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!