking? What stamps and/or dies do you own that feature houses? Do you have any on your wishlist?

Trio of Flying Mice Halloween Card

Hello! Today I am sharing a whimsical Halloween card that showcases three mice soaring on a broomstick above a gate that spells out “Happy Halloween.” The mice were stamped with a Penny Black stamp and watercolored. Beneath the gate, pumpkins enhance the festive spirit.

- Stamp Penny Black Bewitched image in VersaFine ink on Cold Press watercolor paper. Heat set. Color with watercolor mediums of choice. I used Distress inks. Once dry, fussy-cut the image. I cut off the tails of the mice, as I was unable to fussy-cut them. Read ahead for what I did to stamp and color the tails.
- Cut a circle from vellum and position on card base for moon. Apply yellow ink to the negative area of the vellum mask.
- Cover the moon with a circle cut from masking paper. Apply Tumbled Glass ink for the sky and Hickory Smoke for the base.
- Now, stamp the Bewitched image on to the panel in the desired position. Color in the tails of the mice. Adhere the watercolored, fussy-cut mice to the card over this stamped image, lining up the bodies to the tails.
- Cut the Halloween Gate from black cardstock and add to the panel.
- Add pumpkins cut with dies in the Carved Cuties and Pumpkins & Leaves set.

The Penny Black Bewitched stamp has been around at lease since 2015. In 2015, I created two cards with the same image as on the card above for my blog and for the Penny Black Simplicity site, which is now defunct. I have included those cards below. On the first one, I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush pens on watercolor paper and on the second, I used watercolor pencils on watercolor paper.

Supplies: 30-318 Bewitched, 30-240 Textures, 51-077 Eeek!