Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Peace Within Makes Beauty Without

It's a beautiful truth isn't it?  Peace within your soul and spirit brings beauty to your whole person, inside and out. 
My daughter and I both fell in love with this pretty stamp in the new catalogue.  It's rare for her to say, "Mom you need to get this one", but she did, and I did!  We have Adirondack chairs like this and they are great to cozy up in and read a book, or nap like this cat is doing.

I colored the scene with my Stampin' Write Markers.  I did this rather than reinkers because of the fine lines and details in this stamp.  Why? I find I get better precision on details with multiple colors when I used markers. 

After it was cut out with the Labels Two Nestie it was just a hair too big, so I trimmed it down to the embossing lines on the cut shape, then sponged it with Soft Suede to give it a better feeling of depth without the layers. 

Tip:  Notice all the horizontal and vertical lines in the stamped image?  You've got the vertical lines of the chair and the orchid plant mixed with the horizontal of the cat, pillow and chair seat...  Well, it's perfect to play that up with the vertical and horizontal lines of the sketch and the patterns of the paper.  Plus the woodgrain on the paper matches the chair.  I accentuated it more with the horizontal ribbon, sentiment and brads. 

Here's a closer pic of the watercoloring: 
I love the earthy look of the pot :) It was fun to color!  Oh, I also overstamped the orchids on the sentiment too to tie it in. 
Recipe:  Stamps:  Peace Within;  Ink:  Black Stazon, Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay;  Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Watercolor Paper, Autumn Meadows DSP;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels 3 Nesties, SW Markers, Aquq Painter, Bermuda Bay Ribbon, Piercer, Dimensionals, Vintage Brads. Sponge.

22 comments:

Laurie Schmidlin said...

Christine, this literally knocked my socks off!!! Wowsers!!!! Your watercoloring ability is nothing short of brilliant!!!

Ruthie said...

Wonderful watercoloring!!!!! it's gorgeous!

Lori Craig said...

absolutely gorgeous.. love the coloring.

Betty Wright said...

Gorgeous rich coloring and patterns, Christine!!! Lovely card and so beautifully done!!!

Michele Boyer said...

Oh my gosh, your coloring is outstanding! This is gorgeous! I love the rich colors, image, papers, all of it!

Melissa Sauls said...

My goodness the watercoloring is just drop dead gorgeous!!! BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing this.

Danni said...

This is just so gorgeous! Wow...awesome job!

Shannon Erskine aka e3stamper said...

Christine this gorgeous!!! Love yoru fantastic coloring and awesome dp and colors!!!

Jessica Diedrich said...

I am IM'ing with a friend and had to STOP conversation to tell her to look at this card...OMGOSH! Your coloring took my breath away Christine! One of my faves for sure!!!

Silke Ledlow said...

WOW - absolutely fabulous card!!! Love the colors, sketch and your special *Christine* touch to it!!! Your coloring is really awesome too!!! Hugs ~S~

Anonymous said...

I love the look of this card. It is amazing the colour combinations and layout are gorgeous. You sure are talented.

Leanna B

Traci M said...

Your colors are so rich and vibrant...and great perception with the horizontal lines, way to play it all up!! Beautiful card!!

Karen W said...

This is so pretty, what wonderful coloring and as in all your cards, it's gorgeous!

Unknown said...

christine...this is such a breathtaking card! you can watercolor like nobody's business, lady! truly a phenomenal card!

LeAnne said...

Very pretty, Christine.....such a sweet little image...reminds me of my own little kitty.

Dawn Frost said...

Wow your card is absolutely gorgeous!

Norine said...

this is really pretty love the teal colors
Hugs
Norine

Jerri Kay said...

It's so beautiful Christine, I love your color choices. We have Adironrak chairs as well. Felix made them for me for our anniversary some 10 years ago. Our cat loves to sleep in them.

Tosha Leyendekker said...

Christine, I seriously sighed when I saw this card. Girl, your coloring is outta this world fabulous!! And the colors you used...wish I thought in color like you do!! The colors and scene bring me right into the serenity and make me wish I were there!! *sigh*

Rose Ann said...

Your coloring on this is absolutely STUNNING, Christine!! Gorgeous work, girl!!

Leslie Miller said...

This is beautiful, Christine! Love your coloring, choice of colors and papers. Yes, the sentiment is very true.

Cheryl said...

I love that image too, and you did a GORGEOUS job with is...just fabulous!