Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I'm Back!

We had the most lovely relaxing week in the mountains. It was freezing (we even saw some snow falling!), but the house we were staying in had central heating, an open fireplace and a lovely outdoor spa, plus electric blankets on all the beds. So, we were probably warmer there than here in Sydney! We went on some lovely bushwalks, ate pumpkin soup and sourdough, toasted marshmallows by the fire, and played lots of boardgames. It's great to get away and have some precious family time. Check out the updated family pic ----->

I took just the bare minimum of stamping supplies with me, and had a nice time doing some "just for me" stamping using sets from the new mini.
This set "Bloomin' with Beauty" has been begging me to colour it in ever since I first saw it:

Marelle Taylor Stampin' Up! AustraliaI decided to go with blues to start with (surprise, surprise!), and I had so much fun colouring this one. Watercolouring is such escapism. I swear everyone else disappears when I get engrossed in it. I've stamped in black Stazon on Watercolour paper, and coloured using my Watercolour crayons and Aquapainter (my favourite way to watercolour). I used various shades of blue and purple here...probably every single one there is! I've also outlined with Going Grey, to make the image 'pop'. I've mounted it on Ballet Blue, and distressed the edges using the Cutter Kit (I love the distressing tool for 'tidy' distressed edges!). The Almost Amethyst piece has been stamped in Linen for texture in Sahara Sand ink (stamped off once to make it nice and subtle), and then down the right-hand side I've stamped the 'bloom' definition from the set 4 times in Almost Amethyst ink (I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up). The green is Mellow Moss, and I've stamped just the Hydrangea flowers on it in VersaMark ink, and sponged the edges in Mellow Moss ink. The ribbon is Kraft Taffeta, and the card base is also Kraft.
Here's a close-up of the watercolouring:

Marelle Taylor Stampin' Up! AustraliaNow, back to reality! *sigh*

12 comments:

  1. That is a lovely card Marelle.
    Glad you had a nice time away in the mountains.
    Deanne
    xx
    ps I have added you to my blog roll (just letting you know :) )

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  2. Nice to have you back, Marelle!

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  3. Great card Marelle - your watercolouring is amazing (as always) Nice new family photo too !

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  4. great new family shot -looks chilly! So how much of the boot was taken up by stamping supplies? Beautiful blues and love the grey pop effect.

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  5. Your watercolouring is gorgeous!!! I think it's 100 times better than the sample in the catty! I love the new photo too, I'm with Kirrily, it looks chilly!

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  6. beautiful card! And sounds like you had a great break (but it's good to have you back :-) )

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  7. oh so devine, love it.My water colouring never looks this good.
    Kristy

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  8. Love this stamp set and your water colour (as always!) is superb! Love the colours you've used too.

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  9. Beautiful watercolouring. That week away sounds great - very envious here! Love KimT

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  10. Marelle,

    Your card is beautiful... I have been umm and ahhing over this set. I think is is lovely.

    Regards Pam

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  11. It's stunning, Marelle! And your photo looks fabulous, too. Sounds like a fabulous week, but selfishly, I'm glad to have you back - missed you!

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  12. You make this stamp set look so 'I want it now'. Beautiful card and the watercolouring is perfect.
    Glad to hear you had a fun family time away.

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