Thursday, February 26, 2009

Stamp Simply, Flourishes Focus .... and MORE!

Hi all! It's Friday which means it's time for another Stamp Simply challenge! With this one, you can almost hear the birds chirping! That's because we've got cabin fever and can't wait until spring arrives!

The goal today is to create a card with signs of spring! For all the official details, all you need to do is to head over to the lovely Sharon Johnson's place HERE.

For this challenge, I also pulled out my Twinkling H20s! This week on the Flourishes Newsletter, Laura Fredrickson put together an amazing tutorial on how to use these little vivacious pots of paint to add shimmer and shine to your projects! So, stick around and I'll have a link list so you can visit the other DT members's blogs and see their fanciwork!

For this Stamp Simply Cabin Fever challenge, I actually sought my inspiration from art! I had the Flourishes Lilac set, which features a Magnolia as well and some fun insect elements!

I don't know about you, but before I color any flower, I often "google" it to look at colors and see how it looks in nature. Well, on my search, I found this gorgeous watercolor image from the artist Karen Winters....

Isn't it beautiful? It really struck me! I really loved the wash of teal and lime watercolors! So, I decided I would try to recreate this inspiration piece using my stamps and my twinks!
Grab some watercolor paper, and these colors of twinkling H20s - Sea Glass, Key Lime, Chiffon Pink, Pink Azalea, Golden Jade, Poppy Red - some burnt umber Palette ink, a waterbrush, a piece of paper towel, and you are pretty much ready to go!

I painted my flowers with a watered down version of Chiffon Pink and while it was still wet, I dabbed some Pink Azalea on the areas that I wanted to shade. For the leaves, I colored them with Key Lime and while still wet, I dabbed on just a bit of Golden Jade. The ladybug was colored with a pretty strong version of Poppy Red. Then, I was ready for my watercolor wash on the backround. The key to creating a wash is to literally wet down the entire background, avoiding the stamped and colored image itself. This will help control where your color travels. Pick up the Key Lime and Sea Glass and literally scribble all over the background! If you get too much color on your background, all you do is blot some of it off with your paper towel. Keep working it until you've got it just the way you want it! That's it!

Here's a close up! While it's hard to photograph Twinkling H20s, you can see a bit of the shimmer on ther paper. In real life, it sparkles a whole lot more! I really love the way this turned out! I have to say, it was fun seeking out a new kind of inspiration in art! Not to mention, I thought this image went perfectly with the new Poppy Finch paper from Memory Box and pink May Arts satin ribbon. That was a happy accident! ;-)

Want to see the other Stamp Simply gals' creations? Check out Sharon, Heather, Dee, Tammy, Janine, AJ, and Jennifer. Becky is taking the week off... but will be back soon!

And for more Twinkling H20s inspiration, be sure to check out the Flourishes Newsletter for Laura's tutorial and then click on over to these DT member's blogs-- Christine Okken, Cindy Lawrence, Faith Hofrichter,Latisha Yoast, Leslie Miller and Stacy Morgan! You won't be sorry you did!

Happy Friday!

47 comments:

Shelly said...

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!

Kelley said...

Oh my gosh, Julie, this is spectacular!!! Stunningly beautiful!

Anonymous said...

WOW - WOW - WOW - Julie!!! This is truly stunning!!! I lvoe it!!!!

Shirley said...

And recreate you did and so well! How elegant and beautiful. You really should frame this, Julie!

Michelle Woerner said...

WOW Julie! This is stunning. I just LOVE all the pinks -jsut stunning!

Sharon (notimetostamp) said...

Julie, this card is just fabulous!!! It took my breath away -- you recreated the inspiration piece just beautifully, your b/g paper is JUST perfect and the little buckle thing is so pretty -- the perfect finishing touch!! Way to go!!!

Laura (scrapnextras) said...

THUD!!!! Holy Mackeral Julie! Why weren't you doing the tutorial? This is gorgeous and much more beautiful than my feeble attempt. One day I hope to do what you did here!

Kim said...

Julie, this is GORGEOUS! I love the painting you showed and how you matched your card! Just beautiful!

Joan Fricker said...

Julie, my mouth fell open when I saw this beautiful card. Oh my goodness it is fantastic. I love the colors and everything about it.
The embellishment you used is a perfect way to set it off! Great job!

Joan

CherylQuilts said...

This is absolutely beautiful...and it's such a wonderful likeness of the artist's rendering. So inspiring...it makes me want to get out this stamp set! Thanks for the great tutorial...so helpful! This is the "stuff" that gets us stamping! Thanks!

Jess said...

Oh, Julie, that is the most beautiful card I've ever seen! The painting is fabulous, the bling and paper are perfect!! I love it!!!

Darlene said...

Simply Gorgeous Julie!! Thanks for all the info too! Beautiful work and so SPRINGY! Now I'm inspired to blow the dust off my Twinkling H2O and see what I can do!!

Diane said...

Oh my gawd...just a sec,gotta pick up my jaw from the floor!!!
Beyond gorgeous!!!!

NancyK said...

Jaw dropping gorgeous! You really captured the look of the inspiration piece. I can only imagine how pretty it looks irl with the twinks!

The Rubber Maid said...

A totally beautiful creation in every way. Elegant beyond elegance.The colors are simply divine. Mom

Anonymous said...

AAAAAH, Spring! Thank you! Truly lovely, just like the inspiration piece you found. That ribbon and buckle are so you. Is there ever enough bling?? Happy Weekend!

Kay said...

Oh my heck, this is absolutely beautiful - to die for beautiful - I'll take at least a dozen beautiful! Girl, your talent oozes in this one! Great work!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh.....this is just AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

This card is SO beautiful! I love your work. Thank you for the inspiration.

Sabrina Jackson said...

Oh my word, Julie!!!! How absolutely amazing is this?!?!?!
It truly looks like a painting. Oh how I wish I was good at coloring. It is breathtaking!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! You did a beautiful rendition of the painting! Love those colors together!!

Stacy Morgan said...

Gorgeous Julie! I love the flowers, ladybug and the shimmer.... Gorgoues.

Tammy Hershberger said...

This is gorgeous, Julie! You hit the nail on the head from the inspiration you found! Very beautiful! (And I just had my daughter Google a poppy for me the other day because I didn't know what color to make the center! LOL)

Anonymous said...

Stunning, absolutely stunning, I love the DP you chose, it's absolutely perfect Julie!

dpkennedy said...

Gorgeous card Julie! Wow!

Anonymous said...

Your card is simply stunning!! Love the color combo and yes, I can see some of the shimmer - just so lovely!

Kerry said...

Gorgeous card. I even bought some watercolor paper (just last night - talk about good timing) so I'm all set to try this. Did you know the company that makes the twinkling h2o's is going out of business?!?!?!? I love them and I'm glad they last a long long time since they won't be made any more.

Cindy Lawrence said...

Oh Julie, this turned out FABULOUS!!! You really captured the inspiration piece! Absolutely breath-taking!!!

Ann said...

Gorgeous! Love your watercolors!

Jan Castle said...

Simply Lovely! I love those twinks!!!
Jan Castle

Norine said...

just beautiful so soft & pretty
Hugs
Norine

Ida said...

Julie this is just stunning! You did a fantastic job watercoloring your image.

Barbara said...

Oh, Julie, this is just fabulous!!! I just got this set so now I have to play with it--you're VERY inspiring!

Unknown said...

just beautiful!!!

Heather said...

This is a beautiful watercolour, Julie. I agree with everyone's comments it is just stunning. I am about to place my first Flourishes order and just when I think I have it narrowed down, I see another beautiful card and have to go back and rethink!

ChristineCreations said...

This is seriously FANTABULOUS Julie! What a great inspiration piece too, you've given it your creativity so beautifully!

Donna Baker said...

this is a masterpiece 'nuff said

CreativeMish said...

What a beautiful job! I love it!

Bev J. said...

Very pretty-love the shine. tfs

Linda Carson said...

BRILLIANT!

Cheryl said...

You did a fabulous job re-creating the watercolor painting! Your card is stunning!

Anonymous said...

Julie this is so beautiful, I just love it!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely stunning Julie!! Your card is more beautiful than the original artwork!!

Elena said...

You are a real artist, Julie!!!

AJ said...

it's just beautiful!

Etha said...

THUD!!!









wow that's gorgeous :)

Jerri Kay said...

Oh my gosh, this is absolutely stunning Julie, so beautiful!