Spring showers bring May flowers, or something like that...

I've been messing with some kind of stomach bug since late Saturday afternoon, so I didn't really intend to make a card today, but it is raining outside and I felt like doing some more watercoloring to take my mind off things. I spent several hours up again last night, wandering the house, and so, after I returned from my weekly midwifery visit this morning, I spent the morning sleeping. Thank goodness for babysitters! Unfortunately, this is her last week with us and we've not yet been able to find a replacement, so I'm going to heave a big sigh of sorrow on Friday unless we can find someone before then.

But on to today's card. I liked Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge this week--so bright and fresh--and wanted to incorporate it. I combined the color challenge with the Stamping 411 sketch challenge for this week and actually, this card came together pretty quickly! One little watercoloring trick I just learned from Diana Gibbs is to outline your watercolored images with a light blue or light gray (like Sahara Sand) line to make a bit of shadowing. It really makes the image pop off the page and gives it a more finished, professional look. I used Baja Breeze to add just a bit of shadow on the underside of the vine. It should be very subtle and light. Do you like the dsp in the background? I made it using the same floral that I watercolored--I just stamped it tone-on-tone with Certainly Celery ink. Did I mention that I love this stamp set? :)


I got a new camera last week (Nikon Coolpix, reconditioned, so more than half price!) that I'm still getting used to, so I hope the photo quality is good. So far I like it. I've been using a very cheap-o digital camera for the last year or so, and using my big Nikon N-65 35 mm for family shots, but I'm having an increasingly difficult time finding places to get my film developed, and we are starting to have photo storage issues, so I thought it was time to make the switch to digital and get our photos made into books at the end of every calendar year instead. I loved my N-65--it takes fabulous photos--but I also find that I'm reluctant to travel with it because it is bulky and don't take as many photos as I might be inclined to otherwise. Some might say that is a good thing, but I am a photo person, and I want my kids to be able to look through the albums as adults and see some kind of record of their childhoods!!

Supplies:
Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White cs
Elements of Style stamp set
Jet Black Staz-on, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze inks
Aquapainter
Melon mambo grosgrain ribbon
paper snips
dimensionals