Petalsoft Peony

Today Julia challenged us over at SCS to do something out of our comfort zone.  Well, if you've been following me for a while you know I love rich colors, deep coloring probably in watercolor too, and probably more overstated than understated. 

So today I have something simple, understated and GASP!  ....pastel!  It's so rare that I make a pastel card!  So here it is and then I'll give you a mini tutorial into how I achieved the look. 

My Grandma had a beautiful garden.  I didn't ever get to see it, because she died before I was born, but I am named after her, so I feel this sort of kinship to her, especially after all my Mom has told me about her.  She had lots of peonies, and my mom divided the peonies from home and took them to her house, then she divided them again a few years ago and gave me that plant.  Now she's dividing hers again for my sister-in-law.  I love this sort of thing.  A deep sense of heritage and connection....and future growth. 

Here's what my Grandma's peony looks like, softly white, with a tiny touch of color inside and deep green foliage. 

So that was my inspiration for this card.  I wanted it to have more white softness than anything, but just a touch of color. 

When I went to my Copic Certification a month ago, Sherrie talked to us about making sure we don't touch our Copic markers to anything that could clog the nib.  So when you emboss something, you shouldn't touch your nib of your marker to the embossing (did you know that?).  So, I decided to try something that she had shown us.  I embossed my peony in white on cardstock vellum and then colored the back of the vellum (like a stained glass technique) to give it the color.  Because it's on the reverse side, you get a much softer version of the color too. 

Here is back-side of the embossed peony after I colored it. 

See it sort of has a mottled look because it's on vellum.....and here it is on the flip side....

See how the embossing gives it a completely different look, and the colors are so much more softened on the "right" side. 

Here is a closeup too....

So, understated, pastel, but a tribute to my Grandma...and my Mom who I'm going to give it too.  She continues to give to me and to our children a precious, beautiful heritage of Faith, sacrificial love and joy!

Recipe:  Stamps:  Flourishes - Peony;  Ink;  VersaMark, Always Artichoke, Blush Blossom;  Paper:  Blush Blossom, Whisper White, Cardstock Vellum;  Accessories:  Big Shot, Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, Silk Ribbon, SU Button, White Embossing Powder, Copic Markers (Tiger Lily and Evergreen Collection).