Friday, October 11, 2019

Soft Watercolor Flower Cards

Hello everyone.  YouTube has been my friend for over 10 years now as I learned new techniques, explored new crafts and gleaned knowledge from fellow crafters.  Well here we are years later and nothing has changed.  I recently discovered a wonderful YouTuber with the channel Cee Cee's Creations  When I ran across her channel a few weeks back I was totally in awe at some of her videos.  One especially caught my eye, Loose Watercolor Florals .  I watched and watched again and thought to myself, I think I could do that.  And so the process began.


My first attempts were using an Arteza water filled brush because I didn't own any real watercolor brushes.  I made 5 cards and thought humm not too bad.  But then I went back and watched her video again and again and thought, I bet they'd be better with real brushes.  So I ordered some.  


To me, up close and personal the results were so much better.  I used Arteza tube watercolors on both sets of cards but saw so much difference using brush brushes.  I was hooked.  I think I must have gone back and watched that video 8 or more times.  


One thing I noticed that I was trying to push the color from the center out, when I watched the video, yet again, I realized she was pulling it out and oh that made so much difference.  I also learned there is a real fine line with how much water and pigment you have loaded on your brush.  It's a learning curve just as it is with all new craft endeavors.


My other big stumbling block was learning how to draw/paint the stems and leaves, I'm still working on it and I imagine if I came back a year from now I'd tell you the same, still working on it.  I love the color I used on these stems and leaves and how fine they turned out.  My problem was using the bigger brush (a number 4 round) instead of the fine detail brush.  My hands shake too much and the stroke gets too big when I use the larger brush.


I also realized color played a lot into how I liked the finished result of the greenery.  This is ok but I don't like it nearly as well as the lighter color I used in the card above.  Just how your eye and brain perceive it I guess.


I guess if you take nothing else away from this blog post just know that it's never too late in the game to learn something new and usually it doesn't just pop out at you and you're great.  There are learning curves, don't beat yourself up, just have fun trying.


These are some of the first cards I made, with the water filled brush.  I'm so glad I didn't stop there or I probably wouldn't be doing this again.  Moving on to a real brush, and popping back to watch the video over and over cinched it for me.  I know I'll make more.  Hop on over to the video, I'll show you how I did mine and all the cards I made.  (Link below post)

Please go over to Cee Cee Creation's and give her some love, check out her videos and subscribe. She is so talented.  I'm so happy she decided to share this tutorial with the YouTube world, it sure brightened up my day! Links for her channel, Arteza and my own social media just below the video.



Cee Cee's Creations - Loose Watercolor Floral Tutorial

Arteza

For 10% off please use the code Heartbeat2 this will be good until October 25, 2019

USA Link* -

UK Link* -

Please visit Arteza online here -

*Please note! - I do receive a small stipend from Arteza for you clicking through and buying from my personal links.  This in no way affects the price you pay.

Arteza links for the products I used on my cards -

Watercolor Pad - set of 3  -  https://tinyurl.com/y4kyfew3
Watercolor Paint - 60 color tubes - https://tinyurl.com/y2ars7vg
Water Brush Pens - Set of 6 - https://tinyurl.com/y59s6wub

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Sunday, September 8, 2019

Paradise in August - Mini and Tutorial

Hi everyone, today I'm sharing a collaboration between ReneaBouquet and Crafty City Design Teams.  I made a mini using ReneaBouquets Treasure Box 1 and Crafty City's Mintay Paradise Paper collection and Prima flowers to match.


There are blog posts on both ReneaBouquet and Crafty City so I won't repeat myself here.  What I did want to share is I have a 3 video tutorial series uploading to YouTube as I write this.  On the videos I'll share the how tos of creating this project.  I hope you'll take a look at the playlist .

Let's have a look at the videos included on the Playlist


The Walk-Through of the finished mini


Video 1 - Construction and Coloring

I also wanted to tell you about using Sookwang Tape in the Construction of this mini.  It's wonderful.  (There's a link and discount code at the bottom of this post to the Sookwang Tape Etsy store).


I used various sizes to adhere my pages and flips, flaps, mats and tags


When construction the outside I used the Sookwang tape to adhere my cover cardstock to the chipboard, I've not found a stronger tape!


Mitering the corners cuts down on bulk and results in a much nicer finish


I used the same color to mat the inside, Bazzill Smoothie Ocean Breeze


Video 2 - Construction of the flip and flaps throughout.


Video 3 - The Finishing Touches

Paradise in August complete playlist -  https://tinyurl.com/y5lpgsu8


Renea Bouquets Store - https://tinyurl.com/y4w7mocx
Treasure Box #1 - https://tinyurl.com/y42nulky

Crafty City Store - https://tinyurl.com/ybx2uvje
Archana Joshi (owner) YouTube - https://tinyurl.com/y4xa97vk
Crafty City DT Showcase Blog - https://craftycitydt.blogspot.com/
Crafty City Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CraftyCity
Crafty City Pinterest - https://tinyurl.com/y5zgh4lx

Mintay 12 x 12 Paradise Paper - https://tinyurl.com/y4hmzwmz
Mintay 6 x 6 Paradise Paper - https://tinyurl.com/yy2sz3mr

Sookwang Tape Etsy Store -  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SookwangTape
- Discount: 10% off when you spend over USD $30

- Active until: Now ~ Dec 31, 2019


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Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Inspired by - Nina Ribena's ATCs

Often times we wander around the Internet just looking.  Pinterest, Instagram, Blog Posts, Facebook and of course YouTube.  This is one of my favorite pastimes and where I get inspired by other crafty artists.  I ran across a new (well new to me) YouTube channel the other day of Nina Ribena and she had the neatest ATCs she'd made.  Well I'm not an ATC maker but I could sure see her ideas incorporated into some cards for me.  So thank you thank you Miss Nina for inspiring me!  Sometimes we just need to see it for our own crafty light bulb to go off.


I loved how Nina had covered mats with ink and then laid the Tim Holtz tissue paper over the top.  I used Distress Oxide ink on my four cards and I love them but next time I'm trying some sort of paints to get a deeper more vibrant color.  When you adhere the tissue over top of the color it becomes even more muted.  As I said I love my cards but want to try them the other way as well.


I made four cards each one varies in size since I was using scraps of Kraft paper I found in my drawer but since I made my own envelopes the size didn't matter I could make whatever size envelope I needed to house them in.  How nice four cards and four envelopes all ready to go and they all have a home waiting to be sent to.


Each of my bygone era cards has the Tim Holtz unclaimed relatives on them.  My friend Paula had gifted them to me and I have to admit I thought it creepy to add these people that I didn't know on my cards.  You know, they grow on you, now I think they are fun and the life they give to the card is just priceless.  


I didn't use a lot of fancy techniques, nothing hard at all, easy peasy stuff that any of you can do to make your own set of cards.  Come join me on my video, I'll share the process of how to make them and lots of pictures of the finished cards.  Who knows maybe I'll turn that crafty lightbulb on for you the way Nina did for me!  Whatever you do have a great crafty day!  Big hugs friends, Patti

Find Me on - A Soul’s Heartbeat - at
Stop by Nina's YouTube channel here



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Sunday, July 28, 2019

Crafty City Design Team Summer Mini

Hello everyone, I'm back today with a new Design Team Project for Crafty City using the Summer Blush Kit.  This fun kit includes beautiful decorative papers from Blue Fern's Blush Collection as well as bright, lovely flowers from Prima.  Also included are some soft blue buttons from LemonCraft.  When you watch the video you'll see I used all the packaging materials from the flowers and buttons as well.  Since this kit has only 8 designer sheets I supplemented the designer with solid Bazzill Smoothie cardstock.  


This is an 8"x9"x3" mini with a chipboard outer and a four page inner.  The pages expand and open to reveal lots of places to place photos in size from the smallest Instagram or Iphone photo to large 5"x7".


The front cover has this gorgeous double frame, included in the kit, from Scrapiniec.  I used several kinds of Glimmer mists, along with white Gesso and Deco Art Glitter Paint to bring it to life.  The top left is free to insert your own photo behind the acrylic liner.  I've shared this lovely heritage photo of my Grandma and my Aunt so you can get an idea of what it would look like with your personal photo.  The frame has been decorated with an assortment of embellishments and flowers both from the kit and my own stash.  The butterflies were metal and I again covered them with white Gesso and after they were dry brought out the colors of the kit with my own sprays, inks and paints.


Here's some snapshots of the page spreads, you can check out the Crafty City Blog post for a much more extensive review or better yet hop on over to YouTube and watch the cover to cover walk through.  There will be a tutorial series following sharing how to construct the pages and some decorating ideas.





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Sunday, June 16, 2019

Lovely Collaboration with Arteza


Arteza kindly has given me products to review and play with.  I was so excited to try them, they are the first I've had although many friends have tried them and I've heard nothing but good.  Today I'm sharing some 'Puddling' cards I've made using the water colors.  Arteza sent me the set of 60 Water Color tubes, 3 spiral pads of watercolor paper, a pack of 6 water brushes and a set of 12 fineline black markers.  Perfect things for a cardmaker.


I call these Puddling cards because that's what I do, puddle the ink with water onto my card letting it pool and run until I've achieved the look I like.  There's no great talent, no hard to learn technique, it's just having fun with the colors until you say, oh that's nice and stop.

I used the Arteza Watercolor Pads to make my card bases.  The paper measures 5.5" x 8.5", comes spiral bound 30 sheets to a pad and is perforated for easy removal.  So that's what I did, I simply removed the paper from the spiral pad and snipped off the perforated edge.  I scored in the middle and instantly had an A-2 sized card to play with, easy peasy.


On video (link is below) I'll share how I made two different types of card, it's just a matter of swiping the ink across your card base, spritzing with water and drying to the effect you like.  I did add some additional interest by scoring 1/2" around the edges inside and out.  I think the hardest part is trying to decide which colors to use and when to quit playing.


Besides the two cards I actually show the process of making on the video I also include several examples like this one to spur your imagination and get you thinking of what you could make yourself.  I used an embossing folder after I'd finished my color combination.  Adding the sentiment to the top was perfect after I splashed it with some flecks of color and added a deeper blend of the orange to the edge.


Finishing the inside was also a super simple process using a wash of the colors from the front to create just a splash of color on the inside where my greeting will go.  Again I used my score board to create 1/8" groves along the edge.  


Please visit Arteza here - 

For 10% off please use the code Heartbeat10 this will be good until July 14, 2019

USA Link* -

UK Link* -


*Please note! - I do receive a small stipend from Arteza for you clicking through and buying from my personal links.  This in no way affects the price you pay.

Find A Soul's Heartbeat at



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Friday, June 7, 2019

Beebeecraft bags and pins

Hi everyone I'm here to share some of the supplies sent to me from Beebeecraft.  Today I'll give you some ideas and inspiration to use the burlap bags and safety pin brooches.  Fun stuff to play with!


I had this tag laying around where I was trying out a new blending technique so figured I might as well put it to good use.  From this years Day at a Time calendar (Live, Love, Dream from LANG, illustrated by Lisa Kaus, wow I love her stuff!) I used old days to make the flower.  Each month has a repeat of the design so I used 4 pages stepping up the petals on each layer and then I used the sentiment and leaves.   What a great way to repurpose your calendar!  From Beebeecraft I used one of the Safety Pin Brooches, they have the charm attached at the end.


I used Faber Castell Whipped Spackle, some Glimmermists for color and a TCW stencil to create the adornment on this bag.  The heart dangle was from my stash.  I gessoed it before adding the same mists to it.  I wasn't sure how the bag would hold up to the texture paste and paints but it came through them perfectly!  A great, easy way to really step up the plain bags.


Talk about a walk down memory lane.  This image mat was in a booklet that had been gifted to me.  I just loved the image and sentiment especially when paired with the lace, ribbon and flowers.  It will be the perfect bag to hold all kinds of goodies for a special crafty friend.  Doesn't it make you think of days gone by?


For the last bag I used some leftover tags and chipboard pieces along with ribbon and flowers.  Check out that gorgeous metal piece directly below the flowers, that's from Beebeecraft as well as the lovely glass butterfly cabochon tucked into the right side.



This last example uses just the starfish brooch safety pin.  But isn't it the perfect addition to my card?  Check out the video to see how I made these items.  Thanks for stopping by!





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Monday, May 20, 2019

Using the Scraps from the Lavender MIst Kit!

Hey everyone, you know how I love using my scraps up.  Well I've uploaded a couple of videos and made two cards so far with the little snippets of leftover paper bits from the kit and I thought maybe you'd like to take a look-see.  I'll be adding more videos and examples throughout the week.




--- Check out the videos for the complete process on both cards ---


Dimensional Card with Flowers


Process of building Quilt/Pieced Mats
and resulting card.


Two cards and a Tag!
More inspiration for your leftovers

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Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Portfolio Tutorial Playlist!

Hi everyone, my playlist is up and running for the Lavender Mist Portfolio Tutorial Series.  There are seven tutorial videos and one walk through video.  I have listed under the video and on the video thumbnail the number of the video and what it covers.  If you're hunting for a certain aspect of the portfolio hopefully this will keep you from having to go through all seven videos to find it.   See the bottom of post for Supply List and most measurements used.


As always if you have any questions just pop me off an email and I'll get right back to you.  At the time of posting this was created using a kit from Crafty City with Stamperia's Provence paper, but any paper and embellishments could be used in its place!

Enjoy and happy crafting, if you make something using my portfolio directions I'd love for you to share with me.  Patti
                                         Supply List
Lavender Mist Kit
Sookwang (Scor) Tape
Art Glitter Glue
Purple Tulle
Magnets
White seam binding dyed lavender
Optional - I used an additional partial pack of Stamperia Provence Paper
4 sheets solid 12" for wrapping and matting inside
23-25 sheets 12" solid for matting, backing etc.  I used 3 shades of lavender
2 sheets medium weight chipboard

Cutting Guide for Chipboard (Video 1)
1 - 8 1/2" x 10 1/2" for back
2 - 1 1/2" x 10 1/2" for spines
1 - 3 1/2" x 10 1/2" for front right
1 - 5" x 10 1/2" for front left

Wrapping outside and Matting Inside (Video 2)
4 sheets solid 12" for wrapping and matting inside

Inside Waterfall, right side (Video 3)
Measurements for Waterfall flip
Contrast solid cardstock for back strip - 3 1/4" x 10 1/4"

NOTE- Do not cut your decorative mats for the waterfalls until the end then you can use your scraps instead of cutting into full sheets.  Also see *note below about alternative method to completely matting all flips.

Waterfall flips, you will need 14 - solid cardstock -
                each measures 3 1/4" wide x 4 3/4" high
                score on the 4 3/4" side @ 1/4" to glue to base strip

Optional depending on the amount of decorative paper you have
You will need 14-28 3" x 4" pieces of decorative paper to mat each flip.  Your choice will be whether to mat inside and out. *If you are low on paper an alternative is to just cut a 3/4" x 4" strip for all but the two top flips (one on bottom, one on top).  You can put just the 3/4" across the bottom (leave 1/4" on side for matting with your solid cardstock).  When the flips are closed, before photos are placed, it will still look as if you matted everything.

The other optional is to mat the 1/4" area between each flip.  As an alternative you can add a strip of solid ribbon here like I did on the outside edges of the portfolio.

Back Insert - Video 4
Inside back mat (decorative paper) 8 3/8" x 10 1/8"
Solid Paper -
Double Middle Pocket in center back - 8" x 11 3/4" score at 5" on short side
Left flip page - 8 1/4"  x 10" score on long side @ 1" to form skinny pocket, score opposite long side @ 1/4" to form tab to glue to book
Right flip page - 7 1/4" x 10", score on long side @ 1/4" to form tab

Left pocket (attached to left flip page)
8 1/4" x 12", score @ 1/4" and 7 1/2" on the long side
Accordion insert 1 12" solid cardstock cut in half and each piece scored at 6"
Accordion joint piece is 1/2" x 6" to join the sections together


Back Insert Matting - Video 5
Top part of pocket - Decorative paper 7 3/4" x whatever length you have, make sure it is deep enough so it covers back when pocket is glued.

Triple mats for two center pockets
Solid 3 3/4" x 4 3/4" and 3 1/2"x 4 1/2" (pick 2 different solids)

Decorative - top mat 3 1/4" x 4 1/4"


~   ~   ~
Lavender Mist Kit - https://tinyurl.com/y6buwn65
Crafty City Store - https://tinyurl.com/ybx2uvje
Archana Joshi (owner) YouTube - https://tinyurl.com/y4xa97vk
Crafty City DT Showcase Blog - https://craftycitydt.blogspot.com/
Crafty City Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CraftyCity
Crafty City Pinterest - https://tinyurl.com/y5zgh4lx

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Monday, May 6, 2019

A Portfolio using Crafty City's Lavender Mist Kit

Hello everyone!

I'm sharing a new project today, a portfolio I designed with a kit from Crafty City called Lavender Mist.  This is my first project as part of Archana Joshi's design team and I was so happy to have this kit to play with.  It's packed full of scrumptious goodies including a pad of Stamperia's Provence paper.  Which is lavender!  Oh my goodness you guys know how I love lavender.  This project seemed to make itself or perhaps I just felt that way because the kit made me so happy to work with it!


I'm not going to go on and on here since I have a pretty lengthy post over on the Crafty City Blog which you can pop over to and read. But I did want to share a little to get you perhaps as excited as I was to make one of these portfolios for yourself.  I will be uploading a Playlist of videos sharing how I created the components of my portfolio so you'll be able to follow along, adapt it to your paper and creativity and make one of your own.  


There are lots and lots of photo spots!
The double waterfall itself will house 28 
3" x 4" photos (or maybe just a tad smaller)


Then there are pockets
and mats galore 
throughout the whole portofolio!

        Lots of places that tuck under
 

and behind

                                                                                   and into!

Fun stuff!  
Be sure and watch the 
walk through on the video
so you don't miss
a thing!!!


Check out the kit 
and pick up one for yourself
Here!


Find Crafty City here -

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Thursday, May 2, 2019

Beebeecraft Supplies to Cards


Hi Crafty Friends!

A few weeks back I shared a package I'd received from a company called Beebeecraft.  They have an enormous amount of gems and findings to make jewelry but in amongst that I found a lot of great treasures that work well with my cards and mini albums.  They allowed me to pick out some goodies to work with and today I wanted to share some cards I'm made using them and giving you some ideas.

I have a video at the bottom of the post that will share how I did some things and walk you through all three cards, be sure and check it out and if you not a subscriber when you get to YouTube please take a moment to subscribe and hit the little bell so you don't miss my next video.


I only want to share my first card with you and the rest will be a surprise when you watch the video.  Here I've used the Glass Cabochons. the tags, key and metal pieces all from Beebeecraft.  The little girl is a Tim Holtz unclaimed relative.  These people cut outs are so fun to incorporate into cards.


I used this crown topped key and had the little girl like she was holding it.  I also used a needle to fray the twine that is looped through the tag hole.  When I had it all frayed and trimmed I dusted it over with some Distress Ink in Vintage Photo and Age Mahogany.


The inside of each card is completely finished too.  These are 4" x 5 1/2" cards made from heavy Kraft cardstock.  When you are adding heavier items to your cards it's always best to offset the weight on the front with something on the inside, otherwise your card kind of flaps because the weight is all centered on the one piece of the card and not distributed throughout.  Who doesn't love to get a card that has fun stuff on the inside too? This is another of the Tim Holtz unclaimed relatives, and the metal piece from Beebeecraft.  The sentiment is a clear sticker I had in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by, don't miss the video and the other two cards.  Oh alright I'll give you just a sneak peak of what I'll be showing you how to do on video with the metal butterflies, you won't want to miss that!  


Beebeecraft Store - https://www.beebeecraft.com/
Beebeecraft Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WHPHE
Beebeecraft Pinterest - https://tinyurl.com/y5896wc9
Beebeecraft Instagram - https://tinyurl.com/y2qxfj7c
Beebeecraft YouTube - https://tinyurl.com/y65leeh4
Beebeecraft Facebook Group - https://tinyurl.com/y3xswcdp

Visit me at A Soul’s Heartbeat on Blogger, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram.

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