Orchid Cascade

Sweet friends, spring is on its way throughout the country, and I hope you are enjoying the weather as it begins to warm.

Today I am sharing the newest digital image, and you may recognize it from the clear stamp set called Orchids Rock. This new lovely and versatile digital stamp set is called Orchid Cascade by Marcella Hawley. Here's her delightful description:

"This showy cymbidium orchid is now available as a digital download with two fresh sentiments. A delight to color in any rainbow of hues, with a pretty arched design that works perfectly with a sentiment tucked to the right. This is one you'll turn to again and again!"

As many of you know, I love digital images because we can resize them, recolor them, reverse them, and much more. I decided to go "clean and simple" (aka CAS in the stamping world) and crop just the top portion of this beautiful orchid. It was easy to color with three simple colors, and I know I will enjoy coloring more to build up my card stash with these sweet sentiments. I used a realistic cross-stitched die that I enjoy, matted it with pink to match the petals, and then added a few sequins for interest. And that was that! Sweet, eh? 

God is so gracious in giving us so many good things, and I continue to thank Him for the wonderful friendships I have made through blogging. You are so dear, and it has been a good week for me to continue to be quiet and listen to what God has for me each day. Thank you especially for your friendship.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all
making my prayer with joy...

Philippians 1:3-4

I hope my stamping friends will hop on over to Power Poppy and purchase this beautiful digital image and use it today. That's the fun about digital stamps. Buy them and use them the same day!

Precious friends, thank you for your visits and for your comments that I always love reading. I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you are praying for me. God has been so gracious, and I continue to pray for you as well. May God bless and encourage each of you.

Blessings, precious friends,

Stamps: Orchid Cascade (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White 80# and 110# (Neenah), Pretty in Pink (SU!)

Ink: Printer
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, X Stitched Square Dies (Gina Marie Designs), Mini Perfect Layers tool, sequins, Diamond Glaze, white tape
Techniques: Digital images using GIMP and Microsoft Word

Card Size: 4 1/2"
Copic markers used: Petals/buds – RV10, RV11, RV23, RV34; Stems – G20, G40, G24, YG01; Background – BG0000, BG000

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Heart Abloom

Hello, dear friends! Spring is in full bloom here in South Florida, and our temperatures are perfect. 

Today I am sharing a most extraordinary Heart Abloom digital release by Marcella Hawley. I could say it's my favorite, but she somehow always "tops" it again! Here's her delightful description:

"A tapestry of spring flowers fill a large, lush heart shape in this Color Story adventure! The flowers for this heart were expressly chosen for scene to celebrate yellows, greens, blues and purples. We have Daffodils and Narcissus, Trout Lilies, a myriad of single and double Hellebores, Trout Lilies, and then the surprise guest: Blueberries! Now, here’s the thing. Blueberries ripening on the vine start out a very pale greenish-white. The same stem can have a multitude of shades in white, pink, chartreuse, light and dark blue. Hellebores also are cross-pollinated to create loads of color combinations. So, whether you take this Color Story into cool territory with green, blue, deep purple, and white, or something warmer with blushes, yellows, and peachy tones, you are pretty much going to end up with a masterpiece! "

So if you look down at my card, you are probably saying to yourself, "Well, that's not a heart or all those flowers." But, Marcy has also included a single hellebore drawn from the main image. Now isn't that just fabulous for a simple card? I found a beautiful inspiration photo, pulled out my Copic markers, and colored. I used a Crimson Red to add some of the fine lines found in the Helleborus Harlequin Gem and then used a 50% French Grey for shading/highlights. (And I had to remind myself not to use my Copic markers after using my pencils.)

As most of you stampers know, I struggle with card layouts and with how to finish my cards. I tried using a stencil, tried sponging, and other ideas. But nothing worked beside just a bit of shading.  One of the fun things about this one (giving away my tricks here now…) is being able to make a photocopy of it and then enhance the areas that did not copy well with markers and/or pencils to look as good if not better than the original. So, I’ll definitely be making more of this card…and I am definitely going to try to be more daring with those! Hehe! As many of you know, Marcella Hawley always inspires us by sharing what each element is. Just wait till you see what she has done with it! Wow! So here's my clean and simple card, and it's easy to mail.

Reducing stress has been very important for my health, and God has given me an opportunity this week to relieve stress by coloring this beautiful artwork from Marcy. I've been focusing on being quiet and listening to what God would have me do each day and not try to tackle too much. I hope you too might find joy in the quiet of His presence. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul.

Psalm 23:2-3a

Now it's time for my stamping friends to hop on over to Power Poppy and purchase this beautiful digital image and use it today. And be sure to visit the Power Poppy blog today to read more and see who else is joining me!

Precious friends, thank you for your visits and for your comments that I always love reading. I am behind in replying to your comments (and also your blogs), but I am working on it! May God bless and encourage each of you.

Blessings, precious friends,

Stamps: Heart Abloom (Power Poppy) 

Paper: Solar White 110# (Neenah), Purely Pomegranate (SU!)

Ink: Printer
Tools/Accessories: Copic markers, Prismacolor pencils, Rectangles dies (ODBD), Blueprints 27 dies (MFT), Mini Perfect Layers tool, white tape, red tape,
Techniques: Digital images using GIMP and Microsoft Word

Card Size: 4” x 5¼”