Three in One

Before I get to today's post I  have to share my excitement....Just a little past 8am this morning my cellphone rang and on the other side of the phone was the sweetest, kindest, warmest voice...I was so touched...my "cyber, Flickr friend" Jacqueline called me from the South of France!!!!  I have been admiring her work for the last year and we have exchanged a card or two, a few e-mails and of course, we comment on each other's blog and flickr site,  and now I actually got to speak to her!  What an awesome feeling to hear a real voice!  So now I am plotting how I can perhaps get to actually meet her next year as my dear hubby is talking about a trip to the South of France!  What a super person, you know, when you can "see the person" in their voice!!!  Thank you Jacqueline!

Ok, as I mentioned in an earlier post, this months' contest over at Hero Arts is Flowers, ATC's and Coloured Pencils.  So, I did all three!

Paper: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Tea Dye & Scattered Straw DI; Prismacolour Pencils; Copic Markers
Stamps: Hero Arts
Other: Gems (Recollections)

I first stamped part of the rose from the "Two Birds" stamp set, and then stamped it again to add another rose at the top.  I coloured that in with some Prismacolour Pencils (I went and purchased a small 12 colour set at Michaels this morning to see what all the rave is about).  They definitely are creamy, but so are my Derwent coloured pencils, however, the lead is much thinner, whereas the Derwents are much thicker making it difficult to get into tiny places.  I could not do much shading as it only had one purple and two greens, but  I tried by using different pressures as Shari suggested in her video HERE.

I then tore a piece of post it note, stuck it on my ATC and then stamped the Dictionary Definition for Friend over it so that I could only get a bit of the text.  Then I stamped the Envelope Pattern (2nd generation stamping) with some Tea Dye DI and inked the ATC with some Scattered Straw DI being careful not to go over the roses.  Next I coloured the bird from the Antique Engravings set with my Copics and adhered it with pop dots.  Lastly I added 3 tiny, tiny gems randomly.

That's it.  I just realised that if someone asked me why do I craft in a certain way and put images in a certain place or use the colours I use, I basically would have no theoretical answer, I just do.  Sometimes it feels 100% right, other times only 80% (like today), then sometimes it starts hovering closer to only 50% satisfied!  Anything lower and basically you won't get to see it!

Have fun today, and as Susanne's grandmother's poem says, notice the small things in life that are just there, all around you!