Friday 11 March 2016

Blended Bloom Thank You Card

This is a thank you card for a special lady.  My beautiful, gentle and charming friend, Norma, has accumulated 92 years of wisdom but has not been feeling very well recently and that is making her a bit sad.  I'm hoping this card will help to lift her spirits a little.

SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome
I think I should also dedicate this card to the wonderful Stampin' Up! artist who created this beautiful stamp!

Norma and I met several years ago in hospital - we shared a room - and I am so very grateful that we did!

As the pain killers started to wear off and I was waiting for the next dose to work, Norma would tell me a story.  They were always interesting, inpsirational and involved personal or family experiences.  And they always lasted just long enough to distract me until the pain relief took hold.

It took me a while to realise what she had been doing for me despite her own challenges.  That's an example of the wonderful person she is and why I am so grateful to call her my friend.

I'm including this card in the Crazy Crafters Team Highlight this week - which is a bit of a special one!  We are being joined by AMAZING card-makers from around the globe - so do click on this link to go and have a look at all the wonderful projects with a theme of "Thank You".

You can also vote for your favourite projects ... including mine, if you like it!
SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome
There is a little touch of Gold Wink of Stella in the centre of this little flower from Everything Eleanor


'Til next time
Stephanie

I have now made some video tutorials:

   This is a fairly detailed tutorial for monochrome watercolouring

  This is a short companion video covering the use of two ink colours

Some extra details:
SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome
 I stamped in Rose Red onto Rose Red card.  Then I added some white onto the stamens so that I'd be able to find them later!
SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome
 To each petal, I applied a wash of Rose Red ink and then dropped in some Blackberry Bliss to start getting some dark tones.  In places I also blended in a little extra Rose Red.








I was careful to ensure that the ink was dry before working on adjacent areas.
SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome



 I just kept building up the tones in the flower in this way.
SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome

SU, Blended Bloom, Watercolouring, monochromatic watercolour, monochrome
At the very end, I added a little more dark in places with the fine end of a Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Write Marker.   I also added a tiny touch more white to the stamens.

The very last step was to add the shadow under the flower (so that it wasn't floating in mid air!) and stamp the greeting.







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31 comments:

  1. Your shading skills are amazeballs! xx

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  2. Wow, that is beautiful!
    Greetings from the Netherlands,
    Danielle (Mrs. B. Goes stamping)

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  3. Another amazing card! You inspired me so much. I'm going to give it a go !

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Satomi! Fantastic! I look forward to seeing the beauty you create.

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  4. Just beautiful Stephanie Your coloring is awesome. Angexx

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    1. Thank you, Ange! It's something I really enjoy doing - and it's therapeutic!

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  5. this is one absolutely amazingly coloured card - and just love the effect of all those layers as you have built them up one, by one. Stunning!

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  6. Absolutely stunning! How did you color on regular cardstock and not warp or tear the cardstock. Fantastic job! Yes, I voted for your card.

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    1. Thank you! I appreciate your comment and your support. I think the trick to watercolouring on regular cardstock is to have good control of the amount of water used and to maintain a very light touch. I end up with a very inky left hand because I constantly use it to feel the end of my brush!

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  7. Replies
    1. Thank you, Angela! I really appreciate the confidence boost.

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  8. Thanks for putting up so much detail on how to colour this card Stephanie! You have done a brilliant job! The flower is awesome!

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  9. Holey Dooley! This is super special! Wowowowowowow what id give to sit with you and get some lessons on colouring in. You are amazeballs!!!!!

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  10. Gorgeous Stephanie! Amazing colouring skills. Love to Norma. Xoxo

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Gail. I'll pass that on to Norma - she'll be tickled!

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  11. Another beautiful creation Stephanie. LOVE your technique in rendering the flower - Looks amazing and so heartfelt! :)

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  12. This is stunning! Thanks so much for sharing your technique as well as the card.

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  13. Wow Steph....your colouring is awesome....Thanks for sharing your secrets xx

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  14. How wonderful Stephanie! You have so much talent. Love the tutorial too. Appreciate you adding your picture and link for the blog highlight this week. I hope you play along again in April.

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