Lil' Inker Designs - February 2018 Newsletter Project - Spring & Easter Cards

Hey there blog friends! I hope that you've been having a really great week! Today I wanted to pop in and share a couple of projects with you. Something that you might not know is that I create exclusive newsletter projects for Lil' Inker Designs, and these are the cards that were featured in the February newsletter!

 If you haven't already signed up for the LID newsletter, just click on that banner, and then scroll to the bottom of the page. There is a place to sign up in the lower right corner! Along with getting to see exclusive projects from me before they post anywhere else, there are also special promotions & monthly deals as well.

Before I get to my cards, I wanted to invite you to follow me on social media. This is a great way to keep up with me, my latest creations & new product that I work with!

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I fell in LOVE with the Love & Honey stamp set when I saw it, and I knew the floral hearts would be perfect for some lovely spring cards. I paired this new stamp set with some older stamps & dies, which as you know, is one of my FAVORITE things to do! We spend a lot of money on our products, and I love to mix new with the older in order to freshen them up a bit.

To start I created two A2 cards - one from pink, and the other from dark purple. I also diecut a stitched mat from each color using the Stitched Mats: Dual Stitched Rectangle dies, and adhered it to the front of the coordinating card.

Next I cut two A2 sized blocks from white cardstock, and stamped the heart images from the Love & Honey stamp set to each block in onyx black Versafine ink.

Then I proceeded to watercolor the images with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers, and a #2 sized watercolor brush. I purposely chose to not use watercolor paper, as I wasn't using a ton of water on the stamped images and I wanted the water to soak in quickly.

Once I was done with the watercolor & the painting was dry, I added shimmer to each stamped heart icon with my clear Wink of Stella pen. Then I diecut each edge of the watercolor blocks using a Dual Dotted Borders Die.

I stamped the word SPRING from the Egg & Flower stamp set to the bottom of the first card in onyx black Versafine ink. Then I adhered the stamped blocks to the coordinating card with foam adhesive.

The next step was to finish the sentiments! I diecut Happy Easter using the Dual Stitched Egg & Easter Greetings die set & the Welcome word die a total of four times - 1 time from gold glitter paper & 3 times from white cardstock. I adhered each one together in order to give the diecut words some rigidity & structure.

I then adhered them to the card fronts, adding a knot of gold thread around the Happy Easter sentiment. To finish, I accented with my signature jewels here & there!

 I finally figured out a way to show you the details from the Wink of Stella pen! As a photographer, I will tell you to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER photograph ANYTHING directly into sunlight....unless you are trying to showcase the finest of glitter accenting. As you can see, photographing directly into the sun throws of colors a bit, and creates very deep shadows...but it also let's you see the shimmer that the beautiful Wink of Stella pen creates!

Before I close, I also wanted to talk about watercolor a little bit. If you are a master watercolor, then just skip the next few paragraphs. But maybe you find yourself in my shoes - I have very basic watercolor & coloring skills. I was never very good in art class. BUT - I still love to be able to color all these amazing stamps that come out to the best of my ability.

I do this by having a very SIMPLE array of products in my arsenal. There are so many products out there for watercolor, and I find it all a bit overwhelming. So - I work with THREE main products - Zig Clean Color Real Brushes, Ranger Distress Ink minis & a set of watercolor cakes.

That's it - plus I've invested in some nicer watercolor brushes that have truly made it easier for me! I suggest a size 2 & 4 - those have really helped me a lot. I say all of that to just let you know that watercolor & coloring doesn't come easy for me, but I have found items that make it easier & actually enjoyable for me to do!

Well, that is all I have for you today! I hope that you've enjoyed my cards - let me know what you think & ask any questions in the comments!

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 Card Challenges:
-Dies R Us Challenge #92 - Pastel Colors
-The Paper Players Challenge #383 - Spring has Sprung!
-Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #282 - Make Your Mark