The Paper Players 331

There is a very pretty, but quite difficult, colour challenge at The Paper Players this week.

Such a soft and dreamy colour palette lead to this creation, featuring the new Special Reason bundle and the Sale-a-bration set, Delicate Details.

I'm very happy with the result, but it's hard to go wrong with such lovely sets to work with.

Ingredients

Card: Smoky Slate, Copper Foil, Whisper White, Blushing Bride

Stamps: Special Reason, Delicate Details, Touches of Texture, Timeless Textures

Inks: Smoky Slate, Blushing Bride, Versamark, Tuxedo Black

Other: Stylish Stems thinlits, Blushing Bride baker's twine and enamel shapes, Copper embossing powder, dimensionals

Just Add Ink 345

So lucky that at the end of the first week back at school, we have a long weekend. I'm spending today between my craft room and the television, which is tuned to the Black Caps vs Australia ODI. Cricket and cards - what a combination!

First up today was the challenge at Just Add Ink.

Last night, when it was too hot to sleep, I spent time thinking about this sketch and was very pleased when things that made sense in the middle of the night still made sense in the light of day!

Underneath the large flower is a piece of watercolour paper that I've coloured with watercolour pencils and aquapainted. I built colour near the centre. The small flower I stamped after colouring it with Stampin' Write markers then touched up with ink and a blender pen to give some shading. The yellow centres have a touch of Wink of Stella.

I have to apologise for the quality of the photo of the embossing. After several attempts, I just can't get the light right. It is actually smooth and glossy and copper!

I wanted a very clean finish to this card and like the final result.

Ingredients

Card: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Garden Green, Watercolour paper.

Stamps: Special Reason

Inks: Versamark, Stampin' Write markers Rich Razzleberry and Daffodil Delight, Watercolour pencils in Rich Razzleberry and Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry

Other: Copper embossing powder and Metallic thread, dimensionals, Wink of Stella,  Stylish Stems framelits. aquapainter, blender pen.

Colour Inkspiration 2

I find it exciting to be part of a new challenge and am pleased to have got this entry in for number 2 on the very last day of the school holidays. Work tomorrow....

I do love the soft and romantic colour combination on offer by the team at Colour Inkspiration. Ask to join this Facebook challenge group, if you haven't already.

My most recent acquisition is the Special Reason bundle, available in the new Occasions catalogue. Although the Stylish Stems framelits are absolutely, amazingly adorable, for this card I wanted to explore the idea of watercolouring with the stamps. 

The stamps have a slightly distressed finish to them which is even more obvious when applied to watercolour paper. So I stamped them, then added extra colour in places with Stampin' Write markers to help create shadows and highlights before using an aquapainter to blend them. I think it's given them a look of a watercolour painting. 

I've masked in the leaves and used the leaf vein stamp to create some pseudo-branches in the bouquet. The leaves are stamped and not watercoloured as I didn't want to lose the lovely veining on them. The flower centres are untouched except for a lick of Wink of Stella to give them a bit of glimmer.

I masked part of the birthday greeting from the Sale-a-bration set, Avant Garden, for the sentiment. Luckily, I had in my stash some of the retired Wisteria Wonder seam binding and I've paired it with Delicate Details - also a Sale-a-bration set -  to create the grounding for the greeting. The wee nest of Silver metallic thread ties both the circular element of the floral panel and the bling of the rhinestones and Wink of Stella.

Thanks team, for such a wonderful palette to play with!

Ingredients

Card: Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky, watercolour paper, Whisper White, scrap of Mint Macaron

Stamps: Special Reason, Timeless Textures, Avant Garden, Delicate Details

Inks: Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky, Mint Macaron, Garden Green

Other: Stampin' Write markers: Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder; Wink of Stella, Softly Falling embossing folder, Wisteria Wonder seam binding, Wisteria Wonder enamel shape, Silver metallic thread, rhinestones, dimensionals, aquapainter, circle framelit.