Rose Bouquet

I'm not really happy with how this card photographed, but I'll share it anyway. I just have trouble with burgundies and dark pinks...oh well...just understand that the colors are a little different in person. :) The close-up below shows the colors more accurately. This is "Rose Bouquet," one of Heartfelt Creations' gorgeous floral stamps. A lot of the images in this style remind me of one-stroke or other painting patterns - one day I'm going to try one out that way, but it hasn't happened yet. I chose this particular image because of its ability to stand alone, or fill a corner or partial panel around a sentiment at a variety of different angles. It also works well stamped multiple times and layered or arranged/rearranged... I'll show an example of that later on another card....

My card fits in with the Flourishes challenge this week to go "outside the frame"...after I had stamped and colored my image I used my Coluzzle oval template and cut just where I wanted an oval shape to be, then trimmed around the outlying petals and leaves with a craft knife.

This image was colored with Neopiko markers (alcohol based), then shaded with Prismacolor pencils. (Click here for a tutorial on how I do this.) I like being able to lay down an even base layer before adding deeper tones and highlights. While I'm rambling, too, I've been experimenting more with shading using dark browns... for what it's worth!