Thursday 29 August 2019

Orange Flowers

Hi and welcome to our 400th sketch at Freshly Made Sketch Challenge!  It's a big week with some big prizes so I hope you'll head over to the challenge blog and check it out.  If you follow along, you'll know that our previous three sketches this month were from past challenges (Sketch #1/#100, Sketch #200 and Sketch #300).  This week we have a brand new sketch and it's wonderful!


I hadn't done any coloring at all since we lost our son in June.  I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and color, even though it is meant to be therapeutic.  So last weekend, I forced myself to sit down and pick up the Copics and this is the result.




And, even though I was incredibly rusty, it was quite calming to focus on nothing but laying down color.  I had no plan when I started - I just pulled out one of my favourite floral stamps sets, stamped a heap of images and picked up the markers.

Once I was finished coloring with markers, I went in with a dark blue Prismacolor pencil to add to the shadow areas.  I think I went a bit heavy in parts, but so be it.


To put the card together, I arranged all the die-cut images plus the embossed sentiment strip and put some Press n Seal over the top to hold them in the arrangement I wanted.  I then die-cut a piece of patterned paper and adhered the floral arrangement to the patterned paper piece.  To mimic the horizontal panel on the sketch, I added two score lines because I wanted to keep the card clean and let the flowers pop off the white card base.

I finished the card with some orange Nuvo Crystal Drops.




Thanks for visiting.  Head on over to the challenge blog and check out the wonderful cards made by the rest of the design team.  And here's a peek of what's on offer from our generous sponsors to some lucky players...




Products used:

Stamps:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (Winnie & Walter); Modern Petunias (WPlus9)
Ink:  Amalgam, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Black, Watercolor Wash Brights (MFT)
Dies:  In Bloom:  Addie's Garden (Winnie & Walter); Inside/Out Stitched Squares (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Ripened Pumpkin Nuvo Crystal Drops

Karren

15 comments:

Amy O said...

Well I don't see any rust -- just gorgeous flowers! I love the color combo and that subtle green background square. Just beautiful, Karren!

Wanda Cullen said...

My jaw is on the floor! This is such a beautifully colored and arranged group of elements! Saving this to Pinterest and am glad to see your listing of Copics used.

JoAnn said...

This is gorgeous. Your coloring and arrangement of the flowers is perfect. Thanks for sharing this beauty.
So sorry for the loss of your son. I lost my son 2-1/2 years ago. It takes a while to adjust and making cards and coloring is very therapeutic.

Greta said...

Your card caught my eye immediately on the FMS blog, so had to come see it! LOVE everything you did & your coloring is perfect in my eyes! Thank you for the inspiration!

Dawn T said...

so pretty Karren. Love the way the floral arrangement looks.

Barb Ghig said...

You certainly haven't lost your magic touch with Copic markers, Karren...Absolutely beautiful blending and I love your color palette! Great idea to add shadows with your dark blue pencil, too...I really love how this card turned out and I'm so glad it was calming for you to just 'have a play'! Sending hugs, Barb xx

Linda Callahan said...

Your coloring is as amazing as always - and I never thought about shading! Glad you were able to do this.....thinking of you as always....xoxo

Julie Mogford said...

Just wandered over to your blog after seeing your beautiful card! Your coloring as wonderful!- Julie

Jen Brum said...

This is such a beautiful card Karren! I just love your colouring! Doesn't look like you've taken any time off colouring at all! The flowers are so bright and vibrant! I hope you felt some peace while spending some time in your craft room!

Joanne James - The Crafty Owl said...

Beautiful Karren - those flowers are so vibrant. I hope you find your colouring to be theraputic, I do find it quite relaxing.

Migdalia said...

Love the beautiful flowers! Gorgeous card!!
Have a wonderful day,
Migdalia Rodriguez
Migdalia's Crafts

lichazul said...

very nice card, congrats
happy day :)

Jen Mitchell said...

This is beautiful Karren. I've always admired your coloring and I don't see any rusty skills here. I hope the exercise gave you a measure of peace. <3

Narelle Farrugia said...

Divine! that's really sums up this card! Oh and perfect! xxx

Kim S said...

It's beautiful - and clearly from the heart.