A mix of old favorites and fresh new supplies. My craft room seems to have a revolving door of products. I love to play with new releases, but there is just not room to keep them all. Often as products retire, they are re-homed to make room for new. I do have a collection of old favorites that have earned a spot in my permanent collection. This floral image would be one of them. Budding Peony is long retired, but I so love this classic image. I paired it with fun new products for the new sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Here is a look at the original sketch design, so that you can come play along.
My peony took up most of my card front, but I do have a strip of ribbon running behind it for the strip in the sketch. Only a teeny bit remained visible after I glued everything down! My peony was stamped in black pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Color was added with the new Distress Watercolor Pencils by Tim Holtz. I so love the look of watercolors….but am totally a color in the lines type of crafter! I am drawn to the gorgeous free flowing lines of watercolor, but place tight constraints on my own water coloring! I do think I am going to love the new pencils, as they are so simple to use. There are numerous ways to color with the pencils. For this image, I applied the pencil directly to my stamped image and then blended with a water brush. I added more shading by applying the water brush directly to the pencil and then adding more color to the image. Super simple and it gave me the control to stay between the lines!
Design Tip: Embossing your images helps you maintain control of your water colors. The raised embossed area keeps your watercolor contained when using minimal water.
I paired the peony image with fun new products from Close To My Heart. Our Card Creativity promotion runs through the end of this month or while supplies last. This collection features super cute stamps, layering stencils and Thin Cuts. My favorite Thin Cut is the Circle Lattice Background used here. I chose to keep my background as a solid image. The individual pieces do come out, similar to a lattice fence and there is also an available stencil to allow you to shade the insides of the cut die. This is a limited edition release, if you love it….I would order sooner rather than later!
My sentiment is from the new Love and Laughter stamp set that is also featured in the Card Creativity Collection. In a world of so much negativity, it is great to tell people how awesome they are! Spread a little handmade kindness, one card at a time! Close To My Heart is offering a great bundle savings. You can save 20% off the retail price when you purchase the bundle of products, while supplies last! Here is a quick look at the product bundle, you can view all of the bundles here.
To create my card, I started by applying my strip of ribbon to the Lattice Background and adhering the panel to my card base. My sentiment was stamped in back pigment ink and clear embossed onto my stitched circle panel. The floral image was applied in layers with 3D foam tape for added dimension. A few silver glitter gems complete the card.
All supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
- Z4264 Budding Peony Stamp & Thin Cuts Set (retired)
- CC9220 Sending Love & Laughter Stamp Set
- 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
- Z3885 Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Paper
- Distress Watercolor Pencils, Set 1-Tim Holtz
- Z8000 Black Pigment Ink Pad (retired)
- Z2088 Clear Embossing Powder
- CC9229 Circle Lattice Background Thin Cut
- Stitched Circle Die-MFT
- Raspberry Ribbon-Retired
- Z4191 Silver Glitter Gems
I have entered my card in the following challenges:
- Creative Knockouts-Embossing Delight
- Die Cut Divas-Watercolor with a Die
- Happy Little Stampers-Watercolor
- Path of Positivity Challenge-Anything Goes
- Simon Says Stamp-Anything Goes
- Simon Says Stamp-Stitch It
Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope to see your creation this week at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!
Your card is gorgeous! I love the bold peony stamp, your water colouring and the overall card design. The sentiment is heart warming and would bring a smile to anyone’s face 🙂 Thank you for the embossing tip. So glad you shared your project with us at the Path of Positivity challenge. xx
Thanks so much for your kind comments and stopping by!
Gorgeous peonies, Allisa – just love the look of the water blended pencil. Haven’t tried the TH ones but they look amazing based on your results! Thanks for sharing at Die Cut Divas!!
Thanks so much! What I lack in skill with water coloring, I try to make up by buying the supplies!
I can see how that flower would earn a permanent spot in your collection! It looks great with the watercolouring, such a pretty card!
Thank you!
Such a beautiful card with the gorgeous flower, and that die cut background is lovely! The watercolor is so soft and pretty; perfect for this bloom! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Path of Positivity! ~Katrina
Thanks so much!
Just lovely – wonderful water coloring. So glad you joined us at Die Cut Divas for the October challenge. Arlene with the Die Cut Divas
Thanks so much for stopping by!
What a gorgeous card! That peony stamp is definitely a keeper, its just so gorgeous! Your watercoloring looks so great as well. Thank you so much for joining us at the Happy Little Stampers Watercolor challenge!
I’m drawn immediately to the background and stitched design! Love the predominate white background and then popping with the focal flower. Beautiful. Thanks for playing at Happy Little Stampers! xoxo
Beautiful card. That peony is definitely a show stopper and you’ve done a great job of watercoloring it. Liking how you used the background die – effective way to add a bit of interest without taking away from the gorgeous peony. Thanks for joining us at Die Cut Divas.
sue n.