One thing I love about using clear acrylic stamps in lieu of the more traditional red rubber is that I'm fully in control of what my image looks like. For this card I cut apart the sheet of images that were outline florals with these adorable sentiments. I trimmed off the flower images, and I've even separated out some of the scripty words from the sentiments to use individually. I can easily put it back together to get the look originally intended, but it allows a lot more flexibility in how the images are used. I stamped a few of the outline floral images across the top . 

Then I went over the stamped images with blobs of watercolor paint, ignoring outlines and just filling in the areas as the paint fell. I splattered some extra purple watercolor paint over the whole thing and ran my mostly dry brush down around the edges to define the card front. When it was dry I stamped on the sentiment and added bitty sparkles throughout the watercolored area for a bit more sparkle. I'm linking this card up to this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. 

Next up on the hop is MICHELE'S BLOG. Be sure to visit all the blogs in the hop for tons of From the Heart inspiration!

My Other From the Heart Projects:

Color Throwdown Special Thoughts Card

I have been working a lot in the Whimsy Fundamentals palette this month, and on my desk I had a 4 x 12 cardstock mask I used to paint the backgrounds on this layout. It wasn't what I originally intended for this card, but sometimes the paper just calls to you! I outlined the watercolored background with journaling pen, and stamped on the THANKS sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black. I stamped the SOAR letters using the biggest verse in the stamp set and carefully trimmed out each letter before coloring them in and coating them with gold shimmer pen. The FOR HELPING ME is hand lettered with that same journaling pen, as were the sparkles and bitty sparkles, giving me a few shades of black and grey bling for this card.

I wanted this little baby elephant to be holding up a feather like Dumbo. The feather was colored with Black watercolor paints and gold shimmer pen. The baby elephant was painted with pink and grey watercolors as well. I did a pale coat with more water, and the dry brushed on a bit more grey for the texture on his skin. I'm linking this card up to the Heart 2 Heart Anything Goes Challenge.

Next up on the hop is MICHELE'S BLOG. Be sure to grab your September SOTM here, or from your consultant before it flies away at the end of this month!

Other Projects I've completed with the September SOTM:

Thanks for Everything Card

Thanks for Everything Watercolor Card

For this month's hop I thought I'd finally get around to sharing my winning layout from this Summer's Convention Layout Contest. It's honestly one of my favorite things that I've ever made. I love how the Layout Contest themes make me scrapbook something that I might not otherwise have thought to put down on paper.

This year's theme was to tell an important story. I was STUMPED for the longest time. What story is most important. What's relevant? How in the world do you get started? Then one night, I kid you not, I literally dreamed this layout into existence. I woke up and it just came together like no prob, Rob...I am not a quick scrapbooker and this one just flowed out lickety split.   

I used a watercolor over rocks technique for the background, the watercolored letters, and the flowers. You pile small pebbles or glass stones onto watercolor paper and mist them well with a spray bottle. Then you drop watercolor onto the rock piles and let it seep down onto the paper. I let it dry overnight because I was afraid to disturb the watercolor. It's super fun to do, and the resulting background/painting is so lovely and bright.

Next up on the hop is JAYMA'S BLOG. I can't wait to see what all these amazing artists have made! Happy hopping!

End of Summer Hop:

Katy

Stephanie

Amie

Kelly

Wendy (You are Here)

Jayma

Becca

I chose to play with the new Whimsy Fundamentals Line. The line features a paper packet in pretty pastels which I paired with the Inspire Complements. I also added some of the new Color of the Year cardstock, called Bashful. I'm linking this project up to the Paper Issues Take 5 Tuesday Challenge (Cardstock, Patterned Paper, More than 1 photo, Sticker, Diecut). 

I love the white glitter chipboard accents from the Inspire Complements pack. I combined the SPARKLE piece and a heart image with my title cut using the new font in the You Are Here Cricut cartridge. You also can spy a few of the hearts from the new Thin Cuts - Heart Border Die, which is literally probably my most favorite new thing. Here I trimmed out individual outline hearts from the border to add a delicate touch to my clusters. Both shades of pink cardstock you can see here are from the same sheet of Bashful cardstock - totally loving the new doublesided cardstock! One side is the full shade, and the backside is a lighter tone of the shade. Our color choices just doubled (yay!) but we still have the same lovely white core perfect for distressing and paper tearing.

I am still adoring my watercolor paints, too, and I'm still using the same pan from last year. Hooray for long lasting supplies! I laid down a patch of water before dropping in the colors and let them move naturally. I came back after it was dry to add a few speckles too. That Sunshine elements came from the Inspire Complements, and I just trimmed off the yellow sun part to tuck the edge under my photo mat. Then I popped the center part of that sticker up with foam tape above my photo mat and now it will be so easy to slide in my photo!  

Next up on the hop is GINA'S BLOG. Check out all the new Annual Inspirations goodies online here, or ask your consultant how to get a copy of your very own. Happy hopping!