This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks Simon!
Hi friends! With as much work as I’ve been doing in my craft room lately, I’ve been trying to keep things interesting with different color schemes and techniques. I love cornflower blue, and I love all variations of aqua/pool, but the new Tidepool color from Concord and 9th’s 2023 color release has absolutely won my heart, so for today’s post I wanted to combine the two colors to create a pair of elegant floral cards. I have created a collection of color combinations for my alcohol markers to use as a quick reference when I am searching for a color match or looking at different color combinations, but I couldn’t find just the right match for the gorgeous and unique Tidepool. No matter; I pulled out my Hex Chart and started swatching different combinations of colors that were a close match to the beautiful blueish-green cardstock.
When watercoloring, one can use a technique called “glazing” to add a subtle wash of diluted color over a dry, previously-watercolored area. This addition can completely change the overall feel of the color, brightening or muting the area, depending on the color of the glaze. I frequently use this technique when watercoloring large florals to add reflections of the surrounding colors and to add interest to the image. When searching for an exact match for Tidepool amongst my Copic markers, every combination that I tried was either too blue or too green. After trying a dozen different combinations, I settled on BG78, 75, and 72, which are lovely shades of a muted gray-turquoise, adding a “glaze” of G00 to brighten up the green.
For my first card, I die cut the Flourishing Blooms Plate from some Hammermill cardstock. This beautiful floral cover plate is totally stunning cut from basically any cardstock; I used it HERE with metallic cardstock and pale blush cardstock, adding a bit of interest with some ink blending. Today, I wanted to go more in depth with some coloring, adding dimension and shape to the flat die cuts with some alcohol markers. I used the debossed lines on the floral die cuts to determine which petals were on top vs. tucked beneath. The shape of the flowers reminds me of forget-me-nots, so I used Copics B39, 37, 34, and 32 to create beautiful blue flowers. I used the BG78, 75, 72 with a G00 glaze for all of the foliage, then added some sparkling handmade gold watercolor to the centers of the flowers. I absolutely love the finished product!
To coordinate with the “Tidepool” Copic colored foliage, I trimmed down a panel of Tidepool cardstock to A2 size, then blended some Tidepool ink around the edges to add interest to the background. I also splattered the background with some of the same sparkling golden watercolors that I used on the flower centers. (I hope you’re not sick of watercolor splatters-I just adore the texture and interest that they provide to a colorful background!)
To finish off the card, I die cut the Bold Thanks die from Simon Says Stamp three times from deep navy blue cardstock, adhering them together to create a dimensional die cut greeting. I adhered that to a strip of heavyweight vellum and fussy cutting around it, leaving a border around the die cut. This vellum border helps differentiate the sentiment from the rest of the similar textures on the card. I popped up the colored floral cover plate die cut and sentiment die cut on the blended Tidepool background using foam adhesive.The final touch was a few shimmering iridescent blue pearls!
My second card features the same color combination and Copic colors, this time using the Etched Primrose Blooms and Windswept Leaves dies for the focal point. I die cut the large Etched Primrose Blooms and Windswept Leaves dies again from white cardstock, then used the same Copic combinations to add lots of depth and color to the plain die cuts.
For the background, I ran a panel of Tidepool cardstock through my Platinum 6 machine using the Exotic Vines Embossing Folder. The elegant detail on this folder is spectacular; to enhance it, I first trimmed the panel down to smaller than A2 size, then blended Tidepool ink around the edges. I also lightly swiped the Antique Gold pigment inkpad from Altenew onto the raised areas of the embossed panel, which adds a gilded effect to the background. It almost reminds me of the patina on the Statue of Liberty! I matted the panel with an ever-so-slightly larger panel of matte gold cardstock to add a gold frame and coordinate with the gold accents on the card. To coordinate with my blue flowers, I mounted the embossed panel with the gold frame on a panel of Blueberry cardstock from Concord and 9th.
For the greeting, I heat embossed the newer Elegantly Modern Hot Foil Plate + Dies from Simon Says Stamp, creating both the positive sentiment image and the negative by using the leftover foil panel with the Pinkfresh Studio Solid Hot Foil Plate. I die cut the sentiments with the coordinating die, selecting one and saving the rest for a rainy day. I lightly blended more Tidepool ink over the white areas on the foiled sentiment to coordinate with the rest of my card, then arranged the flowers and foliage on the card front, tucking the sentiment in the corner with a double layer of foam adhesive. The final touch was a few more shimmering iridescent blue pearls.
Well, that’s all for my projects today! I am so excited to try color glazing with my Copics to match even more of my (copious) colored cardstock stash! I hope you will give it a try, too. Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a marvelous day!
