Retiring the Paint Brushes for a Day or Two

If I had my way....

I'd water color all of the time...

Every card...

every day.

However...

I also have the desire to always expand my skills and card making repertoire...

so I put effort into consciously choosing to create cards that aren't water colored.

So..

I've retired the paint brushes for a few days..

and decided to get out my alcohol markers...

and take on a  challenge to...

blend blend blend....

I have a new collection of floral stamps from ODB (Our Daily Bread)

and thought that they'd be perfect for some color blending that wasn't water based.

The stamps have lots of dark line detail...

a style that I usually don't gravitate to...

But...as I mentioned...

I am focusing some (not all) of my card making adventures

on some new looks...and techniques 

So...out came the Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers...

the new stamps...

and the cards that I'll share today...

 are the end result...

I have numerous flower images from ODB...

My love of crocuses led me to  choose this one...

  See all of the dark detail and shading lines?

This is different for me...

I usually go for clean single line images.

So I was looking forward to inking this stamp up...

and giving it a test drive.

I had a few failed attempts at blending colors to give me the look I was going for...

But in the end...

I was happy with the two crocus cards that I created...

After I colored the images...

I put them through the ScanNCut 

(I love the white border option that the  ScanNCut offers...genius machine...genius!)

I used my current favorite die.....MFT Mini Scallop Rectangle

Got out some prints...

dimensionals...

My MISTI...

a few sequins...

and wha-la...

all of the elements came together nicely, I think.

I have always loved green and some shades of purple together..

so that's the color palette I chose for both crocus cards

The rectangle and the crocus image are both popped up on dimensionals

The print is a muted. soft swiss dot

not too loud...but visible

and a nice complement to the purple crocuses.

and...

a closeup...

so that you can see the details...

CAS (Clean and Simple) card making always makes me smile...

and this card....as well as the second card (below) are very CAS

so I'm smiling.

The second version also incorporates the green and purple color palette...

Dots sand plaids...

They never get old...

and they always bring a fresh bright look to a card.

So...this time...I went with plaid...

(and another CAS smile from me)

While I love to water color...

I can now say that I working with alcohol markers may be a close second...

and just as with water coloring...

I enjoy the magic that happens when blending colors.

Alcohol markers are very different than water coloring..

but the blending  and highlighting that I love when water coloring 

is also the beauty of alcohol marker coloring.

For me...

it's all about creating a new color palette....shading...and depth of color

by mixing single colors.

Water coloring bring that opportunity...and alcohol markers bring that opportunity as well...

Each in a very different way...

but also similar...in a way.

Will alcohol marker coloring move into first place for me...

nudging water coloring out of first place?

Never.

But it's a nice alternative...

an keeps my card repertoire fresh...and varied.

Card loving friends....Both of today's cards are available for purchase at The Bellissima Card Shop.

Card making friends...I've shared the supply info in the blog post ...(stamp and die info is noted above)

Thanks for visiting!

Michelle