Hi there,
We are introducing one of Penny Black’s newest arrivals, the charming stamp set Country Charisma. It is chocked full of wildflower-like flowers and a few lovely containers. This card design features the down-home metal pitcher with a flowering bunch of flowers.
This design has some of the floral pieces cut out and some stamped directly on the front hot-pressed watercolor panel. To begin though, I started by stamping the pitcher and a few of the floral stamps separately onto a piece of cold-pressed watercolor paper. I needed to be sure to get a good impression, so I used a stamp positioner, like a MISTI or Stamp Press and began stamping the pitcher with Papertrey’s Honey Nut ink. Next, I stamped the broadleaf sprig of leaves with Papertrey’s Ocean Tides. Then, using Enchanted Evening ink I stamped the top part of the agapanthus-like flower and stamped the stems with New Leaf ink. One more flower to go, the hydrangea-type flower was stamped with a combination of Lovely Lady and Winter Wisteria and the stems with New Leaf.
I started coloring the pitcher by smooching a little square of Honey Nut, Weathervane and Cocoa Bean onto my glass mat and used the ink as my watercolors. With a small brush, the dark colors were used on the sides and a watery mix going toward the center, making sure to leave some uncolored areas.
The flowers and foliage were colored using the same technique and colors: Ocean Tides, Bright Buttercup, Winter Wisteria, Lovely Lady, Enchanted Evening, Pinefeather, and New Leaf. When all the coloring was done, the pieces were cut out using the matching dies.
I wanted part of the leaves to be separate, to show depth and dimension and some stamped directly onto the front panel. But to get the positioning right, I first placed a hot-pressed watercolor paper panel in my stamp positioner, then laid the pitcher and the loose floral pieces over the top to get the positioning right. I then made a few very small and light marks with a pencil on the front panel to give me an idea of where to stamp the remaining leaves.
With the loose floral pieces and the pitcher removed and the pencil marks to be my guide, I stamped the unused foliage stamp with a combination of Pinefeather and New Leaf ink. The leaves were then colored with Pinefeather, New Leaf, and touches of Bright Buttercup.
Then, using a watered-down Honey-Nut brown, I add a line for the beginning of the ‘tabletop’ and continued making very light plaid-type markings. Weathervane gray was added the same way.
Above the ‘tabletop’, I added little circles with Weathervane ink and my small brush.
When the front panel was dry, it was mounted onto a Smoke Gray cardstock card base and a Smoke Gray frame was cut using one of the My Favorite Things Rectangle frames dies.
The frame was adhered to the front. Then a slit was cut in the pitcher where I inserted the loose floral pieces just like arranging real flowers and adhered the whole thing to the front.
I opted for a tiny sentiment on a tiny tag, tied with a gold bow.
Goodies Used:
