I got asked if I could make a card for my daughters teacher to give with the end of the year gift. Of course I could! Since she loves flowers I got the task to make a card with flowers. Not really my strong side ;) But I did have some flower stamps at least and these poppies I never used. They begged to be turned into a graphical styled card and I wanted to try to make it a bit artsy. I've seen some of my favourite card makers making cards with messy coloring, so pretty! Here's the thing. I'm a control freak. I really need to keep things neat. I hate coloring outside the lines. It can drive me crazy if I do. Well, I took a deep breath and just... painted a big blob of red on each flower. It looked terrible! I continued painting the stems, making sure to go over the lines again (insert cringe here). It still looked awful. I had to add some shadowing, it helped. Then I went crazy splattering with paint over the whole thing and then it suddenly stopped looking awful and started looking... interesting. After pairing it with some black and white patterned paper (my new addiction) I was quite pleased with myself. But it still bothers me a bit. What if someone thinks I ment to paint inside the lines and failed! Did I say I'm a neat control freak when it comes to colouring?
The thing is that the whole flowery theme made me nervous. So the first card was actually my third (ok fourth) card. So, while I watercolored my first card (that I later tossed) I also made this, trying to foil a more intricate stamp, using FabFoil and Bonding powder. Just to see how it would look. Let me tell you, it looks so great you have no idea! Like my son said when seeing the glow in the dark embossing powder. That's probably why they are called WOW! The pink foil looks great on the flower stamp. I stamped with VersaMark and heated it before layering the foil, pretty side up, and a copy paper on top. The copy paper is just because I know my laminator pulls the foil crooked and it gets crinkly if I don't use it. After running it through the laminator it looked a bit blobby but fear not. I used a stiff brush, one used to stipple paint through stencils, and rubbed over the foil. Since the stamp is so intricate the foil sort of sticks together and if you just rub it of all the loose foil comes out and leaves this detailed image. Great, right?!
Look at that pretty shine! I topped it with some glitter stickers and gem stones to make it perfect. While doing this I started on my third card, watercolored it, did not like it, tried to save it by attaching vellum on top to soften it. Still didn't like it. Tossed it. Started on the fourth card that is the one that was picked to be given. Phew. Flowers...
Well, lots of words today. The top card is also my post at Design in Papers today. All the material is listed there. And for my Swedish friends, there is still a few spots left for Becky Higgins classes in Stockholm and Gothenburg. I'll be there helping out and taking the classes Saturday June 6 in Gothenburg, hope to see you there! I'm super excited, I ordered a million photos and got them yesterday. Can't wait to see what I can learn!
Be back this Saturday, I'll be showing a lot of Art Journaling. It's my day at CiLi in Papers and I saved some of my other pages to show you then too.
I found your blog through Hero Arts and am having the best time pouring over your work! You have such a fun, lighthearted approach to stamping. This loosely colored poppy card looks so intentional and is my favorite yet! Makes me want to leave work right now and go home and paint some stamped images! LOL! Instead, I will drool over your creations. :) TFS and I look forward to following your blog now.
Posted by: Autumn | Thursday, 02 July 2015 at 14:49