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: 3829
Favorited:15
Registered: January 6, 2004 Location: Connecticut Posts: 20543
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 1:51 PM
Very striking and beautiful!
------------------------------ Rediscovering the simple joy of stamping and exploring my art! Stamp your ART out! Share your thoughts. Let your heart sing.
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FS465
Registered: April 6, 2009 Location: Weyers Cave, Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley Posts: 31237
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 6:56 PM
You certainly know how to fussy cut, Julie, and that is an art in itself! Your use of bleach worked out perfectly in your favor, and sometimes that's hard to predict! Beautiful shading and this bg is SO A-mazing! Wonderfully created work of art~
------------------------------ ~Roberta
�Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.�
― Lou Holtz
Registered: May 18, 2008 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 1976
Tue, Jul 08, 2014 @ 11:17 PM
This is just breath-taking Julia! I love your beautifully colored Geraniums and the background effect. Thanks so much for sharing the details of how you colored these wonderful flowers (and how they took care of the beetle problem).
------------------------------ Jenney My Gallery: Sixclarks
Registered: July 9, 2008 Location: Stars Fell on Alabama Posts: 75064
Wed, Jul 09, 2014 @ 4:28 AM
Julie, this is gorgeous and the colors so vibrant. You used lots of wonderful tools for the "Tool Time" theme. Thanks for playing with us. Good tips about the geraniums and the watercolor paper. I haven't seen one Japanese beetle this year but they were really bad here about 2-3 years ago.
------------------------------ My Blog---My Gallery---My PinterestI'm a Punchkateer! (Prez) FOREVERDirty Dozen Alumni2014 CAS Spring DT--- Inspiration Challenge Co- Hostess 12/02/17-12/28/19 Watercolor Wednesday Design Team Hebrews 13:2Brenda
Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Alumni Splitcoast Challenge Hostess The Charmed Life
Registered: November 19, 2005 Location: Bethel Park, Pa Posts: 37265
Wed, Jul 09, 2014 @ 5:58 AM
This is really beautiful Julie-I like the vibrant bg- the SB labels 28 die frames the florals well-thanks for the tip on Japanese beetles and geraniums-they eat our hibiscus plants each year
------------------------------ Mary Marsh SCS Color Challenge DT Coordinator My Blog- The Charmed Life
Registered: April 1, 2012 Location: Rogers, AR Posts: 28938
Wed, Jul 09, 2014 @ 6:47 AM
Wow so colorful and gorgeous!! I love the way you have the white around the edges -- that is so cool!
------------------------------ Jan 'Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ'. Philippians 1:6