Happy Birthday Crafter's Companion Blog Hop!

Welcome to 
The Crafter's Companion Birthday Blog Hop!

  
Today is crazy!! I have three projects on my blog!! :o) Please scroll down and see all three.

Starting with the hop!! I'm so happy you could join us and hop along today. We are celebrating Crafter's Companion's 5th birthday with this fun hop. The blog hop starts today August 6th and ends at midnight pst on August 10th.

There is going to be an awesome prize that you will definitely want to try to win so let's get started.

First you need to be a follower of my blog and of the Crafter's Companion informational blog. You must be a US Resident, leave a comment on this post AND find the "secret" letter on each design team member's blog that spells out the "secret" phrase.  I have two letters. :o) 

**The letters are "u & s".**

When you have all the letters for the phrase, you will then email the phrase to Bindy at bindy@crafterscompanion.com. When the hop is over, Bindy will use Random Generator to pick the grand prize winner. And what is that grand prize you ask?!!

How about a $100 gift card to the Crafter's Companion online store!!! WOO HOO!!

To interest you along the way, I made this party card. Humphrey and his friends are celebrating Crafter's Companion. 

 

I have a giveaway on my personal blog too, so be sure and follow me and leave a comment while you are here. I will draw a random winner for my personal blog giveaway and post the winner's name on August 11th. Here is what someone will win just for visiting me today...the Popcorn the Bear - Party Time stamp set!!

Here is a list of the DT members you will need to visit on this hop: 

Carolyn LaBille http://mspetuniascrafts.blogspot.com/ 
Cheryl Caldwell-Nyboer http://www.capturingamomentintime.com/ 
Chrissie Tobas http://harvestmoonpapiere.blogspot.com/ 
Dawn Bennett http://dipndotscreations.blogspot.com/ 
Dawn Lotharius http://www.dawnscraft.com/ 
Denise Coulter http://lalasworldblog.blogspot.com/ 
Janette Garcia http://lajanette.blogspot.com/

Kathy Krech http://kathysdouble-k-krafts.blogspot.com/

Lisa Hunt http://kycrafter.blogspot.com/

Marge Dady http://www.cacklincrafter.blogspot.com/

Stacy H-W http://scrapwithstacy.blogspot.com

Stephanie Lee http://blog.artycarty.com

Taylor Usry http://taylorusry.blogspot.com
Trena Brannon http://trenastampinhq.blogspot.com/  (you are here)
 
If you came here from Taylor's blog then you are on the right track if not you might want to start at the beginning on Carolyn's blog. 

Now you need to head to send Bindy email! :o)  Good luck!! 

Take care and STAY POSITIVE! 

Trena

Watercolor Effect with Spectrum Noir & Scavenger Hunt Blog Winner

Thank you lovely people for all your nice comments and hopping with the Design Team over the weekend.  I am happy to announce that the winner of my blog is:

Kelly Massman

Please visit the Crafter's Companion Blog to see who won the grand prize!!

And now, for some  coloring -  you know I had to color some more! ;o)  I have a twist to what I shared before. Rather than dipping my paintbrush into alcohol and picking up color. I spritzed the alcohol into the color on the pallet. With this method, my paintbrush stayed wet longer and I had more control of how much alcohol I used with the color - the more alcohol the smoother the stroke.

I colored the background first. I would roll my paintbrush around in the alcohol to get a finer point for tight spaces.

Next, I colored his face and shirt. After I picked up color, I painted the dark areas first, like under his arm.  When I painted the pail, I added less alcohol so the strokes would not be smooth. I think it added a little texture.

Now, onto the duck and flowers. I use the green marker direct for the center of the flowers. I came back later with the yellow marker and colored the pedals again. I also remembered to color the pail handle. :o)

Added color to his shoes and a combo of green, brown and yellow colors for the grass. Sorry, I did not show the complete photo in this one. That camera cord was hanging in the way - don'tcha hate when that happens! :o)

Here, you can see the grass!  I finished by coloring his pants and belt.    Adhered the layers and it was ready to send.  After I finished the complete card, I noticed I forgot to color the little duck's feet. Oops! I colored direct with the marker.  Remember - it's not how perfect your project is the first time, it's how well you can recover from the "boo boos." LOL.

Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena

Birthday Bash

I made this card for a friend's birthday. I used one of the adorable Humphrey sets. I colored the image using the new Spectrum Noir markers. Click here to see an information video. I really dig the smooth, rich colors! The ink glides on nicely and they come at a great price!

I colored the base image first. To give the first guy in line some texture on his jeans, I dampened a small area of denim jean fabric with alcohol and dabbed on his jeans. The texture in the fabric moved some of the blue ink and created texture on the card stock. I then cut out the main part of the image and adhered it to a layer of white card stock cut with a die cut. I stamped the image again on a scrap piece of paper to get the balloons. I cut them out and adhered them over the base image. I then stamped the single balloon image on the blue card stock using white craft ink. I adhered all the layers and I was done! :o)

Stamps: Birthday Conga' Stamp Set
Paper: X-press blending card stock, yellow, orange, & blue card stock
Inks: white craft ink, Memento tuxedo black ink pad
Accessories: alcohol, piece of fabric, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Spectrum Noir Markers

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Trena