Mondo Magnolia

Today's card was created partly at the request of a follower on my blog and partly from my need for a card that follows a neutral color theme.  My follower wanted to see one of my florals done in cream color which is no small task when it comes to me and watercolor.  I have a hard time leaving enough "white" space all of the time, but I know this about myself so I started in with that fact in mind.

I have a few thank you cards to make now that the holidays are over. I stamped the Mondo Magnolia, designed by Julie Ebersole for Ellen Hutson, using Versamark and Simon Says Stamp Ultra Fine Gold Embossing Powder and heat set it.

This particular card stock is the Canson XL 140# Water Color Paper.  I don't have much of this left and I probably won't buy it again simply because I prefer the soft white of the Canson Bristol Water Color Paper that I buy from Amazon or Hobby Lobby with a coupon.  I also have some Fabriano Water Color Paper for my upcoming Watercolor Class that I will be taking at the end of January and it is also more cream colored than white.  I really love the soft white of the Bristol Paper that I have been buying.  I can actually buy it from Amazon.com for less than I pay with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby.  You can see it here: Canson Bristol 96# 11 x 14 - 25 Sheets.  I know enough about what I am doing most of the time not to need the 140# version which will take a great deal more water than the Bristol does.  With practice, you just learn to work in one area at a time and do your painting in multiple layers so the paper will not pill. There are a few places that make brighter white water color paper, but for card making, I'm good with what I'm currently using.  If I ever get to a point where I'm trying to do fine art prints, I'll invest in better paper (*smile*).

Using a water brush with a Tim Holtz Distress Marker in the color Antique Linen I colored the flower.  I tried to keep the left side of the petals slightly darker by putting no color at all on the right side and trying to keep a bit more of the super sheer cream.  Antique Linen is just the palest hint of a color.  I tried a couple of other colors, but they just weren't the correct color family.  I have a beautiful Magnolia Tree in my yard that we got a couple of years ago.  We had so much rain last spring that even though we had lots of blooms, they didn't last long.  Sometimes they didn't even last a half a day before they got pelted by the rain and knocked off.   I did get to study and enjoy the blooms for those few hours that the sun was shining.  I feel like my color is a very accurate representation of the color of my magnolia.  I would like to have a Tulip Magnolia with its lovely pink blooms, but I think we'll see if we can keep the one we have alive first.

Once I was finished water coloring the bloom, I went over it all with my Wink of Stella Clear Shimmer Pen.  Once that was done, I cut the panel with the Sunshine Layers Scalloped Rectangle from WPLUS9 Design Studios.  I applied that to an A2 Top Folding Card Base that I made from SU! Crumb Cake card stock.  I die cut the Mama Elephant "thanks" sentiment and attached it to my scalloped panel using Ranger Multi Medium Matte which finished this card.

I'm anxious to try to color the Altenew "Magnolias for Her" image using a similar technique (you know--a light touch) and that will most likely be my next project as I need a few more thank you cards.

I try to make cards that are appealing but not overly fussy; Classic and Elegant is my goal.  I hope you enjoyed this super simple card and if you did, please feel free to leave me a comment.  Thanks for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.