Thursday 15 September 2011

Pretty Peonies for OLW & PDCC

For my For Your Inspiration Post, scroll down. 
This is my second post for today.

Hello!

I am very lucky. So, so lucky. And feeling blessed. And excited!

You may ask why.

I won a new stamp set. *squeal*  Not just any stamp set. . . a BEAUTIFUL new stamp set. From Jane's Doodles! This is the set:
Every time I look at it I'm inspired. Pretty Peonies was released last week.  I won this set when I was selected from the Jane's Doodles Flikr Gallery entries for August.  All you have to do to enter each month is use Jane's Doodles stamps, and load your project into the gallery. That's your entry. This is pretty easy for me, because I'm loving these stamps... as you may have noticed, LOL!

It may sound like I'm advertising, or that I'm being paid to say these things, but I'm not. I'm just thrilled with the stamps. I love them.

On to the reason for my post. I'm entering a card into One Layer Wednesday, which is over at Susan's blog Simplicity this week. The challenge is to stamp an image and colour it.

For my colours I have used the colours from the Play Date Cafe Challenge #99 (Ooh, almost to #100!).  The colours are so soft, pretty, and sweet this week:

My card is here:
I used:
Stamps: Jane's Doodles Pretty Peonies
Card: Stamping Up! Whisper White
Ink: SU! Barely Banana, Lavender Lace, and Memento Tuxedo Black, and a Blender Pen

I'm still learning how to colour. I think I'm improving. I also did a little masking on this card.

A couple more photos for you, if you feel like continuing to hear me waffle on. . .

This week was my birthday. Presents aren't really my big thing. I like presents, but I am not so fussed on presents for presents' sake. BUT, when someone puts some thought into a present, and gets me something that I have never asked for but really, really wanted. And that present is USEFUL. This rings all my bells and fills me with gratitude.  I received a couple of these types of presents this year. But one in particular I'm sharing with you because it is stamping related:
My very own, personalised stamp for the back of my cards. I didn't have one. And I wanted one. My sister-in-law is one of the most thoughtful present-givers in the world.

And one more. To take my card photos, I sit on the floor, beside the big windows at the front of my house, with my cards on a chair, getting as much natural light as possible. So each time I sit down, I suddenly have a very nosy companion attempting to get her nose into my picture, or her body on my lap. Every time.
She's cute, but I don't want her wet, sloppy nose on my camera lens. And I don't want to be bumped when I'm carefully focusing on a sentiment. Especially when she's been digging in the sandpit. I do love her, though. This is Coco.

So if you made it all the way to the end of this post, would you take a little time to leave me a comment to let me know you were here? I really love hearing what you have to say. I promise to come and visit you in return.

Michelle
xxx

20 comments:

Jay Gee said...

Happy belated Birthday Michelle! Glad we could send you a present, so to speak LOL. Love your sweet one layer card and love that you love our stamps :) Keep them coming because I enjoy seeing them in our Flickr gallery.

Cassandra said...

That stamp set is so gorgeous (as if I don't have enough flowers already). The colouring is amazing and don't you love people who put abit of thought into presents. I try to but it doesn't always return the same way.

Marlena M. said...

Happy Birthday! ;)

That WAS a thoughtful gift, what a blessing!

I love the soft coloring in your card...gorgeous! ;)

T said...

Happy birthday!! I'm a horrible gifter. I never know what to get anyone except myself (haha) or my husband.

I love your Coco and I think of my Coco every time I see her picture.

Congrats on winning the stamp set! I've yet to win anything, but I haven't been doing this for very long. I love your card and I think you're fabulous at coloring! So you used ink pads and a blender pen? I'm gonna go try that right now...

Evelyn S. said...

What a beautiful set! I am partial to peonies because I have about 20 different plants. Your card is a beautiful one.

kingstonmama said...

That stamp set looks fabulous, and the card you've made is so pretty, Michelle. Your coloring is beautiful. Thank you for your kind words about my coloring, too! Ann

Anonymous said...

WOW what a stunning card, such a beautiful set of stamps you won, congratulations!
Love how you have made one of the peonies a focal point,a very clever and CAS card:-)

Jenny said...

Well done on winning the stamp set, it's so lovely.
The card you've made is totally gorgeous too, you're colouring is just perfect, such dimension in the petals :)
Love the personalized stamp, I really need one of those too :)
Jenny x

Mynn xx said...

Absolutely stunningly beautiful! I love the masking and coloring!!!

Denise said...

Pretty Peonies is a beautiful set... I can see why you are inspired to use it! Your card is lovely and you did a beautiful job with the colors from the Play Date Cafe. Thanks so much for joining us!

Donelda said...

such dimension by adding the yellow flowers behind ... but still a OLW card!!

Michellem said...

Your card is so pretty - it jumped right out at me from the PDCC gallery!!

Hanne said...

Beautiful card with pretty stamp Michelle!
Hanne

Lisa Elton said...

This is marvelous Michelle...love the simplicity of it! Well done :)

Trina Georgi said...

First...happy belated birthday, and secondly...what a breath-taking card, perfectly done!

Jinny Newlin said...

This is absolutely beautiful, Michelle! Stunning take on the color story! Thanks so much for playing along with us this week at The Play Date Cafe! Oh! At least your sweet, little companion doesn't take a marker to your creations :). Hugs!

Colleen said...

Beautiful card!

Sarah said...

Gorgeous! Love the masking, the colors, and the way you used both flower images.

Ruby said...

Oh Coco is just adorable and funnily enough I photograph in the same way and I have exactly the same problem with the nudging!! Well done on your fab prize win, your card is so pretty! Lovely work! Thanks so much for playing along with us at The Play Date Cafe!

Susan Raihala said...

What a gorgeous card...and so pretty in those colors, too! Coco has such a sweet face!