My knees are shaking as I get ready to post my little creations using Delicate Florals...this has been such an exciting month and every day I have been wowed by my fellow angels' talent. Whoa. I can't believe Mischelle blessed me with an opportunity to share with you as well today - thank you! And, I so appreciate YOU coming to take a peek...
 I just like to mix things up and create when I can...and, I do *love* texture! Heather Scott recently had an article published on chalks and whenever she posts a card using them, I get inspired to pull out my chalks too. I prefer to use a Dove blender pen with them but I also use the included cotton balls when I have a larger area to fill in. The nice thing about the Dove pens is that it seals them at the same time.
I really like the look of all white cards, but I felt it needed some texture! I love the combination below with the embossing and cardboard. I have a hard time sometimes coming up with color palettes, or coloring realistically, so I keep an inspiration board. On one of those pieces I noticed in the painted flowers that they had added hints of yellow to the pink petals...when I was unhappy with my solid pink rose below, I tried adding a touch of yellow and that was just what it needed!
My next card features Copics and the Emma Soar with it Collection. I tried long and hard to resist Copics but now I can't live without them...I absolutely love the way The Angel Company has bundled them in coordinating colors and in sets of 3 for each color so shading is a breeze!
In the close up I hope you can see the sheet of vellum I stitched over the top. I pierced the holes first and then went around and handstiched it down. I handcut the white oval just a snitch to make it smaller than the maroon oval and then distressed the edges to blend out any unevenness. Before I glued the oval down, I added the narrow rows of the Delicate Florals stamp in Versamark, and was happy with the results. Sometimes "less is more, and more is less" so there is a fine line...I teeter on it often! tee hee...
My third card features another one of my coloring true-loves. Watercoloring! Here I used an aquabrush with my Tombow markers. I did heat emboss my watercolor paper first in black and then I colored directly to paper - only then did I blend it out with my aquabrush. As with Copics, I tried to use 2-3 shades of each color to get the depth. The embossed background rubbed with Versamark is a trick I picked up from reading one of Mischelle's posts on this very blog. The Versamark really makes the embossing pop, even with a subtle background like this one from the Impressionablilites.
This was actually the first card I made and originally it was without the saying. As it sat patiently waiting for today, I realized that it was quite top heavy and needed to be balanced out. This small thank you from Lovely Peony was perfect and I was tickled when I found some of my light crystal brads to match and add a little bling.
And now to my last card...using one more coloring medium: Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I ended up doing a bit of "fussy cutting" as Barb Foster would call it! Mainly because I wanted to highlight the flowers but also because I had shaded in the background with an ugly color of grey and it just didn't "work". This way I could add some texture too. I love happy mistakes!
This card is an oldie but goodie and hopefully it will not bore you! When some of the ladies in my hostess club saw it they asked if we could make a card like it at the next get-together. Ummm....sure!!
It's a card with a detachable bookmark! For mine I used the Scor Bug Embosser over the crease a couple of times to deepen the perferations and to show someone where to tear/cut the bookmark and card apart. Another helpful hint is: Fold your card up so it is a standard card size (4.25 x 5.5) and then round all the layers of cardstock in the corners at once. The Corner Chomper is perfect for this and can easily handle the multiple layers of cardstock.
Here is what you need to make a bookmark card: Cut an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock so that it measures 5 1/2 x 11. A Scor Pal makes the next step a sinch. Score it at 4 1/4 and 8 1/2...the remainding 2 inches becomes the bookmark! I finished mine of with an eyelet and some ribbon. Don't forget to scor it well in the crease so that the recipiant understands what it's for. Then the fun part is to decorate! I used Lilly Anna here because I wanted a bright and cheerful color palette.
Thanks again for stopping by to see my little creations. Don't forget that The Angel Company has put these featured stamp sets and all those with a heart in them on SALE during the month of February! You can see all of the details here.
They are all lovely Chris! The bookmark one is my favorite! Your chalk coloring is great and the added touch of yellow is perfect!
These are all just WONDERFUL! I love your color palette. The bookmark card is an AWESOME idea!!!!! I will use that in a workshop!
Chris, wonderful job! I love all of your cards, and I like that you used so many different coloring mediums!! Just beautiful!
sigh...so wouldn't you know, I miss typed my blog address for the link (this laptop screen is too small or I am too old! tee hee).
Chris, those are all such sweet cards. You have done a FABULOUS job on them. Great ideas too!
love to see the different coloring mediums. Each one is fabulous. TFS!
Oh gosh~ now I NEED this set! Great samples!!!
Very nicely done Chris! I love everyone of your cards. The Lilly bookmarker card is my favorite. I haven't made one of those in a while! What a nice reminder. I also have to mention that I love your cardboard mat in the first card. The velum over the image in the second card is brilliant too! A wonderful post.
Beautifully done and very creative! Love the bookmark too!
Beautiful work, Chris!!
Love how you colored and cut these out so "delicately". Wow! FABULOUS job!
Chris ... these samples are gorgeous!! I love this set but rarely pull it out since it is not as easy to color as some of the others. I will have to try again. You did a wonderful job showcasing this set. I love the one with vellum over it.
Wow! Im so inspired by these GORGEOUS cards!!! Love the one with the vellum overlay and the hand stitching...You rocked this set Chris! I can't wait till I have some time ink this set up!
What lovely cards you made Chris - I just love them all but the vellum on is my fav! I wish I had the set so I could play along! My wish list is getting longer and longer the more all the specTACular guest designers do!