Come On SPRING!

Hello, and happy Friday to you all! I don't want to sound like a whiner today but... who's going to join me and say that they are tired of winter??? I am so tired that I decided I needed to infuse a little spring into my creation today! And.... I wanted to try a "new to me" technique along the way!

So, on to my creation!

I pray that you can't tell, but the main image on my card literally took minutes to create -- mostly because it is one that is a little on the simple side when it comes to coloring but I just had to give this technique a whirl! I used the wreath from the Power Poppy set Bloomin' Wonderful. Here's all it took -- my super cheapo markers from Hobby Lobby, a larger size acrylic block, and a Wink of Stella Clear Glitter Brush.  

I didn't realize that you can use the Wink of Stella brush just as you do a water brush! I scribbled the colors of marker onto my block and then picked the color up with the brush to paint my image and I gotta tell you --- it worked like a charm! 

Here's a close up of the finished image -- only from an angle where you can see all the glitter! I love how you look at the image straight on and can't really see all the sparkle until you move it in the light. 

And that, my friends, is it! An easy peasy card that ushers in a feeling of SPRING! Now it's time to turn things over to my lovely stamping sisters -- the Bloomies -- to see what wonderous things they've whipped up for your viewing pleasure this week!

Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >> you are here!
Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by! I'll see you all back here real soon!
~Julie

Look Mom .... No Lines!

Goodness people, it feels like a ba-zillion years since I've posted here! Life has been a bit crazy in my world and my time to create has been nill! That's why I am so happy to be with you today! YAY! And, I have a first on my blog here. Never before in my history of card making have I tried the 'No Line Coloring' technique. 

This is why I gave it a try....

I did so because Ms. Cindy Lawrence made this fabulously artsy technique the focus for her Power Poppy Power & Spark Challenge this month! You can read up on the challenge and read up on some tips she offered on how to be a success at this style by clicking HERE!

I have to admit, I was nervous! I went in knowing, however (as Cindy pointed out) that there would be an ugly duckling phase of my coloring. Thank goodness she shared that this fact because there were a few times that I nearly ripped up my colored creation and threw it in the 'circular file'! But, I stuck with it and this was the result below! I did use quite a few Copic markers to color up this little bouquet from the Winter Pick-Me-Up digital stamp set by Power Poppy! Here goes! Background: BG0000, BG000, BG11; Greenery: YG00, YG21, YG03, YG17; Woody Stems: E31, E33, E57; Pussy Willows: W00, E41, E84; Crocus: B60, B63, B66, Y35 and Y38 (with white gel pen for highlights on stamens); Snowdrops: C00, YG00, YG13.

I should point out that before I even started coloring, I did have to open this file in Photoshop Elements and make the lines of the image super light. I changed it to a super light celery green. I should have take a photo to show you all, but forgot! If you ever need help on changing the color of the lines of a digital stamp, Power Poppy has a tutorial just for you! Just click HERE to read all about it! 

After I was done coloring, I did die cut my image with a double stitched rectangle die and while the die was still on my image, I colored using BG0000 around the outside to create a kind of shaded edge and then blended with colorless blender. The sentiment was added thanks to Versamark and detail gold embossing powder (sentiment is from the set Nice Things to Say).The rest is just matting it up! I used some scraps, added some paper piercing and a gold button threaded with twine and... ta da! Done! 

Here's a close-up! (Don't look too close -- I still have a LOT to learn about this technique!!)

And that, my sweet stamping friends, is it! I hope you give this technique a whirl! I do think that if you did it regularly, it would really give you that extra edge when it comes to realistically shading images to bring out the best in your stamped art. So, for that, I am grateful that Cindy put us all up to this challenge!

Now it's time to turn things over to my stamping sisters -- the Bloomies -- to see what they've created for your viewing pleasure this week!


Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber >>> you are here!
Stacy Morgan

Thanks for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me! Hope to see you all back here soon! :-)

~Julie