Take Time To Smell The Roses

If it's nearly June in Ohio, it's time for my climbing roses to bloom. They're called The Seven Sisters and I bought two little shrubs on sale at the end of the summer one year for just $5 each. This was when I was a mom to one (22or 23 years ago) and my mom and I would take my daughter and visit the area garden centers. We usually went at the beginning of the growing season to get flowers for each other for Mother's Day and then at the end of the season to get deals.

My husband and I must've chosen the perfect area because these little roses seem to love this spot and grow vigorously each year. Some years are better for blooms than others, but this year is a good one.

I based my coloring of the Beautiful Roses Slimline digi from Alex Syberia on the color of my roses. I picked pinks and added a little coral and a little red for them and chose grays for the leaves.

I like to color one rose at a time, so here's a little peek into how I layered the color on the last two roses.

At the end of the process, I add in black shadows and white highlights if needed.

For the final card, I fussy cut the flowers and leaves and added it to cream/black patterned paper on a slimline card (3.5"x8"). I think graphic shapes really set off florals, so I gave it a shot with this one. The sentiment strip is a stamp/die set from Taylored Expressions. 

So, go out there and smell those roses—or maybe just color some!

Happy Friday!

Chark

Power Poppy School Challenge

I love the digis over at Power Poppy and when I have a chance, I sit down and color some up. They have a new challenge each week and you can link up all month, and I was super inspired by the Back 2 School challenge. You have to raid the kids' stash and use school supplies—isn't that fun?

Here's my card, using the Power Poppy Lilac stamp. My mom had lilacs while I was growing up and I loved their strong scent and lovely purple flowers made of mini blossoms. Today I colored mine blue with my fabulous Tombow Dual Brush markers, but I can almost smell them anyway!

For my three school supplies, I used a staple for the patterned paper flags, a manila file folder that has been embossed with wood grain and a tab that says August that I sacrificed from my calendar. 

I'm not sure how many people still use file folders, but planners are definitely important to keeping the school year straight! And I sneaked in an extra supply if you count the regular copy paper I printed my digi stamp on. I don't often use fancy paper unless I'm planning some major mixed media.

Thanks for the inspiration, Power Poppy! Join in the challenge for a chance to win here.

Happy Wednesday!
Chark