A Touch of Grace

This is one of my favorite ensembles.  The petunia image in this ensemble is the same stamp I used in my blog banner and on boxes in the left margin on my blog.  I kept the lotion bottle and placed it on a vanity table in my bathroom.  The cards were donated to a Splitcoast Function in New York, I believe. Although it took some time to complete this ensemble, it was relatively easy.  I embossed the Fabriano Medioevalis cards in gold and then watercolored the images.  The bees were stamped on another sheet of watercolor paper and cut out with a craft knife.  I used Stampin’ Up’s Small Script set to stamp and emboss the sentiments. 

The lotion bottle comes apart.  It came with a template for cutting the exact size I needed to place inside the bottle.  Once it was painted, I simply placed it in a liner inside the bottle.  I have several more of the lotion bottles and will do a tutorial later on with assembly instructions.

The cards were mailed to New York for a Splitcoast function.  The recipient was very gracious and e-mailed me thanking me for them.  I wonder if she kept them or mailed them out?

The lotion bottle resides on a shelf on my vanity.  I’ve promised my mom I would make one for her and if you’ve seen my Splitcoast gallery, you’ll find almost every thing I do for her is in shades of lavendar, her favorite color.

I really must make another set of these cards, they are so soft and pretty,  many different sentiments can be used on them.  I have a small poinsettia stamp that would be pretty as well, with holly and pine surrounding the flower.   Hmmm, Christmas will be around the corner before we know it.

• Stamps:   Serene Sunflowers (bumble bee), Small Script
• Paper:  Canson watercolor 140 cold pressed, Fabriano Medioevalis watercolor paper
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Martha Stewart Apricot taffeta ribbon, SU ivory organdy ribbon, SU gold cord, SU Old Olive twill, pearls, lotion bottle, dimensionals, Tombow markers, More Mustard marker, Ranger gold/gold tinsel embossing powder, SU black and white embossing powder, heating tool, Kolinsky watercolor brush 

Hi everyone, I’m back.  Wow, I’m ready to move to Tennessee!  What an incredibly beautiful state!  I haven’t been there since I was fifteen and . . . well . . . we won’t mention how many years ago that was . . . LOL!!  I was thrilled to share with my son his first time to view the mountains!   We entered the foothills soon after leaving Atlanta.  The closer we came to Chattanooga the more majestic they became.  Stephen took numerous pictures with his cell phone as I drove and has promised to send them to me when he gets them uploaded.  We saw him safely settled in to college life at Vanderbilt.  Move in day went well, the weather was gorgeous, the campus . . . well . . . the most beautiful I have ever seen.  I came home feeling very comfortable knowing that Stephen is going to enjoy his college experience and wishing that I could move to Tennessee as well.  When I voiced this thought to my son Daniel, he asked me if I was ready to move to Tennessee because I left someone behind  .  .  . well .  .  . maybe just a little.  Carolyn, thank you for referring us to Vanderbilt, it’s a perfect fit for Stephen.

I was blessed with two wonderful sons, no pink or lace in my house.  Sometimes it’s a little lonely not having a daughter to shop with, take to lunch, go see a chick flick with, etc.  I have many wonderful memories of times spent with my mother shopping.  My father used to say that my mom and I were the only two women he knew that could drive to Gainesville and spend an entire day shopping with only a nickel in our pockets.  When I designed this paper doll ensemble, it was with the thought that maybe one day I’ll be blessed with a granddaughter to share those times with.  I have carefully boxed this project for that day.

These paper dolls were stamped using the same stamp.  I cut the bun off the back of one head and adhered it to the top.  It’s very difficult to see all the details in this picture, there are tiny glass pearls on the earlobes, as well as three on the center of the bodice.  I used Dazzling Diamonds on all of the ruffles.  Swarovsky crystals were placed on the ring fingers.  I used a mixture of Pearl Ex and Gum Arabic to paint the bodices.  One was painted in iridescent gold and the other in iridescent pearl, together with matching shoes.  The dolls are a little over six inches in height.

To create the dressing screen I stamped it four times across a sheet of watercolor paper.  I used a Stamp-a-Ma-Jig for near perfect placement of the four panels.  I left 3/16″ between each panel and used a Scor It to score the fold lines.  I have to admit this entire ensemble was fun to make.  It was like being a little girl all over again and playing make believe.  I watercolored the dressing screen, as well as the dresses using Tombow markers and Pearl Ex with Gum Arabic.  The little tuffets are adorable, as well as the accessories that go with the outfits.

In this picture you can see the tiny earring.  I colored two bouquets of flowers to look like pansies.  I cut the stems off one and placed a bouquet in her pocket.  I used Dazzling Diamonds on the tiny little ruffle on the pocket of the dress.

Oh my gosh, how cute is this!  An adorable vintage day dress, wouldn’t you say!  The hat measures about 1″ in width and 1/2″ in height.  I definitely had to use my reading glasses to paint it . . . LOL!  The tiny little purse is about 1/2″ x 5/8″.  As you can tell, I left the reading glasses on for this ensemble.  Dazzling Diamonds was utilized on all the ruffles, a mixture of Pearl Ex and Gum Arabic was used in the center of the dress.  I added a touch of blue from the blue marker to get the light blue iridescent panel.

This is one of my favorite dresses.  Very sexy, don’t you think!  So I asked my husband, “do you remember when my legs used to look like that?” and he says, “no”.   Oh, stupid man!!!  LOL!!! I watercolored the dress on watercolor paper, cutting out the portion for the vellum slip.  I then stamped the dress on vellum and embossed with bridal embossing power.  I trimmed the slip to fit within the center of the dress. 

I have a card in my gallery over at Splitcoast that I made using this stamp.  I loved it so much, I went back to Violette’s and ordered the entire set of stamps with the idea that one day I was going to make this ensemble.  There are more dresses that I have yet to ink up, so this ensemble will be growing.  If you like this set, you’ll want to look for that coming in the near future.  For all of you with daughters and granddaughters, this is a wonderful heirloom set (providing it’s not played with much).  I have another stamp of a vintage woman with short hair, similar to the roaring 20’s.  Some of the dresses in that set remind me of “flapper” dresses, lots and lots of fun! 

These are a few of the accessories in the ensemble.  Those little coat hangers are about 1″ in width and 1/8″ in height.  I cut all of these pieces using a craft knife on a self-healing mat.  I watercolored them using Tombow markers.  All of the pieces in this ensemble were stamped on Canson watercolor paper, embossed with a mixture of Ranger gold and gold tinsel embossing powders, and watercolored using #’s 1 & 2 Kolinsky watercolor brushes.

This project has a little bit of a Cinderella theme to it which I felt necessitated a carriage and mice.  Looking around in my stash of stamps I found this old set from Stampin’ Up! called “Say Something Mice”.  I love it!  I think it’s perfect in this ensemble.  It’s so adorable, these little ladies were so much fun to paint!

And last of all is the carriage.  It measures 4 1/2″ in width, 3″ in height.  It’s just adorable in real life!

• Stamps:  Me & Carrie Lou, Stampin’ Up!
• Paper:  Canson watercolor paper, vellum
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, watercolor brushes, Pearl Ex, Gum Arabic, Ranger gold and gold tinsel embossing powders, bridal embossing powder, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Dazzling Diamonds, glass pearls, Quickie Glue Pen, Swarovsky crystals, craft knife, self-healing mat

I just can’t say enough about how much I love the monogrammed stampers from JustRite Stampers.  I’m looking forward to all the new sets they are coming out with for the holidays.  Well, there you go, what a perfect gift for a stamper friend (or yourself, go ahead . . . treat yourself . . . you deserve it!).  The possibilities are endless for all the different projects that you can make for family and friends during the holidays.   While at CHA I had an opporunity to get a peek at the new designs and let me tell you they’re not just for monogramming, there are several sets that are perfect for gift tags, not to mention cards and other items.  I know you are all going to be thrilled when you see the new toys!

Using the large round monogrammer I made this monogrammed gift set for a wonderful friend for her birthday.  I actually made the ensemble a couple of months ago.  It was an easy project and didn’t take too much time.  Stacey’s birthday is in July, a couple of weeks ago I got together with a group of friends at The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate the happy occasion.  Stacey was thrilled to receive the monogrammed gift set of cards (10 cards and envelopes) together with the box to store them in.

• Stamps:  JustRite Stampers Large Monogrammer
• Paper:  Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Basic Grey
• Ink:  Rose Red, Basic Black, Certainly Celery
• Accessories:  Taffeta and Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearl Adhesives, Nestibilities, Sewing Machine, Aged Copper Brads, Gold Cord, Double Sided Tape, Dimensionals, SU Markers, Hodgepodge Hardware 

I’m taking a few minutes away from the packing today to post this thank you card that I watercolored for a lovely person I recently met that has been very kind and generous to me.  I snuck in a little time a few days ago to make it and have been trying to get a good photo of it and finally the sunshine came out this morning and shared its glorious rays long enough for me to get this shot. 

Last month I designed a set of luggage and had so much fun in the design work that I decided to try it again.  I changed the colors, the handle, the monogram, and the clasp and came up with a slightly altered design.  I watercolored several tulips from the Thank You stamp simply tulip set by Flourishes using a combination of Yarka paints and Tombow markers.  Dimensionals were utilized to pop up the two larger tulips for added dimension.  I used the small monogrammer from JustRite Stampers for the initial “K”.  The decorative design and initial were colored with Stampin’ Up! markers direct to rubber and topped off with Dazzling Diamonds, although it’s a bit difficult to see the sparkle in the photo.  The faux stitching was done using a white gel pen from Sakura. 

• Stamps: Thank You (Flourishes), JustRite Stampers
• Paper:  Rose Red, Watercolor, Basic Grey (Perhaps)
• Ink:  Versamark, Rose Red
• Accessories:  Mat Pack, Sakura white gel pen, gold brad, dimensionals, paper piercer, Coluzzle, oval punch, corner punch, craft knife, Tombow markers, Yarka watercolor paints, watercolor brush, heating tool, Ranger gold embossing powder, Stampin’ Up! markers, Fiskars embossing plate, embossing stylus, nestibilities

Today Stephen and I start our official packing (packing boxes, affixing labels to the boxes, etc.).  Wish me luck and much patience!  I’m so not looking forward to this.  We leave this Thursday and I keep pushing that date to the back of my mind.

It’s hard to believe it’s been two months since Stephen asked me to make thank you cards for the high school graduation gifts he received.  The summer has just flown by so quickly.  He asked me to make something masculine with no ribbon, I interpreted that to mean no bows and he asked for masculine colors as well.  After a few prototype cards this design is the one he chose.  He asked me to keep it simple and I think I was able to accomplish that (no watercolors). Instead of using the typical masculine stamps that I have, I decided to monogram the cards.  I love the DIY monogram stamper from JustRite, it was perfect for this project, I used the Small Round Monogram Stamper for the monogram.  I chose Stampin’ Up!’s Chocoloate Chip ink for the monogram color, I simply used the re-inker to fill up the JustRite ink pad for the stamper. For the thank you sentiment I used a set of sentiment stamps from Flourishes.  I made seven cards of each design for a total of 28 cards.

• Stamps:  JustRite Small Round Stamper, Flourishes
• Paper:  Crate Paper, Close to Cocoa
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Vintage Photo
• Accessories:  Making Memories copper brads, SU Mat Pack, sewing machine, oval punches, nestibilities, dimensionals, grosgrain ribbon

Hello everyone!  I haven’t had a chance to post for a few days, it’s been incredibly hectic with all the shopping and packing for Stephen.  We still have a few more items to pick up and then the serious packing begins!

Since I haven’t posted in a few days, I’m posting several photographs of one of my favorite ensembles that I designed in February.  This vintage ensemble makes such a beautiful gift to give to a mom, grandmother, mother-in-law, favorite aunt, etc.  The purse is one of my favorite stamps because it’s so versatile.  To date, I’ve made four purses and will eventually post the other designs.  This purse has roses on it, the other purse designs include pansies, daisies, and a multitude of flowers.  I have an idea to design a Christmas purse with poinsettias on it, please stay stuned for future designs using this magnificent stamp.   

This first picture is of the entire ensemble.  The shiny glow you see on the perfume bottles is a mixture of Gum Arabic with Pearl Ex powders. 

I embossed and watercolored the perfume bottles.  It’s hard to see the Dazzling Diamonds on the lids and around the floral areas on the bottles in this picture. They are about four inches in height and about 2 1/2 inches across.

I opened the purse in this photo to show the detail on the inside.  I embossed and watercolored white mulberry paper and trimmed it to fit inside the purse.  I stamped the bible verse with a stamp from SU’s Elegant Inspirations set.  I adhered the mulberry paper to the inside of the purse using Crystal Effects.  Once that was dry I adhered an embossed piece of vellum over the upper portion of the inside of the purse creating a pocket.  I used a Versamarker to trace around the outside edges of the purse and embossed the edges with Ranger gold embossing powder.  I love seeing the watercolored mulberry paper through the vellum.  The white mulberry paper makes a beautiful lining inside the purse, in real life it looks like watercolored batiste.

It was a joy watercoloring these items.  The compact and lipstick tubes fit perfectly inside the pocket of the purse.  The lipstick tubes were painted with a mixture of Gum Arabic and Pearl Ex, as well as the center of the compact.  The compact opens and has a mirror on the inside. 

This is a close-up of the outside of the purse.  I embossed the center of the purse with white embossing powder and painted inside the floral areas with the Gum Arabic and Pearl Ex mixture.  The two little flowers at the top of the purse were painted and cut out.  I used several layers of Crystal Effects to give them an enamel appearance.  I cut them with a craft knife and adhered them to the pearl strap of the purse.

These vintage gloves are so adorable.  I painted them with a mixture of Gum Arabic and Pearl Ex.  I have several different mixtures of Gum Arabic and Pearl Ex.  In this project I used two different mixtures.  The mixture used on the purse is Pearl Pearl Ex and the mixture used on the gloves, lipstick tubes, perfume bottles, and compact is Iridescent Gold Pearl Ex.  I placed Swarovski crystals in a beautiful green shade across the top of the gloves, they measure about three inches in length and about one and a half inches in width.  They also fit adorably into the pocket of the purse.

And finally, one last picture taken at a different angle to show the inside of the purse with the compact and lipstick tubes.  I love the pearls on the compact.  All of these extra touches really add a lot to this project.  

I hope you’ve enjoyed my vintage ensemble.  As I stated above, it’s a wonderful gift for a mom, grandmother, etc.  Personally, I think Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion for a gift such as this. 

• Stamps:   Elegant Inspirations (Stampin’ Up!)
• Paper:  Canson watercolor paper cold pressed 140 lbs., card stock vellum, white mulberry paper
• Ink:  Versamark, Versamarker
• Accessories:  More Mustard marker, Tombow markers, heating tool, watercolor brush, blender pen, SU white embossing powder, Ranger gold embossing powder, pearl adhesives, Swarovsky crystals, pearl chain, Dazzling Diamonds, Pearl Ex, Gum Arabic, craft knife, stamp-a-ma-jig

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Today I’m posting Part II of the Floral & Aviary Ensemble that I designed in February.  I apologize for how big these pictures are.  I don’t know what I did wrong yesterday and today, I saved them just as I’ve saved the other pictures I’ve uploaded.  As soon as my son gets a minute, I’ll  have him take a look.  The portfolio picture is not showing as large as I would like, while the other two pictures are way too huge . . . oh well.  The portfolio is quite large, it measures 51/2″ x 9″ x 1/2″.  The picture doesn’t show how pretty it is in real life.  The lower left and right corners have a beautiful cream wash that, unfortunately, doesn’t show well in the photo at all. 

Thanks for stopping by, I wish you a wonderful day!

• Stamps:  Parked on Rubber
• Paper: Fabriano Medioevalis Folded Cards, Ruby Red, vellum cardstock, sentiment by SU
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: Tombow markers, heating took, watercolor brush, Ranger gold EP, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, gold micro glass beads, satin ribbon, craft knife, blender pen

• Stamps: Parked on Rubber
• Paper: Fabriano Medioevalis Folded Cards, vellum cardstock
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: Tombow markers, heating tool, Ranger gold EP, watercolor brush, large brad, Making Memories flower, micro glass pearl beads, blender pen, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, craft knife

• Paper: Canson watercolor paper
• Ink:Versamark
• Accessories: Tombow markers, heating tool, Ranger gold EP, SU ivory EP, Pearl Ex, watercolor brush

Today I’m posting the first in a two part series of a Floral and Aviary ensemble I designed back in February.  There are four cards to this series that go in a portfolio that I designed and watercolored to hold the cards.  I gave the fuchsia and hummingbird card to my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day and the blue bird and rose card was given as a sympathy card.  The cards were embossed on Fabriano Medioevalis folded cards and then watercolored. Tomorrow I’ll post the other two cards in the series, together with the portfolio that I kept them in.

Thank you for stopping by, I wish you a wonderful day!

• Paper:  Fabriano Medioevalis Folded Cards
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, heating tool, Ranger gold EP, watercolor brush, craft knife, dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds

• Stamps:  Elegant Inspirations (SU)
• Paper: Fabriano Medioevalis Folded Cards
• Ink: Versamark,
• Accessories: Tombow markers, heating tool, Ranger gold EP, watercolor brush, Versamarker, Nestibilities Small Ovals

During the Dare To Get Dirty week over at Splitcoast a few weeks ago (I know, I’m sorry, I’m terribly behind, but I’m trying to get caught up  . . . LOL), my dear friend and Dirty Dozen partner, Christine, hosted a watercolor challenge and asked me to design a sample card.  It was my pleasure to participate in Christine’s challenge.   I was very honored to also be asked by my very good friend Kittie to design a card for her scene challenge.  The images used on the card I did for Kittie’s challenge are Kittie’s Cause a Scene stamps by Rubbernecker.  Check them out, they’re a must have, even if you don’t watercolor or want to do scenes, each kit comes with plenty of stamps perfect for cardmaking.  The cobblestones stamp is from Art Impressions.

Recently I’ve been struggling with feelings I have concerning a friend who has been wronged.  I think we’ve all been there, someone who is dear to us is hurting and we feel anger towards the perpetrator.  I’d like to share with you a devotional from a wonderful book I have entitled Promises From God For Women.

“We so easily fail when it comes to one of Jesus’ most important commandments: to love our neighbor.  Loving the people who love you isn’t always all that easy, but to wish those people who annoy you well seems like too much to ask.  No one likes to come off second best, and usually we are quite indignant when we do.  Because we are only human, we find it virtually impossible to bless those who have persecuted us.  And yet the Lord asks it of us.  Jesus was willing to pray for and bless the people who persecuted Him time and again.  Even on the cross He asked God to forgive His persecutors.  This is impossible if you are not a child of God.  It is only He who can enable you to conquer your innate selfish nature and to love and bless those people for whom you feel no love.”

I’ll be working on the butterfly tutorial when I return from taking my son to Tennessee in mid-August.  My plans are to start the tutorials in September.  - Have a wonderful day!

• Paper: Prism Blush Red Medium, Basic Black, Arches watercolor paper
• Ink: Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black
• Accessories: Tombow Markers, heating tool, Ranger Gold EP, Oval Punches, craft knife, watercolor brush, dimensionals, gold cord, black sheer ribbon, Swarovski crystals, gold Stickles

• Stamps: Kittie’s Cause A Scene, Art Impressions
• Paper:  Old Olive, Really Rust, Basic Black, Arches watercolor paper
• Ink: Marvy Timeless Sepia
• Accessories: Marvy Markers, watercolor brush, dimensionals, Perfect Layers tool, sponge, Old Olive Ribbon

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by. 

I’d like to share with you a prayer that aided me in the selection of the name for my blog.

Lord, Your grace is a gift that cannot be earned.  It is a gift that was given freely when I accepted Your Son as my personal Savior.  Freely have I received Your gifts.  Father, Let me freely share my gifts, my time, my energy, and my faith.  And let my words, my thoughts, my prayers, and my deeds bring honor to You and to Your Son, now and forever.  Amen.

I don’t know about you, but that pretty much sums it up for me, I need His grace in my life daily!  Hence the name, “A Touch of Grace.”

During my time on the Dirty Dozen design team I watercolored several projects.  Watercoloring takes a long time, there are several techniques involved.  Each morning when I would go into my stamping room, which I call my “stampin’ studio,” I’d say a small prayer before I began.  I always asked Him to be with me as I paint, to let me glorify Him in whatever I do, and also that I would like the painting when it was finished.  LOL!!  Okay, it’s my belief that God has a sense of humor or He wouldn’t have given us one. 

Today I’m posting pictures of butterflies that are watercolored on vellum.  If you’re interested in a tutorial for these, please let me know in the comment section and I’ll get to work on that. 

This is a vellum napkin ring holder that I watercolored for the place settings on my table at Easter.  It’s hard to see the beautiful Dazzling Diamonds and small glass pearls on the body of the butterfly in this picture.  It was a total hit with family and friends.

This is a vellum place card that I watercolored and placed at each table setting.  I made eight of them in different pastel colors. It’s hard to see the dimension of the Crystal Effects on those tiny pear shapes in this picture.  I used Swarovski crystals in the flower centers.

This is the Easter card I sent out to my family.  It doesn’t appear that large in this picture, but it is VERY large, it measures nearly seven inches across.  These butterflies are stamped, embossed, and watercolored on vellum and then transferred to watercolor paper and carefully adhered.  I used micro glass pearl beads and Swarovski crystals on these.  Look at the beautiful antennae, I cannot tell you what a bear it was to cut those, but well worth all the careful work.  Unfortunately all the beauty and dimension isn’t showing that well in these pictures.  I’ll try to take better photographs and replace them.

Recipe for product used on these butterflies:

• Stamps:  Parked on Rubber
• Paper:  Canson watercolor paper, SU vellum cardstock
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Dazzling Diamonds, Swarovski crytals, micro glass pearl beadss, Crystal Effects, Ranger Gold EP, White EP, Tombow Markers, watercolor brush, heating tool

I wish you all a wonderful weekend with your families!