By the Sea, By the Sea

It's Saturday afternoon.

The day started out relatively cool for August in Kansas,...particularly since it was 102 degrees here just two days ago.  With all the windows thrown open, there was a nice breeze travelling all through the house.  After lunch, my mother and sister and I drove around town, looking for garage and estate sales.  Now it's quiet--only the rhythmic hum of the ceiling fan and the tap of the keyboard.

These sets from Stampin Up have been retired for some time (yeah, I know I'm behind the times), but I just discovered them and purchased a couple of unused sets (yea!) early this year.  I fell in love at first sight. 

Sketches and Seaside Sketches 

I've made quite a few cards with them already.

For some, I stamped the image in brown chalk ink and colored very loosely--really just adding a few lines of color here and there, as I did on this birthday card for my niece

Then I decided to see if these word work with spritzing and coloring the stamp with watercolor pencils, as I love to do.  This was the result.

What do you think?

It was just what I wanted...and more.

I created these three cards with that technique.

For these next cards, I just used a bit of simple masking and sponging to create a relaxing shore scene.

I can tell these stamp sets are going to get a lot of use!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards of August

August has always been one of my least favorite months of the year. 

The summer's grown long-drawn-out and tired.  The flowers are gasping for rain and cooler weather.  

I am longing for fall.

Late this afternoon, this goldfinch was enjoying the remains of our echinacea.

Still, these late summer days have plenty of birthdays ahead, so I've been creating a few cards.

This first one...for our mailman...uses my Hero Arts dandelion, stamped in brown and colored with dusty blue chalk.  I added a bit of leftover ribbon from my scrap box.

This is my first card using the new Momenta paper pad.  Every page looks like a splash of watercolor!  It's almost too pretty to use.  I decided to do a bit of calligraphy and add this dandelion from Stacy Stamps.  (Why is it we hate to see dandelions in the yard, but they look so pretty and carefree on a card?)

This next card was made entirely from scraps and leftovers.

Thanks for visiting!

Come back soon!