Thinking of You Roses

Hello my fabulous friends! 

Kassi here, with a project featuring a beautiful stamp, no line coloring, and little sparkle... 

I can't say that I have a favorite flower... there are just too many amazing flowers to pick one... but I will say that roses hold the most memories for me. My grandma had beautiful roses lining the walkway to her front door... We would walk through them just to smell them and see all the pretty colors. 

She died when I was 11, and that rose garden were never the same... but to this day, when I smell roses, I think of her, and it makes me my heart happy. 

Paper: Strathmore Bristol Smooth

Stamps: Inkon3 Roses in Bloom, Posies

Ink: Inkon3 Fadeout, Juicy Clear; Tim Holtz Distress Ink Spun Sugar

Coloring: Zig Clean Color Real Brush

Flowers: 054, 230

Leaves:  091, 093, 046, 044, 063

Stencil:  Tim Holtz Flourish

Embossing Powder: Inkon3 Gold Rush

Other: Inkon3 Liquid Pixie Dust;  Kat Scrappiness Champagne Jewels

I started by stamping the roses on Bristol paper using Fadeout ink. I have found that when using  watercolor brush markers, bristol paper give the best results.

I then colored in a peach base coat for the roses. Once the first layer of color was dry, I added in my shadows and details with the darker pink. Working in layers and using more than one color family gives more interest to the overall piece. The peach under the pink warms the pink and makes the peach highlights look like they are catching the sunlight.

I also layered my stems and leaves... This time with grays.. I did my first layer of color a very light gray, than added in some darker gray shadows. 

I then added in a couple different shades of green and a little golden brown for more color variation. Many of the Zig markers are very bright, bold colors... which some people love, but I usually find too intense. The underpainting in gray helps dull down the greens. 

After the coloring was complete, I used a stencil and some Spun Sugar Distress ink to add a faint pattern to the outside edges, forming a soft vignette around the roses.

Next I wanted to add in some sparkle... so I scribbled my pink marker, and one of my green markers on an acrylic block. I then added a little bit of water and a drop of Liquid Pixie Dust to each color. 

After mixing in the Pixie Dust and water to the ink, I lightly tapped my paintbrush against my hand over the card front... This creates little colorfully sparkly splatters. I also did some splatters with just the Liquid Pixie Dust and water for clear sparkle splatters. Let the splatters dry completely before doing anything else.

 (Yes, Liquid Pixie Dust is liquid, and you don't HAVE to add water to splatter it... I just find that a little extra water helps the splattering process.)

Let the splatters dry completely before doing anything else.

For my sentiment, I dusted the card front with some anti-static powder, then stamped 'thinking of you' in Juicy Clear Embossing ink and embossed with Gold Rush embossing powder.

To finish the card, I adhered the card front to a card base, and added a few gems for a little extra sparkle and dimension. 

Now I just need to write a little note on the inside, pop it in an envelope, and it's off to make someone smile.

Be sure to check back here often for more inspiration from the incredible Creative Team! 

And if you're interested in seeing more no line coloring done with Fadeout ink, be sure to follow me on Instagram.

See you soon! 

Kassi