Peony card

The Peony is my favorite flower. I have fond memories of my Grandmother's peony bushes - enormous clouds of beautiful light and dark pink flowers. I have quite a few (like um... 30 or so...) peony plants in my garden. But somehow mine just can't compare to my memories of my grandma's (she was a plant wizard).

Anyway - when I saw the Stamping Sensations Plate called Destination Orient, I fell in love with all the peony images (and the fish... but that is another story). So here is my first peony card. Of course - after I finished the whole thing, I realized by the leaf shape that this is probably a mum, not a peony. But humor me - its still a peony in my mind!

How I made this card:

For the background, I used my new Ranger colorwash sprays from RI!! These are so fun to use. For this background, I randomly stamped the small peony (could be a waterlily - but go with me on the peony theme) in Versamark ink and embossed in clear on watercolor paper. I wanted a lighter tone so I spritzed the embossed paper with water and then sprayed the background lightly with Cranberry color spray (do this in a box to contain over spray). I also added a slight amount of Stream color spray to the top and bottom. Since I did not want an intense blue color, I aimed my spray as if I was spraying above and below the paper - so only some of the over spray went on to the paper. then I spritzed with a little more water to blend. After a couple minutes I blotted the excess ink with a paper towel and allowed the piece to dry.

I embossed the flower image in Ranger Queens Gold on lightweight watercolor paper. I also embossed the "Thinking of You" form the Stamping Sensations set Small Sentiments angled with the flower stems. I colored the image using my water brush and Meadow and Cranberry inks. (I just squeeze the lid of the ink pad against felt while the case is closed. When I open it, I have a nice little splotch of color on the inside lid that I can pick up with the waterbrush.)

I trimmed the paper around the image and created the corners using a half inch circle punch. I mounted the image on a green matte and added white mini brads. Then I just assembled my image and background on a green matte and mounted it on an A2 size card.