Hummingbird & Columbine – Retired but Not Forgotten!

You never know what treasures you will find hidden away within your own “safe place stash!” I fell in love with this one several years ago and placed it in that “safe place.” Have thought about it, looked for it and finally, this past week, found it! Oh, so happy! And so many other exciting older, retired stamps! I feel like an old kid getting a new toy!

Having used colored pencils for over 25 years, I have developed a passion for multi-color blending. My first challenge was considering the color combinations for that delicate little hummingbird. Their color range is beyond my normal blended color palette ideas. Also, I want to try to capture that iridescent appearance. 

Basic Materials: 

• Stamp from Whimsy Stamp by Dove Art designs - retired.

• Strathmore Watercolor ready cut – 140lb – 5x7 in.

• VersaFine Clair – Morning Mist

• Colored pencils by PrismaColor

• Shimmers by Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss

• Micron 01 Black

Hummingbird: Selecting the colors was easy – just put my hand into my pencil box and select! Green/blue/yellows! More?

First, apply a light coat of Lime Peel (greenish yellow) over portions of the head and back. To that lightly apply Peacock Blue to the same areas. Now, lightly apply the Lime Peel over the remainder of the body. Highlight with the Cream and Canary Yellow. For a little more life, highlight the body near the wing with a touch of Scarlet Lake (red) and Mineral Orange. The wing and tail feathers use a soft touch, randomly stroke yellows, orange and lime. Keep them very light. His beak is Mineral Orange with Canary Yellow highlights. 

Still wanting to get that iridescent appearance, I used Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss over the entire hummingbird.

Columbine: I was amazed as to the vast variety of color within the Columbine family. I had been thinking of the traditional red and white combo but sort of changed my mind. Softly, using overlapping circular side strokes blend the Scarlet Lake (red) with Mineral Orange, then highlight with Cream and White. Add Lime Peel for the stamen with a touch of Canary Yellow.

Detailing: This is optional – Use Micron 01 Black. Refer to photo.

Background and trim: background colors are Peacock Blue and Lime Peel. I used my finger to blend and soften the background. 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

If you have any comments, I would love to hear from you.

Remember:

All of us do not have equal talents,

but all of us should have

an equal opportunity

to develop our talents.

(John F. Kennedy)

No Surface Border Taping… Part 2

Thank you for returning for the instructional part of the last project. 

For this phase kept the Aperture in place. 

FLOWERS AND STEMS: If you glance at the material list, the colors are listed as they were used. Usually, I prefer to apply the lightest first. When applying and blending in the darker shades, go lightly over the lighter and build up the color blends. After applying several layers, try using a blending stick. That drags the colors together. 

BACKGROUND: The Eye-Shadow brush may seem like a strange item. They work beautifully, especially with PanPastels (powdered pigment color). A little goes a long way! Just lightly touch the brush onto the surface (do not dig into the color), tap off excess from the brush and “paint.” The results on blending these colors is really thrilling. Let this set a few minutes. You may want to lightly blow the excess color off and let the color settle. Now carefully remove the tape and lift the aperture. (Clean both sides of the aperture with a damp cloth.)

To set the color, use a spray finish sealer to apply one or two light coats. Let dry between coats.

OPTIONS: This was another area I wanted to explore: how older colored pencils would react with a VersaMark application. In the past, I found that moisture with most colored pencils does pull the color but far from what occurs with watercolor pencils. Use the brush end of the VersaMark brush. Then apply the embossing powder and tap off the excess. Heat set per normal.

The white boarder was a little more than I preferred so I trimmed it back to approximately ¼”.

Assemble the card to your liking!

Material List:

• Artistico Extra White 100% Cotton Hot Press 140 lbs., 5” x 7” pre-cut watercolor paper

• Sweet Poppy Stencil, Rectangular Aperture SP6-125R 

• Penny Black, Awaken, 40-507

• VersaFine Claire, Morning Mist

• PrismaColor (colored pencils): Lavendar PC934, Lilac PC956, Parma Violet PC1008, Mineral Orange PC1033, Lime Peel PC1005, Marine Green PC988, White PC939

• Blending stick

• PanPasels, shades of yellows (lights to darks)

• Eye Shadow Brush applicator 

• Spray sealer

• VersaMarker pen

• Super Fine Clear Embossing Powder

• Embossing Gun

• Sentiment stamp of your choice

• StarDreams – Amethyst (I think)

• Double-sided tape 

• A7 (5.25” x 7.25”) Envelope

Thank you again for stopping by. I am looking forward to sharing a few more ideas for making cards. Hope you will join us again.

  

No surface border taping…

Before I start, I have to apologize - It's been a long time since I posted last. Time got away from me as we had important family matters that took my attention away from here. Hope you will again add my site to your "what are they doing now" list. Thank you.

And now:

Recently, I have been trying to find a way to create a nice clean border for my card fronts without using tape on the front side. If you know me, you will remember that I only have one arm. That has created a few challenges. Especially when using any kind of removeable tape. 

While working on my Christmas cards this past year, there were several incidents with “paper-hungry-sticky-tape” problems! A few were fixable but a few were delivered to the trash-can!

I came up with an odd solution: I tried using an older metal 5”x7” aperture/stencil (center opening 3 ¾”x6”) by placing the aperture on a lightbox glass surface. Then I laid a piece of precut 5”x7” watercolor payer on top. With the light on, I could see to center opening shining through the paper. That made it easier to center the workable area and created a lovely border surrounding the workplace. I secured the paper on what would be the back side of the card front with small pieces of tape.  

That made it so easy to work on this project: 

I still need some time to figure how I'd like to present this card front. I have an idea, it will be my next project posting along with the material list.

Thank you for looking me up. I pray you have a great week and will stop in again in a few days. Our coffee pot is always ready and the cinnamon tea only takes a moment - let's create!