Glorious Peony

Hi Creative Friends,

I am back with a project using another of Penny Black’s beautiful floral stamps. This time, I am using “Peony“, which has two glorious blossoms.

This is a rubber cling stamp, so it requires less fiddling. In fact, I think the secret to these types of stamps, one that is not an outline but rather a fully detailed flower, is to stop sooner than you think.

Normally, I would create pink peonies, but I changed it up for this one and used yellows and oranges. With that said, I just might need to go back and create a pink-shaded one too!

But for now, let’s get started. I began with a 5″x7″ hot-pressed watercolor panel, my stamp positioner, and a few distress inks. With the stamp and paper mounted in the positioner, I first inked the flowers with Scattered Straw and Crushed Olive for the stems and leaves.

Next, I added another layer of color by adding bits of Wild Honey and Crackling Campfire distress inks. To do this, I inked and very lightly spritzed the stamp with water (the Spellbinders Mister is perfect for this!), then stamped.

I continued this process until I got to my desired look. To intensify the color in the deepest shadows, I used Barn Door distress ink and highlighted the leaf and stem areas with Forest Moss. As I mentioned before, less is more with this type of stamp. It is hard for me to stop fiddling, but I get the best results when I heed my own advice!

After the coloring was done and very dry, I added a border by applying low-tack tape around the edge. This created a 1/2″ border around the edge. I then lightly ink-blended Scattered Straw and Crushed Olive. The tape was then peeled off to reveal a beautiful, but simple, border.

To finish, I stamped a simple sentiment from the Paper Hugs stamp set by Penny Black and mounted the panel to a 5″x7″ Alabaster cream card stock card base.

I hope today’s project gave you a bit of inspiration, and you are ready to give it a whirl! ♥

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