Aloha, all!
For the most part, Fall Colors in Hawaii are a bit different than Fall Colors in the more temperate climates of North America and Europe. We do have different flowers blooming as the days get a bit (but only a bit) shorter, and it does cool down a bit. Nonetheless, as we approach the end of August and September starts to get closer, those of us who started our lives in the "lower 48 states) or Canada begin to think of golds and reds and rusts and browns.
And so it was when I looked at the Create with Connie and Mary Sketch Challenge this week. I wanted to use a large stamp to cut into the four rectangles in their sketch, which is shown at the right. As I looked through my stash of stamps (not nearly a large enough stash!!) I came across the Sunflower Stamp. This is a large stamp that is often used as a background, but just as often used to be the center of attention on a card. So out came my Fall colors for this traditionally autumn flower.
To create the color for this image, I layered up some colors using a stamp pad (for the lightest color, So Saffron), an Aquapainter (for the watercolor effect on the petals, using Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, and Cajun Craze), and a blender pen (for the Baked Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip in the center of the flower).
The Sunflower image itself is about 5" square, so I needed to crop it to make it fit into the space I'd allocated for it. The nice thing about cropping is that I can pick and choose the parts of the image that colored up the best. Actually, in this flower, the whole thing was colored up about the same, and it almost seemed a shame to cut part of it out. But then it couldn't have been part of the challenge!
After I cut the four rectangles, I matted each of them with a piece of Baked Brown Sugar that was 1/16" larger than each of the pieces on all sides. To do this, I cut each piece 1/8" larger in width and height. The width of my four stamped pieces was 1-1/4", with the width of the mat at 1-3/8"; the two shorter pieces were each 1-1/2" high and the mats were 1-5/8"; and the longer pieces were 3-1/4" with 3-3/8" mats.
To add just a bit of texture interest, I added a butterfly made of a piece of Cajun Craze Cardstock punched with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and a piece of Crushed Curry punched with the Bitty Butterfly Punch. I added some Pearls for just a little bit of bling.
The greeting is one of the 9 different Thank You greetings from the Lots of Thanks Stamp Set. I stamped it in Early Espresso Ink as that seemed to show up better than the Chocolate Chip for this image. Finally, I mounted the whole card front onto a base of Baked Brown Sugar Card Stock. A lovely card for a Fall Thank You note – if I say so myself!!
The Create with Connie and Mary Challenge is open for entries for another five days. And if you miss this one, there's a new challenge every Thursday – and they're always fun!
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Robin, truly a stunning card
I just saw your card over on Create with Connie and Mary and had to stop by and leave you a comment. It is absolutely GORGEOUS! I love the multiple colors you used on the sunflower and the addition of the butterfly is just perfect!!! Beautiful color scheme for fall. 🙂
Robin,,,Your card is breath taking and just so beautiful. The use of colours and inks. Wow! Thanks for sharing it.
Oh Wow were my first words when I saw your card!! I love this flower stamp (I need to use it again!) and your rendition of this card is GORGEOUS! Love all the colors and techniques you used!! Thanks for joining us for the Create with Connie and Mary sketch challenge this week!
Absolutely beautiful card, Robin.
Donna
Thanks, everyone, for your complimentary comments! It's a nice way to start my day to see how much you liked my creation!
Great way to use the Sunflower stamp Robin. I used it today for one of the challenge cards you'll see at CCMC next month. Thanks for playing along this week at Create with Connie & Mary!
This is such a STUNNING card, Robin! I love how you used the sunflower and divided it up…then have a butterfly in the middle! Great colors, too! Thanks for playing along with the sketch challenge this week on Create with Connie and Mary!
WOW! This is such a beautiful way to use this stamp! What a gorgeous technique! Love these fall colors! Thanks for playing the challenge at Create with Connie and Mary!
WOW! This flower is jaw-dropping! Just beautiful! Thanks for the instructions on how you did the flower and thanks for joining us in the sketch challenge this week at Create with Connie and Mary!
Beautiful Robin!! Such attention to detail too. Your sunflower looks so real! So glad you joined us for the sketch challenge this week at Create with Connie and Mary!
This card just makes me happy and I've spied it on Pinterest a few times, too 🙂
Oh my word Robin…this is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!! Your fall colors are just BEAUTIFUL! and I LOVE yoru sunflower! Thanks for playing along this week in the Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge!
Beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for sharing your lovely art.