Arden's Blog - The Aartvark Studio: 2017

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Anything But the Holidays

Joining a Blog Hop today with this special card!

When I saw the black gate in the Halloween part of the catalog - I LOVED it! But I could also envision Garden Gates, and Pearly Gates! Here's my version of a Pearly Gate:

I could envision it for a wedding or even a sympathy card.

So you may have noticed that I cut the bottom off the gate - it fit better on my card.

It's a subtle thing, but I used Shimmery White for the gate. It's for more than just watercoloring!

I added little flowers from the Tree Builder Punch and trimmed them in pearls, of course. I also added a flourish, which I cut in two parts. This was really fun! I have to make some more now!

By the way, this was a Splitcoast Stamper Weekly Winner!

Here's my list of products:

Detailed Gate Thinlits Dies
$30.00

Flourish Thinlits Dies
$29.00

Move Me Thinlits Dies
$29.00

Tree Builder Punch
$18.00

Pansy Punch
$16.00

Clear Faceted Gems
$5.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$9.00

Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock
$7.00

Pearl Basic Jewels
$5.00

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Daisies!

Getting pumped up for the new catalog?

Here's a big hint:

Sunday, April 16, 2017

RemARKably Creative Blog Tour - April: Underground Suite

Welcome to our Blog Tour! The theme is the Underground Suite. To me that means GUY CARDS!

For my card I used the Stamp Set, "Urban District". Unfortunately, it was announced this week that it was retiring! I really fell in love with the Where is Waldo-like pictures on the letters. For the background, I used the Brick Wall embossing folder. I used a Tarnished Foil technique that really gives the bricks some texture!

For the tarnished foil method, I embossed silver foil through the Big Shot with the Brick Wall folder. Run a little test sample through to make sure you have the brick side "out". Ask me how I know.

Then I smooshed some Black Stazon ink (also retiring!) on it and let it dry. I added spots of Versamark and then copper embossing powder and heated. I repeated the last step with black and gold embossing powder.

I colored some of the items in with my Stampin' Write markers. I think Dad will enjoy it!

Sunday, March 19, 2017

RemARKably Creative Blog Tour for March - Party!

Hi! Welcome to this month's blog tour - this month's theme is Party Animals!

I used the color palette: Emerald Envy, Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango for my card.

On the top part of the card, I used Stampin' Write markers and colored directly on the rubber stamp. I then spritzed it and put it on watercolor paper. I also splattered a little of the Tangerine Tango.

On the bottom part, I put the ink directly on the block, then spritzed it and pressed it on the paper

. So now, I showed it to my husband and of course he thinks it looks better upside down. What do you think?

I hate it when he's right.

Check out all the other blogs on our tour:

Nancy Amato .

Melissa Bolinger

Arden Dougan < -- That's me!

Linda Moore

And the products I used are here:

Floral Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set
$18.00

So Detailed Thinlits Dies
$33.00

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Fine-Tip Glue Pen
$7.00

Tangerine Tango 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Emerald Envy 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
$8.00

2016-2018 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
$15.00

Brights Stampin' Write Markers
$29.00

Regals Stampin' Write Markers
$29.00

Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad
$6.50

Watercolor Paper
$5.00

Sunday, February 19, 2017

Succulent Gardens II

Welcome to the February RemARKably Creative Blog Tour. This month's theme is succulents.

I found this little driftwood flower holder at M's, stuck some of that green foam in (is there a technical term for that stuff?), and put some moss on top. And finally, I added flowers, in two sizes.

First, the artistic rendering:

If you don't have the app "Waterlogue", you need it! It is so fun!

I made three colors of flowers: Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi and Smoky Slate. I added a lot of flower layers to give the succulents more dimension. I used a sponge dauber to add color to each of the leaves. The Rich Razzleberry flower was sponges with Chocolate Chip. The other two were sponged with Sahara Sand and Rich Razzleberry.

I especially loved the comments I've gotten from my kids - like "What are you going to do with that?" "Why?" and the cat thinks the moss is quite edible.