simon says stamp new release

Before I get started, I wanted to let you know that today’s Mom’s Spring Flowers set is part of a new release from Simon Says Stamp. You can check out the Hello Gorgeous release here.

simple, classic design

So back to today’s card, and the Mom’s Spring Flowers set I used has the most stunning floral spray that had me reaching for my watercolours.

When I’m no line watercolouring, I usually reach for my Antique Linen Distress ink pad. However, I wanted to change the tone of this card a little and so rather than choosing the warm tones of Antique Linen, I picked out the cooler colour of Pumice Stone Distress Ink and stamped the flowers in its light grey on Arches watercolour card.

Before moving on to painting the image, I used a Micron pen to draw in the flower centres over the stamped lines. Once I start getting lots of water on there, the definition of the centres will disappear, so getting these details in at the beginning helps tremendously.

beautiful floral spray

Slowly but surely, I built the layers of watercolour. I always prefer to start with the leaves and ground the image before moving on to the flowers. I used Daniel Smith watercolours and lay down a light layer of pale green. One of my favourites is Undersea Green and Perylene Green would be another I would always want in my palette. As I built the layers I also like to bring in some colours from flowers I plan to paint. So I added a touch of pink here and there. The contrasting colours bring the leaves to life.

I like mucky pinks rather than brighter colours. Favourites would be Piemontite Genuine mixed with a little Pyrrol Crimson to add warmth. Talking of warmth, I added touches of Monte Amiata Natural Sienna to a few petals. It’s a Yellow Ochre kind of colour but with more yellow. Whereas Yellow Ochre is more of an earthy colour. I added a bit of definition with Faber Castell pencils before I finished the painting with a splatter of left over paint and white gouache.

For the sentiment, I stamped a greeting from the Garden Boots set in Versamark ink on Ivory card. I sprinkled with Antique Gold Embossing Powder and heat set. I trimmed the sentiment with a craft knife and scalpel and then added to the card front with foam tape. The card front itself is mounted on a base cut from Neenah Desert Storm card with foam tape. I added a sprinkling of Powder Puff sequins and enamel dots to finish.

rebelling against the algorithm

Over on Instagram, I’ve been chatting about sharing more things, not just card making, but other hobbies and interests I have. A bit about where I live and our life with our boisterous Golden Retriever. 

I’m not sure if you use social media, but there’s always this pressure to conform to what they want and fit with the algorithm which decides whether to show your project to your followers. I don’t have time or inclination for that. I just want to share what I’m up to and connect with others. 

So, if you are up for it, I hope to share a little more over on Instagram. Instead of a perfectly curated feed, I want to share my interests as they change over time, as I change as a person, as the seasons ebb and flow both literally and time of life/circumstance. I hope you’ll pop on over and join me in my rebellion! Let’s all share more about ourselves and show more of the people we are.

The first pear was painted using oils, following along with a Craig Stephens still life class I’ve been taking. If watercolour is more your thing, then here’s a pear I painted from a stamp set. There’s a video for this card, although the actual stamp set is no longer available. You can check out the blog post and video here.

Well, that’s me for today. Catch up soon.

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.