It’s B & W with a Splash of Colour!

Hello Friends!  I’m back from my hiatus!  It’s so good to be back with you!  I look forward to sharing more of our adventures in the week ahead.  For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you know we celebrated with a very fun trip away.  But, today I’m excited to be the hostess for the monthly Power & Spark Challenge from Power Poppy.  Here's what it’s about....

"I love the drama of black and white, and I’ve been seeing a lot of this gorgeous colour combination lately (maybe it’s been because I’m still in mourning over Chip & JoJo's show, Fixer Upper being done, she does love her black and white).  Lately, I’ve noticed black and white with splashes of dramatic colour mixed in, so this month I’m challenging you to go Black and White in your cardmaking, with just a splash of another colour highlighted in your design.  You can use grayscale to add definition to your black and white elements, but make sure some part of your design has a splash of one colour - any color!” 

So to kick it all off, I’ve taken out the ever beautiful set, Peony Muse from Power Poppy.  Using my MISTI stamp positioning tool, found an arrangement I liked using the large peony, some of the leaves and some of the berries.  That’s stamped in black ink and then I gave it some colouring using some cool gray Copics.    

  

Here, on the left,  is what the arrangement looked like after it was stamped.  You can see I left space in the arrangement for my “Splash of Colour” elements.  The nice thing is that I could use the Peony Muse Coordinating Dies (Back in Stock!) to cut out the shapes in advance, colour them with Copics, and then I have the ability to move them around on my design till I like how it looks.  You don’t have to have separate pieces for this challenge, you can just add a splash of colour on any image you choose, but I thought this would be a fun way to use the challenge idea for a dramatic bouquet. 

Here’s a close-up of the finished design.  I tried to colour that peony to have a deeper pink in the middle blending to soft pink petals on the outside.  You can see I’ve added the sentiment in a matching splash of colour.  I used my MISTI to stamp it once in a waterbased ink, then picked up my waterbrush to soften the edges of the sentiment, to look like watercolour.  I let it dry, and then stamped it full strength ink once again.  It gives you bold colour with soft diffused edges.  

I also picked up some of the ink in my waterbrush and splashed dots onto the design to give it a bit more interest.  I think it’s a sophisticated look.  Some black accents and black & white ribbon complete the card.  

A peek at the inside of the design.  It’s actually a really quick way to make a card because there are very few colour decisions to make! 

Here are the Copics I used, as you can see, it’s just a small amount which works well for limited markers, and for speed.  

I hope you can join in on the challenge with us!  I’d love to see what you make!  If you play along you’re in the running for a Power Poppy $50 gift certificate, and with our new releases just a few days away, it’s the BEST time to win!  

Pop on over and see what the rest of the Bloomies did today....

Allison Cope
Christine Okken (me)
Stacy Morgan
and the Power Poppy Blog