Spring Card and Cross &Tomb MB

 

Welcome to Watercolor Weekend!  The month of March can go so many ways, weather wise. Most years it is the start of the tug-of-war between winter and spring. The hopes of warmer days ahead and some serious snow storms. I think I hit spring fever the instant snow started to fly at the beginning of the season. I am more of a spring and fall girl myself, but I am grateful for each day I have. 

My first card is, most definitely, screaming spring. Nothing like some bright colors and flowers to warm a cold winter day. I started out with cutting out three 2 inch squares on watercolor paper, with dies I have on hand, and masking off the decorative edges. For the top square I used 5728 Mushroom Cubbies for the gnome and bee. The gnome was stamped in 565/969 combo up in the corner, after I stamped off once. For the hat I used 177 and 969. The nose, 850, 910, and a small touch of 969. 565 was used on the beard for the shadows. The bee from the same set was stamped on watercolor paper in 565/969 combo and stamped off once. I always save my small scraps of watercolor paper for these when I know I am going to die cut them out.  When working with either high pigment (think red) and darker colors, I always paint my lighter colors first. For the yellow on the bee I used 055, and 025. The wings I used 526, and 565.  A black micron was used on the antennas and I painted the rest of the bee with N15.  For the middle square I stamped in 5918 Floral Long Stem Bouquet in N49, stamping off once.  I used 526 for the petals, 177 and 249 for the stems and leaves. For the centers of the flowers I used 025, and 026. 5870 Peeking Bunny Set was used for the bunny, stamping this also in N49 and stamping off once. Coloring the main body with N79 and shading with N49. For the “toe beans” I used 772. Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White was used on the tail. I then used 565 for definition on the tail and shadows on the feet. The flower vine from 5486 Front Porch Garden Set was stamped in N49 and stamped off once, coloring the flowers in 905, the stem and leaves with 177. The bird is from 5561 Birds and Bugs Set, stamped in N49 and stamped off once. 526 was used for the main part of the bird, 025 for the beak, 565 for the shadows, and a black micron for the eye and legs.  Now for the bottom square I used 5488 Front Porch Easter Set and used the daffodils, stamping in N49 and stamping off once.  For the flowers I used 055, 025, and 026 for the shadows. For the leaves I used 249, the pail 565/969 combo, and the stool I used 947, 969 and 565 for the shadow.  The background for all 3 squares was done in 126 and the edge outlined in 969 to give the effect that the inside of the square is sunk in.  

I matted my card with paper from 5873 Mini Birthday PP, die cut the bee, bunny, vine, and bird with the coordinating dies and I used foam tape on the bee and bunny. Then assembled my card making it look like the bee and bunny are entering into their squares.

The recently released 6015 Cross and Tomb Matchbook was so amazingly designed, what a perfect depiction for Easter. The MB’s require 2 other additional sets, the 5317 MB Template Dies and the 5318 MB Envelope Dies, these work with all of the other MB sets in Ai’s line. I started out with permanent black ink, mixed media paper, a #1 and #4 brush. I prefer to stamp my images first, color them, and then use the enclosed dies to cut them out.  For the palm trees I used 249, 947, and 969.  The other trees I used either 177, or 249, with 879 for the trunks.  For all of the rocks and boulders I used a combination of 565 and 969.  For the dresses I used 526, 947, and 969.  The basket, 879, and the head dressings I shadowed with 565.  For their skin I used 912.  The crosses I used 969, and highlighted with a touch of 993. For the hillsides and tomb I used a combination of 346, 249, and 993 for the highlighted areas.  The pathway was done with 947, and going over the top of that towards the top 993.  For the sun I used 055, 993, and 933.  I also used those same colors with a touch of 946 for the light in the tomb.  993 was used to highlight the surrounding areas. For the shadows of the crosses I used a mixture of 565, and 969. Once everything was colored, I then used the included dies. The dies have score lines so that you can easily fold the tabs on each piece. I also used the 5317 Template die with 5892 Easter S2 PP and assembled the Matchbook. If you would like to see a tutorial on how to put these together, Bonnie has a wonderful tutorial that you can watch HERE. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions, I will do my best to answer if I can. Thank you for joining me today! Until next time, Create….Share….Inspire!