Hollyhocks Birthday

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

I seriously need some birthday cards! Every time I need one, I'm having to make it right then, rather than pull one out of my stash! I don't mind doing that, but it would sure be nice to have the choice of whether to make a new one or not. ;)
That said, I would have made this card anyway. I wanted to try out my newly-learned Copic skills. My DH liked how I colored before the class, and he thinks this is about the same. I, on the other hand, do see a difference, but maybe that's just because I know that this image was colored very deliberately.


Usually, when I've used Copics in the past, I pulled a bunch of markers out randomly and started coloring. I never put thought into color families because I didn't understand the Copic numbering system. Now I do, though, and it makes it so much easier when I'm coloring to know exactly what I want to use and why. For example, rather than testing every single green in my collection to find the right one to use for shading the leaves, I made my choice based on the Copic numbers. Of course, I still tested that marker before committing it to the image, but it ended up being the right choice. I did the same thing for the flowers, too. Yay! (Now I just need to fill in the gaps in my Copic collection so that the orphan markers I already have will have families to belong to, too.)

Isn't this image pretty? I've used it one other time, but that time I colored the flowers yellow so my coloring mistakes wouldn't be so noticeable, and I also only used a small portion of the image so I wouldn't have to color it all. This time I could be fearless! ;) I was even able to make the blue around the flowers fade into the bg rather than only drawing a line around the image. (If the bg behind the image looks pink or purple, it's not. It's actually white, but for the life of me, I couldn't get it to white without messing up the entire pic.)

Oh, right...there is more to this card than the colored image, isn't there. I zig zagged in black around the pink dp, lifted the image off the black mat with crimped cs, then put two pieces of ribbon under the lower right side of the image and added silver half pearls to each one. The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Flourishes Botanical Bookplates stamp set.

On the inside, I sponged Victorian Velvet Distress Ink around the inside edges of the die cut, then stamped the Hollyhock image off the right side of the sentiment panel in the same color so it would fade into the edge. The sentiment is from Flourishes Kids at Play stamp set.

Before I go, I wanted to share one more photo.
I often like to add a little something to bows on gifts. Last night I made this flower, added a sparkly gem in the center (after airbrushing it with my Copic airbrush!), layered several different flourishes behind it, then hot glued it to the bow on this gift. It's really this vivid in real life--practically blinding--but I love all these colors together. And, doesn't the bow look happy! :)

Thank you for stopping by! Have a great day!

I'm entering this card in the following challenge:
Flourishes Summer Lovin' Challenge (FTTCApr13) I used the color pallet from the inspiration pic.

I'm entering the birthday gift bow in this challenge:
Simon Says Stamp...Happy Birthday :-)

~Hugs,

Stamps: Hollyhocks, Botanical Bookplates, Kids at Play (Flourishes)
Paper: Splendid (Authentique)
Ink: Copics; Memento; Distress
Dies: A2 Matting Basics
Accessories: Twill Ribbon; silver pearls; sewing thread
Size: A6 (4.5" x 6.25")
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9 comments :

Stacy Morgan said...

I would say you did awesome with your new copic skills.hee hee Great birthday card, that stitching look is so cool. Thanks for playing in Flourishes Summer Loving Challenge.

Cheryl said...

STUNNING Cheryl! Beautiful coloring job with your Copics! It looks like a photograph. Love your added black-stitching and ribbon...adds the perfect touch. And how cool is that gift-bow? Neat!

cheiron said...

Gorgeous birthday card and the coloring on those flowers is AMAZING!!! Thanks for joining us and playing along with the Happy Birthday Challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog this week!

dpkennedy said...

Your coloring is just beautiful! Great shading and perfect stitching too! Thanks for playing with Flourishes!

Silke Ledlow said...

GORGEOUS, GORGEOUS birthday card Cheryl!!! Your coloring is amazing too...well done! I love the outside as well as the inside :) !!! Your flower for the gift...is awesome too! Thanks for joining in the Flouirshes fun...hugs ~S~

Amanda said...

Gorgeous! Truly gorgeous!! I love, love your card and your coloring! I love the stitching and the spectacular inside!

Katie Sims said...

Wow Cheryl! You rocked these hollyhocks!! I think our instructor would be most proud!! :) This really is gorgeous....makes me want to pull my stamp set out and color them too...lol! Good to see your beautiful work and am so glad we got to meet last week! :)

Heather Rogers said...

WOW Cheryl! I love your Hollyhocks, you colored them so nicely. Thanks for playing with the Flourishes summer challenge. :)

Hugs~

Leslie Miller said...

I think I'm enjoying your new Copic experience as much as you are! Isn't it fun? Wondeful job on these flowers. Such pretty colors you chose. You make me want to go color something. Gorgeous bow embellishment, too! Wow! Talk about a fun package!