Zinnias

Friday, August 5, 2011

I recently bought the new book, Copic Coloring Guide, to try to improve my coloring skills, and I practiced on the card I'm sharing with you today. While I'm far from an expert, it was amazing to see how much better I colored once I understood better about the Copic numbering system. I also found that I had been way too heavy-handed with the markers in the past. and flicking isn't nearly as difficult as I was making it out to be.

This card is for two Tuesday challenges: Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #129--Favorite Flowers, and Tuesday Morning Sketches #105. Here's the sketch:

For my flowers, I used a stamp from Flourishes' Zinnias set. What a fun stamp to color. Zinnias come in so many bright, festive colors. I think I used about 30 different markers for this stamp :). I'm sure I could have colored it with less, but what I did seemed to work okay, even if it probably took me way longer to color than it would have if I'd had more Copic experience. After coloring it, I used a pale yellow blending chalk for some of the background.

After spending all that time coloring, I was in a dilemma over what paper to use for the card. A lot of papers looked good with the flowers, but I really wanted the stamp to shine, so, in the end, I went with all white, with just a touch of black ribbon as an accent. (I apologize for how dark the photos are. I tried using brighter images, but any brighter and you couldn't see the embossing on the background paper.) I used two different EK Success edge punches for the left panel and adhered the Lattice Chain over a piece of black organdy ribbon. Even the butterfly is almost all white. I inked the die with black ink before cutting, and left it without any other colors. I embossed the main background panel with a Sizzix embossing plate (Squares), and added black rhinestones and crystal Stickles to the left panels for a little sparkle.
I layered two different Spellbinder dies behind the stamp because the first layer seemed too flimsy, plus being all white, I needed it to show up against the background. 
For the bow, I tied a bow with two loops on each side, then folded it in half so that all the loops fell to one side of the knot in the middle. I hot glued it to the edge of the main image, and rather than put a sentiment on the front of the card, I left long lengths of ribbon hanging to where the sentiment would have gone. I attached the white butterfly to the bow knot.

For the inside, I cut two black corner accents and put them in opposite corners, then stamped a sentiment (also from the Zinnia set) in the lower left corner.  

I've been wanting to make an all-white card for awhile, and attempted it about a month ago, but ended up adding color to the embossing before I was finished. I'm glad I stuck with white for this one. 

Thanks for visiting me today. Have a great weekend!  
 
Stamps: Zinnias (Flourishes)
Paper: Darice; Recollections
Ink: Staz-On; Copics
Accessories: Dies: Classic Circles Lg., Parisian Accents, Parisian Motifs, Lotus Pendant (Spellbinders); Dimensional Butterfly (Cheery Lynn Designs); Squares embossing plate (Sizzix); seam binding (Hug Snug); organdy ribbon (Joann); rhinestones, Stickles; Lattice Chain Lg Edger & Diamond Lace Edger (EK Success); Inkadinkadoo blending chalk; dimensionals
Size: A^ (4.5" x 6.25")
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9 comments :

Heather Rogers said...

Maybe I need this book too. I have been wanting to take a Copic class for 2 years now and haven't had one come close except for the weekend we moved they came to town. Go figure hu! :)
Your jar of Zinnias is amazing. You did a fabulous job coloring.
Hugs~

Jean McKenzie said...

Cheryl, Your colouring looks so good! Love those zinnias and I have that stamp set coming. The image looks great against the white background and I like how you have positioned the bow. Beautiful card!

Cindy Haffner said...

So BEAUTIFUL Cheryl!!

Marilyn (stampwithMJ) said...

Beautiful coloring. I was wondering about this book so thanks for the little review.

ChristineCreations said...

Beautifully done! That border punch is so sharp and sets off the design so well. I love the color of all the zinnias against the white too!

Allison Cope said...

Just stunning Cheryl! I just adore your bright and fun zinnias! Thanks so much for joining us this week at Flourishes for Timeless Tuesday!

Melissa Craig said...

Oooooh this is stunning! I love all the details and the flowers are gorgeous. Thanks for joining us at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Silke Ledlow said...

Pure GORGEOUSNESS Cheryl! Love this design and you colored the zinnias fabulously! Thank you for playing this weeks FTTC with us...hugs ~S~

Theresa said...

This is beautiful. I just love Flourishes. Love the lattice border. Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for joining us at Tuesday Morning Sketches.