More Bloom Away - Gorgeous Waratahs and Gum Blossoms

Gum Blossoms come in lots of different colour variants, but for my first attempt at colouring I used the one most familiar to me, red with yellow tips of pollen. I have stamped in Stazon Black on Whisper White, and used Watercolor WOnder crayons and an Aquapainter to colour with. Ruby Red, Summer Sun and tiny flecks of Pumpkin Pie have been used on the blossom, and Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa and touches of Ruby Red have been used on the gumnuts and leaves. I mounted it on Summer Sun to match the pollen tips. On the vertical panel of Kiwi Kiss, I have stamped the image repeatedly using Versamark ink, and tore the top and bottom for a rustic look.

The card base is Riding Hood Red, stamped with Riding Hood Red using the Sanded background, and I finished with a greeting from the Fresh Cuts set in Stazon Black and an Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelet and some hemp twine threaded through it.

Waratah flowers are truly stunning in real life, rich in colour, with subtle shading from deepest reds to touches of cerise on the tips. Here I have tried to replicate the depth of colour in the flower structure by using layer upon layer of crayon and ink. I have stamped the image on Confetti White in Stazon black. I have used a mixture of the "ink puddle" technique (picking up colour from the inside of an inkpad lid, where a collection of dye ink gathers when the closed lid is pressed inwards) and Watercolor Wonder crayons, both applied with an Aquapainter brush. I lost count of which colours exactly, there is Real Red, Ruby Red, Rose Red , a touch of Pink Passion and a smidge of Bravo Burgundy I think. Plus Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip on the leaves and stem. I have used Sahara Sand ink applied with an Aquapainter around the outside of the flower image, again to create the illusion of depth and shadow. After blending the colour, I added some more spots of dry crayon to the tips of the petal florettes to make them stand out.

The image has then been mounted on Kraft, and then Riding Hood Red. The card base is Kiwi Kiss, stamped in Kiwi Kiss using Weathered background. I was then looking at my wall of punches, and an idea popped into my head to make another base piece out of Kraft, to look like a piece of torn notepaper, using the Spiral Punch. I distressed and bent the tabs to make them look real, and dabbed a little Close to Cocoa ink along the 'ruffled up' bits - I hope that makes sense! The greeting is from Life Definitions, stamped in Chocolate Chip.

That completes the first set of cards made with this gorgeous Australian set, Bloom Away. I look forward to playing around with soft colours next. Is this set on your wishlist yet? I hope so!