Floral Friends

Hi Everyone,

Today I will be showing you how I used the new Studio Katia "Floral Trimmings" stamp set.  I fell in love with this stamp set the minute I saw it and actually went on a wait list to buy it!  On today's card I have used one of the two beautiful floral borders.

I wanted to colorize this stamped image in a different way...maybe think outside the box a bit.  And, although it wasn't far out of the box, it was different for me.

Here is the list of supplies I used:

Studio Katia:  "Floral Trimmings" stamp set

Create a Smile: "Friends Like You" stamp set

Simon Says Stamps: sequins "Moonshine"

Sakura Jelly Roll Pen: Stardust Clear

White yardstick, a piece of black yardstick and a white card base

Foam to back the panel

Double sided tape

Liquid adhesive

Stamp Positioner

Versa fine Black Onyx Pigment Ink

Paper stumps: 4 double-ended

Gamsol or Orderless Mineral Spirits

Derwent Inktense Pencils in the following colors:

     Sun Yellow, Sicilian Yellow, Golden Yellow, Burnt Orange

     Dusky Purple, Violet

     Carmine Pink, Crimson, Shiraz

     Thistle, Mauve

     Scarlet Pink, Cherry

     Iris Blue, Bright Blue

     Sherbert Lemon, Apple Green, Hooker's Green, Beech Green

I first stamped the image onto Bristol Board.  This was an inexpensive brand and it had a nice smoothness to the surface.  I used a panel that was 4.5.x 5.5 and stamped it near the bottom.  Then I colored the image.  I started from the right and worked toward the left.  I realize as I'm writing this that coloring this way was rather backwards, but it worked for me!  I would first lay down all my color.  The way I have listed the colors above go from light to dark.  I tested the colors on a scrap piece of cardstock to check out the intensity of it.  I used my pencils very sharp!  These are very soft and loose their point quickly. I applied the lightest color with a light hand.  When I got to the shading colors I went heavier.  So this is what a group or single flower would look like before I blended it out with Gamsol:

With most of the colors I blended with Gamsol from the lightest to the darkest.  This gives the greatest amount of contrast.  On others actually left the very ends white paper and blended from the darkest to lightest like this violet one here:        ....the violets and purples were very intense colors!

As I went along I colored each flower or group of like flowers and blended it.  Each time I changed colors I used a clean paper stump.  The only time I didn't do this was on the blue flower in the further left corner.  I used a stump that had previously been used on one of the purple flowers.  As you can see, it deposited a bit of the purple color and I really liked how that looked.  All of the yellow flowers were colored the same way.  I didn't color all of the leaves the same way, I mixed up the colors some, but on each of them I started with the Sherbet Lemon and Apple Green...I just varied the 2 darker colors for a little more interest.  I did not blend the branch with the berries on it.  I felt it was too small. When I was finished with the coloring I reassessed how it looked and added the Burnt Orange to the Yellow flowers for more contrast.

I fussycut the bottom and sides of the stamped image and trimmed the rest of it to size.  I used a white cardbase with a black panel cut 1/16" smaller on all sides.  I stamped the sentiment using my stamp positioning tool to get a nice crisp black image with the Versafine black onyx pigment ink.  Next I adhered the colored panel to the card using a piece of foam that I double-taped to the back.  I adhered my sequins (these are my favorite!) with Mono Multi Liquid Glue, used the Sakura Jelly Roll Stardust clear pen on the little stamens of the yellow flowers and the center of the blue flower and the other yellow flowers, and it was finished!

I hope you'll give this method of coloring a try.  It was fun, didn't take long, and I think the results are lovely!

Until next time, Happy Papercrafting and remember - it's only paper!

Betsy