Hi there! I am so excited to be helping my friends at Colorado Craft Company to introduce their new illustrator and a darling new line of stamps for their February 2022 release! You should have arrived here from Donna Hitz, and your next stop is Jasleen Kaur. You can also start back at the beginning at Adrienne Kennedy CCC. I loved the sweet little mice in the new release, but you know me and flowers… I couldn’t resist doing some painting with the absolutely stunning Happy Peony stamp set, so let’s get started with the details!
I began by silver embossing the main image from Happy Peony onto the back of some Arches Cold Press watercolor paper. I find that, when stamping and embossing really detailed images like this onto watercolor paper, the back side of the cold press has slightly less texture, and thus gives a smoother embossed image. After embossing, I taped the panel down to my watercolor board to reduce warping, then added a thick wash of clean water to the panel followed by a diluted layer of purple, blue, and teal Daniel Smith watercolors. I was very free with this pale watercolors, allowing the colors to bleed and blend into each other, not caring whether I was painting a leaf or a flower petal. This diluted layer dried, as all watercolors do, much lighter than when I laid it down, creating a lovely base layer of color for my image.
Once the base layer was dry (I did use my heat gun to speed up the process), I added details using more intense shades of the same colors, painting the peonies blue (who says we can’t have blue peonies?), with touches of purple and teal. I die cut the finished watercolored piece using the coordinating dies.
Once I had finished painting, I blended some deep teal ink on a corner of a coordinating teal A2 card base, then splattered the background with some pearlescent white gouache. The base layer of the peony, painted freely and without attention to the edges of the image, creates a colorful edge around the die cut image, which avoids the white die cut edge that I try to avoid if possible. (Ha! I hate having that stark white edge against a richly colored card base, especially if there is not other white on the card front.) I popped up the die cut using foam adhesive, then added a greeting from Happy Peony with some more foam tape, double layering in some spots to get tons of dimension. The final step was to add some iridescent purple gems for sparkle.
Well, that’s all for today’s project! To celebrate their new release, Colorado Craft Company is sponsoring a giveaway for each stop on the blog hop. To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post by February 14, 2022. The winners will be announced on the Colorado Craft Company blog on February 16th.
I hope you’ll check out the new stamps from Kris Lauren at Colorado Craft Company; the entire line is absolutely charming. Your next stop on the hop is Jasleen Kaur. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and happy hopping!
gorgeous Emily!
This is incredible! I LOVE the blue!
Gorgeous depth of colors, Emily!
This blue palette is so stunning!
A beautiful card. Pearlescent gouache, I hadn’t known it came like that! This card is stunning. The depth in the watercolor, really something.
The blue made me fall in love with this flier!
Beautiful, love the tone on tone!
Beautiful. The tone on tone is so dramatic.
WOW!! I love this new release and I love your card all in blue. Just beautiful!!
What a great card! The blues are so dramatic!
Tremendous! Beautifully blue card and flowers!
Beautiful blues,Emily!
This really is a beautiful card. Love the darker blues instead of the typical pinks, reds etc. You were so helpful to me during connect and create and I’ve been practicing! Love this particular floral stamp
So beautiful and vibrant!
What a beautiful card! I love the blue.
Awesome card!
This is so incredibly stunning!!! I love the vibrant blue and purple you used!
This card beautiful! The tone on tone is just a show stopper.
Awesome monocromatic card. The blues are done beautifully
Blue is my favorite color and I LOVE your card, Emily! Outstanding!!
oh wow – gorgeous work:)
A very dreamy and ethereal design! TFS.
gorgeous all in blue tones!
Such a beautiful card!
Thanks for sharing.
Gorgeous blues!
Gorgeous dramatic card. Thanks for sharing.
I love all of the blue! That is a really pretty stamp.
Wowza, just stunning!
Ohhh, I never would have thought to make a nighttime scene. NICE
Beautiful flower design – love the colors!
Beautiful card, Emily! I love the blues❤️ This is a great new collection for CCC! Thanks for sharing!
what a great color to use for this floral! love it! Love this release that CCC colab’ed with. So fun
Beautiful card! The use of silver ep is a reminder of another neglected supply I have, but the peony is a reminder of something else I need. Love your work!
Gorgeous blues!
The happy peony is beautiful, especially with the embossing over it! Gorgeous colors. Ms. Kris will love the depth you created.
Love your beautiful card.
Wow!!! Your card is stunning Emily!! I love the wonderful blues on blues!!! Gorgeous colouring!! Thanks so much for the great inspiration. Take Care! 🙂
Dang girl, this is gorgeous! Absolutely love the new line. So many sweet images to color!
Soooooo BLUEtiful!!!!
The colors are deep and vibrant.
Gorgeous card. thanks for sharing
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The silver embossing with the shades of blue & purple on that gorgeous coloured background is out of this world Emily!!
Not sure if my first comment got posted as it’s not showing, so I hope it’s okay to repost. The silver embossing with the shades of blue & purple on this gorgeous coloured background are out of this world Emily!! So elegant. Love it.
Wow! I love all the blue- so pretty!
Wow!! I love your vision and use of dark tones!! Totally different than others and so cool!
That is so magical looking. Great work!
Beautiful in shades of blue.
Your card is so striking.
Oh my that is just gorgeous in blues!!
These mice are so dang cute–and I am excited to see what the new designer has in the future. Love the sweet creations! Your colors are Perfect!!!!!!
Simply Stunning
Love your beautiful, dramatic card! This image is simply gorgeous!
This is lovely, and a bit mysterious! Thank you for the inspiration.
Gorgeous card Emily!!💙
Gorgeous card! I love the colors you used!
Outstanding card. The flowers are beautiful and I love the colors
Great card. Dramatic intense colors.
Oh my! Your card is just exquisite! Love that moonlit look!
What a lovely, sophisticated image you created. Looks like a really fantastic new release; the mice look completely adorable.
So beautiful!
This is a beauty of a card! Gorgeous color choices! I need this peony in my stash. I’m loving this new release from Kris Lauren…it’s a breath of fresh air.
Beautiful blue card. Love this new release and adorable mice!
Gorgeous card! I love the design and colors!
Absolutely breathtaking, Emily… the depth of your blues is amazing! Wonderful, wonderful card creation!
Can’t wait to see the rest of the release and find out what you do to try to top your beautiful blue card.
Stunning card – I love the blue!
Gorgeous card! Love all the details.
Such a pretty card and awesome use of this stamp!
You added such drama to these stamps
I loved that you used blue! So pretty!
Love the blue color…so few blue flowers.
Pretty! Love how the peony pops against the dark background.
That flower is gorgeous Love those colors.
Stunning card! Love the blue!
Great color share. I like the combination for the flower.
Beautiful card! Absolutely love the blues.
wow, amazing design!