Hello! Hello!

Hello! Hello!

I'm happy to be back to my blog!

I haven't shared much here this past week

because I was busy making cards...

lots of cards...

lots and lots of cards!

And...

lots of bookmarks.

I didn't share photos because they were all created with

sketches, designs and images that I have used before.

(You would have been bored...so I spared you the pain!)

However...by Saturday afternoon...

the card making and book mark making marathon was over!

 All of requests for a big stack of water the colored hydrangea cards...

oodles and oodles of pet sympathy cards...

Father's Day cards

and huge collection of Thank You cards

and 

an egad-amounts of book marks of all sorts...

was complete!

And so....

 I immediately put my crafty little inked up hands 

on a wonderful Penny Black stamp

 that I have been wanting to create some cards with...

I'm awaiting delivery of my Spectrum Aqua Pencils...

but...

a friend was kind to share hers with me...

and this is what I came up with.

(I am LOVING the Spectrum Noir Aqua Blend  Pencils!!)

Love Love Love

Why?

(you ask)

Because you can blend colors so easily (and wonderfully) with them

I had to force myself to put the pencils away and walk out of the studio to make dinner...

I REALLY wanted to skip dinner 

and just stay in my studio all night coloring with the pencils.

I LOVE them

(I am repeating myself, I know.)

They're really kinda magical.

PS....I do own a set of water color pencils from the dinosaur era...but the Spectrums surpass those antiques...hands down...no doubt about it.

Oh!

The card.

(yikes...I got side tracked professing my love for the pencils)

Here it is!

This sweet image depicting a Springtime Crocus emerging amid remnants of Winter snow 

was perfect for using the Aqua pencils.

I chose PTI Rustic Cream Card Stock for the image.

I wondered if it would work well for water coloring...

The result: it worked very nicely..

and...

it tolerated the water used for  blending the pencil colors

No pilling...no thinning....no tearing.

I was happy about that

because I really like the Rustic card stock a lot 

and use it often.

The little fiber-like flecks in the paper always seem to be a perfect match for florals...botanicals......nature scenes etc

I do wish, though, that the color of the mat layer was more authentic in the photo

because it's the same color as the darkest color of the bird.

It's a perfect match and really makes the beautiful blended blues of the bird...pop

The mat layer is from LCI Paper.

I laid the color down... from the pencils... direct to the paper..

and blended with a wet paintbrush.

There's lots of color blending and layering in this image...

especially on the bird...

and the flower pot.

The Aqua pencils are just fantastic for blending...and layering colors!
(I should note: I applied the pencils directly to the card stock...but when layering after the initial water blending...I picked the color up with my paint brush FROM THE PENCIL TIP....and then applied it to the already blended area)

Brace yourself...

and consider yourself warned...

I WILL be sharing more cards..

colored with these magnificent Spectrum Noir Aqua Blend Pencils

(I already have a bunch of stamps  in mind that I want to color with these pencils.)

Here's one last photo...

up close and personal...

so that you can see the little sparkly shimmer on the snowy areas on the ground...

and the berries...

(Thanks to Spectrum Noir Sparkle Glitter Brush Pens)

So...

which stamp set did I use?

(This is always the BIG question...I know)

This stamp is a cling stamp..

by Penny Black...

called Pretty Perch

Card loving friends....This card is be available for purchase at The Bellissima Card Shop

Card making friends...The supplies used when creating this card have been noted in the blog post above (stamp...card stock.. pencil info)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle