What a perfect color combo for geraniums! I love geraniums, & not only are they beautiful & colorful, they are helpful in the garden. When we first moved to GA, we had terrible problems w/ Japanese beetles. They would strip the rose bushes & cherry trees almost overnight. Then I noticed a ton of dead beetles around my somewhat chewed geraniums. Turns out the beetles love the geraniums but they are deadly to them. Yay geraniums!
Anyway, this card is a total mix of techniques...and I used several of my favorite tools (for the CT)..my tiny acrylic brush, dye reinkers (if it says reindeers, you can blame autocorrect). I black embossed the image on water color paper. A note about the paperÂ…this isnÂ’t the good stuffÂ…itÂ’s water color paper from the kidÂ’s art supply section. IÂ’ve found when IÂ’m embossing, it does a better job than the good stuff. ItÂ’s smoother and not as heavy but it still stands up to water very well. I added color all over w/ a large paint brush, water & some dye reinkers. To make it a little more intense, I also sponged on some extra colors using two Kaleidacolor ink pads. I splattered a bit here & there then wet it down a bit to soften the splatter. I took a tiny acrylic paintbrush dipped in bleach & bleached some color back out inside the flowers & leaves. The embossed lines kept the bleach from traveling. If you try this, you must use an acrylic paintbrushÂ…the bleach will totally eat up natural hair bristles. To further define the image, I added a hint of shadow using a red & a green Copic below the flowers & leaves.
After die cutting the panel, I added a slightly larger, fussy cut black layer. Black die cut elements were added to the corners on the white layer. After matting this on black, I attached it back on top of the original water color bg the image was cut from. The die cut Hello was also shadowed in black.
Thanks so much for looking (& reading this whole chapter). Closeups are on my blog: The Write Stuff
Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2014 GMT Views: 3816
Favorited:15
Registered: June 29, 2004 Location: Sugar Land. Texas Posts: 79456
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 9:26 AM
Wow, this is awesome.
------------------------------ LizThe joy of the LORD is my strength.Right Brain Madness --My blogProud member of the redDivasKSS certified multi-step stamperFan Club member since 2004
Registered: January 4, 2012 Location: Twin Cities, MN Posts: 864
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 9:31 AM
Gasp! This totally jumped out at me in the gallery. I LOVE your bright, saturated colors on this card. And thanks for the tips about the kids' watercolor paper and the geraniums for getting rid of Japanese beetles! I'm going to try both!
Registered: August 15, 2007 Location: Twin Cities MN Posts: 50432
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 9:39 AM
WOW your geraniums are awesome..love the intenseness of the colors on this! I have a lot of geraniums, too on my patio...no problems with beetles...just rabbits ..but the rabbits never seem to eat the geraniums just everything else ;)
Registered: August 7, 2007 Location: North Carolina Posts: 28113
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 9:55 AM
Gorgeous techniques Julie... as always a vivid display of gorgeous color! Love the bleached flower petals... so rich and beautiful!
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Registered: September 24, 2007 Location: WA Posts: 13911
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 10:50 AM
Oh, Julie, what a beautiful creation! You worked very hard, and the results show it. Thanks for listing all the steps, and for the various tips. Your card is so lovely! Thanks for playing!
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Registered: March 20, 2008 Location: Hamilton, Ontario Canada Posts: 615
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 11:24 AM
Oh my goodness, Julie!!!!! You've totally taken my breath away!!! I absolutely LOVE this vibrantly colored piece of artwork!!! WOW!!! PLEASE, this needs to be kept as art, or please give it to someone who will keep it!!!
Thanks for your detailed instructions re how you created this!!!!! For someone like me who learns mainly from online sources (not usually possible for me to get to classes--health issues), this is a DREAM come true!!!
You've totally blown my mind with this intensity of color, how I love something like this, also love delicately colored images, but this--wow!!! I have to try it sometime, and will have a great tutorial all due to you. Thank you for sharing your talent here so that I can be so inspired and I can continue to learn from you. YOU are AMAZING, that is artistry beyond belief!!!