Eyes Wide Open Arts: January 2017

Friday, January 27, 2017

Loose Watercoloring and a Hello

Just a quick share here today.

I'm a lover of all stamps floral! I tell myself to look away when I see new releases, but alas, I fail lol, especially when there's a sale. This Concord & 9th set "Hello Lovely" is fabulous and when I opened the package, I immediately thought about all the ways I could color this set...so many mediums, so little time :) I went with my Peerless watercolors and some very loose coloring. I loved the results!

I've found my new favorite white pen too! It's a water-based Sharpie with an extra-fine point...you should definitely give it a try if you're a dot-maker, doodler, or just like adding extra lines to your images and art journal pages.

I'm entering a new challenge with my new stamp set: Where Creativity Meets C9 #5

Thanks for popping in today and have a happy Friyay!

xoxo Deidre

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

All That GLISTENS

If you have a soft spot for shiny things, we have you covered at CASology this week!

Our new cue card is GLISTEN.

All that glistens, ain't gold...unless, of course you're making a card :) I got some new goodies in from Neat & Tangled and knew they would be perfect for this challenge! The heart and sentiment come together. I heat embossed both in gold detail embossing powder and then when to work with my Zig Clean Color brush pens and a water brush. I wanted to leave the right side of the heart less colored to give some balance since my sentiment was going on that side as well...my attempt at composition lol. A little strip of gold tape on the left side of the card and you have CAS card with lots of color and pop.

Tip: Using embossing powder to heat set images you want to watercolor

is a great way to prevent unintentional blending of colors!

The other DT members have some shining cards of inspiration to share too!

And be sure to say hi to our gracious sponsor for this week's prize!

Deidre Payne (that’s me)

Sponsor: Poppystamps

Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see your glistening designs!

xoxo Deidre

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

CUT All the Things with Stamplorations

We're cutting up over at CASology this week, so grab your dies, die cutting machines, scissors, X-acto knives, or whatever your crafty cutting weapon of choice is and join us!

When I really want to make an impact, I reach for black. Black and white, black and pops of bright colors, monochromatic shades of black and gray...real eye-catchers!

When I saw the die STAMPlorations sent to me for this challenge, I knew it was gonna be a negative space kinda day lol. I really wanted to highlight how "wonderful" and bold this font cuts. I watercolored the sentiment using the Inktense Blocks I reviewed weeks ago here and on my YouTube channel.

Tip: Sketch a super light pencil line to mark the word and borders of the negative to make sure you color the letters completely and with different colors. It also prevents coloring outside of the edges. If you're using watercolor, the pencil will not erase afterwards, so use a really light hand.

The rest of the DT is "die"ing to show you their inspirations! And certainly don't forget our guestie and fab sponsor.

Deidre Payne (that’s me)

Guest Designer: Anita

Sponsor: STAMPlorations

Thanks for joining me today! Have a wonderful Tuesday!

xoxo Deidre

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Pines Fir Yew - CASology and Rubber Dance Stamps

I'm still crawling out from under snow, but CASology has given me plenty of time

to play and stamp! This week's cue card is: FOREST.

I started with a little masking so I could work with just the edges of my card. I used three different Distress Inks (Cracked Pistachio, Fossilized Amber, and Mermaid Lagoon) to ink up these fabulous rubber stamps sent to me by Rubber Dance Stamps. They make great impressions, hold ink wonderfully, and I love the design of these pine firs (not to mention the name- Pines Fir Yew)! Then let the ink blending begin. My sentiment is from their oh-so-pretty scripty font set Beautiful Words. My favorite part is always the reveal of pulling the masking tape off :)

Time to get lost in the forest of DT ideas on their blogs. And don't forget to say hi to our guest designer and check out the online shop and blog of our sponsor this week!

Deidre Payne (that’s me)

Hannelie Bester

Hazel Hodgkins (on break)

Guest Designer: Christel

Sponsor: Rubber Dance Stamps

I'm also playing along at Fusion's 3rd Anniversary challenge

Stay warm and thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Deidre

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Feel the Chill with CASology

Welcome back to CASology and we're kicking off 2017 with a cue card that describes

what most people are feeling outside this time of year: COLD.

In my area of Virginia, we haven't seen the first snowfall yet, but I hear it's coming...

and I really love the look, so this was my card for the challenge!

These stamps were provided to me by our super fab sponsor, Rubber Dance Stamps...aren't they cute?! When I was laying out the card design, I accidentally dropped my inked up Mr. Frosty stamp onto the card and it landed in the corner...and I decided to do it again intentionally! Love a happy little accident :) To finish it off, I did a little selective coloring using Tombow Dual Brush Pens.

The DT has some "cool" ways to kick off the year with this cue card too! If you haven't had a chance to welcome our two new DT members, Rachel and Janet, be sure to say hi :)

Deidre Payne (that’s me)