Day 5...Catherine Scanlon Designs Week...and a Wonderful Giveaway!

Welcome back my crafty and creative friends!

Today is Day 5 of Catherine Scanlon Designs Week...and Giveaway

here at my blog!

(USA card makers: Don't forget to post a comment below so that you'll be "in" on the giveaway)

Today I'm sharing a short stack of cards created with the 

Catherine Scanlon Designs PEONIES stamp .

THIS stamp is one of those stamps that catapults me 

to my happiest of happy card making places!

I am a peony lover...and a hydrangea lover..

and THIS peony stamp...to me...is nothing less than magnificent!

(I LOVE that the image...and many of Catherine Scanlon's designs fill up an A2 card front)

I stamped all...but one of the images with Versamark Ink

and heat embossed the images with Sparkle n Sprinkle Fine Detail Gold Embossing Powder.

The heat embossed images were water colored with a traditional paint brush...

water and Altenew Crisp Ink pads.

The inked (not embossed) image was water colored with Distress Ink

(the original Distress inks...not the Oxides)

I used LCI Metallic Card stock for all of the matting

and a Penny Black SNIPPETS stamp set for the sentiments.

My sweetheart...Gary...loves my gold embossed water colored cards.

He is my biggest cheerleader....enabler...and valued critic.

He watched as I created the stack of Peony cards...

and asked how the water colored image would look without heat embossing.

So..I stamped one Peony image out...with black Staz-on ink

so that Gary could see the difference.

 This is quite a change for me

because I almost always heat emboss images that I am water coloring.

But it was a welcomed...temporary change

and reminded me of how nice a non-heat embossed image can look when water colored.

Distress ink aways gives great results when used for water coloring...

the colors always have depth...and react beautifully to water and each other.

End Result: Gary liked this version...and appreciated the opportunity to see the difference 

between the final look of a water colored image without gold heat embossing

vs

a gold heat embossed and water colored image.

The next 4 cards were all heat embossed...

and water colored with Altenew ink pads.

For this card...

I chose ink that would blend nicely to create coral tones.

Here...I chose ink colors that kept the color palette pink....

leaning toward darker pink tones

The palette here is also pink...
but I gave attention to keeping it a bit lighter than the previous card

And...

 for the 5th...and final card...

I added some purple to create peony blooms that were purple with pink undertones.

These 5 cards are a perfect example as to WHY I enjoy creating in multiples.

I LOVE the endless possibilities of creating color..shading..and blending

when water coloring.

So..for me..it's always fun to have one image...

and explore the possibilities of various looks by making slight..or drastic changes to the color palette.

Also...for me..being that I am a VERY CAS card maker...

( My cards are typically very clean and simple.....not a lot of embellishing.etc..not a lot of extras)

Well..for me...there's lots of enjoyment in finding the ideal matting colors for these large images.

It's amazing how the mat color completely influences the final look of the card.

Finding the perfect mat color is often an AH-HA!! moment for me.

When I "see" it...

something tells me...THAT'S IT!

and..I just know that it's "right"

Okay now..there we have it...Day 5 of Catherine Scanlon Week 

here at the Bellissima Cards Blog!

Any day that is all about creating cards with Peonies is a great day for me!

I hope that you've enjoyed seeing today's cards

as much as I've enjoyed creating them!

Thanks for visiting!

And don't forget to comment below...

so that you'll be "in" on next weeks Catherine Scanlon Stamp giveaway!

**If you'd like to see all of Catherine Scanlon's stamps...

you can check them out...HERE ... at the Art Gone Wild  web site.

Have a great day!

See you tomorrow..when I share some cards with you...

on the 6th and Final Day of Catherine Scanlon Week

Michelle.