Punched Water Color Flowers

I had some left over paper that I had done a water color wash on for another piece, and I couldn't bear to throw the paper away because I liked the way the colors had blended together. So I decided to salvage the scraps by using a flower punch to punch some flowers that I could use for a flower pot design that had been floating around in my head.

I used handmade paper for the background, some type of construction tape (I have no idea what it's called -- I just liked the way it looked) for the flower pot, and added the punched flowers above the pot to finish it off.

So I was happy... I was able to make a card and put the left over paper to some good use.

Simple Stamped Images On Note Cards

Simple images stamped onto the front of an ivory water color paper note card with a deckle edge makes an elegant statement. The image you choose and the the weight and texture of the paper that you use to stamp on can make all the difference.

For these cards I used Strathmore ivory card blanks with a deckle edge (all the work was already done -- no need to cut and score), chose a stamped image that I liked and stamped it onto the front of the note cards.

Mini Art for Cards done in Water Color and Ink

I love to create mini art for cards because when you give the card you also end up giving the person a small work of art that becomes a real keepsake. You can choose to mount the original art, or a copy of the original to the front of your card. The art for this card is done with water colors and ink on water color paper. I made copies of the piece and mounted the copies onto card blanks. It's available at my Etsy store as well as at my Greeting Card Universe store as a print on demand card.

Working with mini art pieces is always a lot of fun. Try putting some cards together and see what you come up with.

Final Product

Well, we finally finished the piece. We added a few more elements -- some splashes of green (acrylic paint) and flowers made from raffia -- and we framed it out in a cherry wood frame.

Mixed Media - Wire,Fabric, and Acrylics

I've been working with a friend of mine to create a mixed media piece to hang in a room that she is re-doing. We painted the background fabric with moulding paste and acrylic paints (for a textured look), bent and twisted wire to make the shapes for the women, and cut and shaped fabric to dress them. When all is said and done, we'll mount the piece in cherry wood frame and get it ready to hang.

Simple Mixed Media Art Using Paper and Fabric

Have fun creating simple mixed media art pieces using paper and fabric. They are perfect for cards or for framing and hanging on the wall. For this piece I used torn pieces of handmade paper for the flowers, burlap threads for the stems, and scrap fabric for the flower pot.

Playing With Pigment Inks

Pigment inks are great for working on backgrounds. When I worked on this butterfly, I used the pigment ink dauber to work on the background and then I cut the butterfly shape out of corrugated paper, painted the ridges with black ink and stamped it onto the inked background. This is a simple technique but the end results aren't too bad.