Believe with Heart : Watercolor and Cards, Cards, & More Cards

I know my last post was regarding blood sugars being up and down but it's been a few days since that post because our weather has been up and down and that is inducing a bit of frustration in my mood. 70 degrees and sunny on Sunday into Monday at 2PM and by dinnertime it was 42 degrees and windy so my glorious run on Sunday didn't happen on Monday (I'm a wimp when it comes to running outside). It has been chilly since and they are forecasting a winter storm warning into tomorrow night. I am so over waiting for spring to arrive and actually stay! I think our good Lord has His seasons confused but I'm trying hard to trust Him on this one so until He has that figured out, onto the point of this post...

The weekend was a relaxing one with lots of catch up on outdoor work but I did also get some time to make some cards and I will warn you...I made a ton! So, of course, need to share some pictures! Also had some fun experimenting with the watercolor that is so popular right now on a few tags to go on the new book by Kerri Sparling, which I strongly recommend for anyone who has type 1 diabetes or loves someone that has it. I bought a copy for a few of my favorite peeps that share the wild ride of living with it with me and wanted to add a special tag to each to jazz them up as a special little gift for them each!

So, first, let's talk about the watercolor technique. I placed a few clear stamps on the tag I wanted to use and once I had them lined up where I wanted, I put a big block over all of them. This is one of my favorite parts about using clear stamps because I am so visual and love to have confidence in my placement before I commit to actually inking the stamp!

Once I liked the placement I put them on the large block and inked with VersaMark Ink and used white embossing powder and heat set on a tag I had cut with watercolor paper. Once that part was done the fun began! I got out my old watercolor paints wheel from Hero Arts that I bought ages ago (always fun to get use out of your old stash!) and mixed colors on a mat until I loved the color and painted away. I wish I would've taken a few pictures to show but it is literally that easy! I blended some together and added more color and water, back and forth, it still ended up beautiful! Once I was happy with the look I laid a few clear blocks over the top to ensure they dry flat. Add some ribbon and a background to the tag and the book is wrapped for gifting!

Speaking of gifts, I had been wanting to make some baby thank you cards as a gift for one of the athletic trainers that works at my chiropractic clinic who is expecting her 2nd baby, a boy. So I finally got these put together with a little congrats card to drop off for her yesterday.

Love those chevron clouds! My signature gift to anyone having a baby is a pile of thank you cards with envelopes that already have the postage stamp on them so they are ready to roll whenever the momma has a moment to get those thank you cards sent. Such a fun gift to make and give!

So aside from these little gifts, I used my Office Hours kit from Studio Calico to make a bunch of other cards this weekend. Here are those...