Hello! Hello! Hello! I am so happy that you’ve stopped by.
Today has been a super busy day for me. I’ve literally been up since the crack of dawn. I had to make sure that I was up bright and early to tackle my front yard gardening tasks. I live in Texas and at this time of year it is ALWAYS HOT!! I believe it was about 80 degrees at 6:30 am. If I am not early its virtually impossible to get yard work done because the heat (and humidity) is so oppressive. I am proud to say that I did manage to tackle everything in the front yard (pulling weeds, laying mulch, planting flowers). I feel quite accomplished (LOL). Since I completed that task I can now focus on bringing you today’s card.
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I have always been surrounded by creative people. Some musically inclined, some were dancers, some spectacular painters etc. I absolutely love spending time with/around them seeing their work and listening to their ideas. This card is in Ode to the creativity that seems to literally ooze from their pores. The sentiments say it all. To create a bold statement, I decided stack sentiments from the Wonderland and Fancy Greetings Stamp sets from Altenew. I got the idea of stack and using multiple colors from the Sentiments With Impact course offered via Altenew Academy. The technique (I think) is perfect for this card.
I did also manage to put a video together today (so proud of myself)! I shortened it A LOT… I wanted to show the basics of how I added color to the mandala. I figured it would take a while but I didn’t think that it would take an hour and a half. Geez Louise. Thanks to the magic of video editing, I sped it up so the video is only about 5 minutes.
I also want to point out that I made a big mistake in the beginning that caused me to have to start over. I didn’t edit it out because I wanted you to see that mistakes do happen. Sometimes you can find creative ways to cover them up and sometimes (like this time), you just have to start over and that’s okay. Now let’s talk about how the card came together.
As shown in the video above, I started out by stamping the Pen Sketch Mandala onto a piece of Neenah Classic Crest card stock. The image was stamped using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink.
After stamping the image (twice because I moved the paper Ugh!) I ran a heat tool across it to make sure everything was dry. I wouldn’t normally do this but I knew that I was going to be doing a lot of coloring so I wanted to limit any possibility if smudging the ink.
After stamping the image I added layers of color using the Artist Marker Set D (Altenew) and the Mango Smoothie color from the Four Scoops Artist Marker from Altenew. Additional shading was added using Ocean Blue, Tumeric and Eggplant Colored Pencils.
Additional Contrast was added using Gelly Roll pens.
I wasn’t initially sure what color I wanted the sentiment to be so I stamp them in multiple colors. The one thing I was sure of was that I wanted them to have an ombre effect (seen to the left). I achieved this look by using each of the four colors included in the Sea Shore Ink set.
After stamping and trimming the sentiments, the mandala image was trimmed down to just slightly smaller than 4 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in. Foam tape was then applied to the back and it was placed on top of a top folding notecard (dimensions above).
Once the mandala image was secured, the sentiment strips and crystal gems were adhered to the card using strong liquid adhesive.
I have to say, that I really enjoyed making this card. There is something truly therapeutic about coloring.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I truly hope that you have seen, read or watched something here that inspires you to create.
As always, don’t forget to spread kindness. The world can definitely use more of it. Until next time. – Ouma
Supplies
Need to find the products used to create this card? Most are listed below. Click on the icon below each picture to learn more. (This is NOT a sponsored post). All products were paid for by me. The post does however contain compensated affiliate links which can be used at no cost to you). Thank you so much for support!
ADORE the details and coloring, Takisha! This is one fabulous post! I am so glad that you enter your beautiful work in Altenew AECP assignment Gallery. Awesome details and design! Super work!
Thank you Virginia 🙂
NOW THAT IS AMAZING!! What a wonderful card and beautifully coloured too! Love the colour choices.
Thank you for entering your beautiful work to the AECP gallery. Top job!
Thank you Erum :-). The Pen Sketch Mandala is an awesome stamp to work with. Coloring it reminded me of the time I used to spend coloring Mandala’s; highly therapeutic.