Wednesday 19 October 2016


Get Your Creative Juices Blooming 


I woke up this past Monday not really feeling creative at all...I mean I would have been more then happy to loaf around in my PJ's. Yet I really wanted to colour something but I just wasn't "feeling" any of my stamps. Seriously though...how can someone such as myself who has hundreds and hundred of stamps, not find ONE...SINGLE...STAMP that I wanted to colour?! I know that sounds silly but that's how I felt. I decided to have a peak on Etsy to see if there was anything that would help get my creative juices flowing. Not only did my Etsy search help get my creative juices flowing, I discovered a digital stamp company that I had never heard of before...I found AuroraWings. As I browsed through it's huge online catalogue of digital stamps I instantly fell in love with an image titled "Sunflower Sprite". I had the card design completely finished in my head before I even clicked the purchase button.


I coloured the image with my Copic markers as well as my Winsor & Newton Brushmarkers. To accentuate the highlights, I used a white Prismacolor Premier coloured pencil. I also used my fine Micron pen to add some dotting to the centre of the small flower that this cute character is holding. I have broken down the colours I used below.

Markers Used 

Skin: 
(Copics)
BV000, R20, E53, E00, E000

Eyes:
(Copics)
B63, B60, 0

Flower Petals: 
(Winsor & Newton Brush Markers)
O177, 0567, Y657, Y367, Y828

Leaves:
(Copics)
G19, G16, YG09, YG13

Sunflower Centre
(Copics)
E49, E47, E44, E43

Pants:
(Copics)
W7, W6, W5, W3, W2

Background
To create the background, I decided I wanted to try a technique I had seen demonstrated a number of months ago by Amy Rysavy on her YouTube channel. Its very simple and quick which makes this technique even better. 
I grabbed out my "Puffy Cloud Borders" dies by Lawn Fawn and die cut out some clouds on scrap card stock (if you don't have those dies or a similar product, you can easily trim out cloud shapes to do this technique). I then used it as a mask to do some ink blending with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink onto a cut down piece of Strathmore Bristol paper. Bristol is my favourite paper to use when ink blending...I get such wonderful and easy blends, however the colours become a little more muted when compared to ink blending on regular card stock. 


I was so pleased with the finished background.

Grass
To create the ground that the cute Sunflower Sprite would stand on, I again used a cut down piece of Strathmore Bristol paper and did some simple Ink Blending with Shabby Shutters and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks. to finish it off I used the "Grassy Hillside Borders" dies from Lawn Fawn to die cut the grass. I stamped my sentiment in the bottom left hand corner using Versamark ink and heat embossed using white detail embossing powder from Ranger.



Finishing Details


I adhered the grass to my cloud background and then ran that through my die cutting machine using the largest stitched rectangle die from Simon Says Stamp. I layered some dark brown card stock behind the cloud background and adhered the card front to my card base
I used my Brother Scan N' Cut to cut out my coloured image and then popped it up on the card front using 3M foam mounting tape. To finish off the card, I tied some hemp twine from American Crafts around the top of the card and added a few sequins in Metallic Gold from Pretty Pink Posh.   


I am so pleased with how this card turned out... Especially because hours before, I wasn't feeling very creative at all. I created this card while doing a Facebook Live on my Stampin' Steve Facebook Page. If you want to watch the video, click here. I do live streams weekly on my Facebook page so be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

If you have any question or comments, please be sure to leave them below - I LOVE to hear from you!

Till next time - Stephen





13 comments:

  1. Sunflower Sprite is one of my faves, Stephen an your coloring is just beautiful. Fabulous background, as well. So happy you've found Aurora Wings and our FB Group. Our current Blog challenge is Anything Goes, so you could enter it there, as well for a chance to win prizes. xxD https://aurorawingschallenge.blogspot.com/2016/10/challenge-38-anything-goes.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I entered but wasn't able to link directly to the blog post. I can't figure out how to do that.

      Delete
    2. Ok...I finally figured it out :) thanks again for letting me know about this awesome challenge

      Delete
  2. Such a beautiful card and your colouring are stunning. Great that you fiured out how to enter the challenge aswell. Looking forward in seeing more of your work. Have a great day xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your walk-through is one of the most thorough ones I've come across, Stephen. Wonderful CAS card with fabulous coloring on the Sunflower Sprite image. I'm so happy to know that this little Sprite digi helped you out of the creative block!! And welcome to our FB group! I look forward to seeing more of your gorgeous projects. Mitzi xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Mitzi! I am so enjoying my creative journey that I am on.

      Delete
  4. Stopping by for a second visit of the day to thank you for joining our ATG challenge at Aurora Wings with your beautiful work, Stephen! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you again!! It's my first challenge...I look forward to the next one. Perfect excuse to purchase another one of your beautiful images

      Delete
  5. So lovely! Wonderful layout and that twine is the perfect touch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I had so much fun making this card.

      Delete
  6. Wonderful card, one of my favourite sprites and so beautifully coloured Thank you for playing along with us at Aurora Wings, Good Luck
    Kevin xx

    ReplyDelete