Scraps of Life: Sending Prayers

Hello, Friends! I am sharing another project using the fantastic Graciellie Design July release! Have you ever colored so much that you find yourself coloring the same things in the same colors over and over again?! I color a lot of flowers, and I certainly seem to reach for the same colors every time. I decided to mix it up this time and do something a little out of my comfort zone!

I decided to make the entire image into a monochromatic study! I am working on another project, which is a large piece, using three shades of blue, and I thought, hey, that idea of only one color, in three shades is intriguing! I ended up choosing three shades of purple, plus black and white. Now, purple is NEVER my go to color! But isn't this peony amazing in purple?!!

I started by creating a custom stamp in Photoshop. I first placed the grunge stamp image from the Grunge and Leaves A2 Backgrounds Digital Stamp Set onto the bottom layer. Next, I added the peonies from the Vintage Peonies 1 Mega Digital Stamp Set, placed at an angle and bleeding off the edge. I added the sentiment from the Vintage Peonies 1 set as well. I printed the new custom stamp onto kraft cardstock using black ink.

I chose three Prismacolor pencils for my image: Dahlia Purple, Mulberry, Lavender, plus white and black for highlights and shadows.

I decided to just color the entire image in the three shades of purple to give a fun monochromatic look. The colored pencils worked well on the smoother cardstock since I was not putting down too many layers of color.

After I had the image colored, I used white paint to dot some flower stamens into the center of the open flower. I had tried gel pen, but the purple bled through and made my white dots turn pink! I scraped off the gel pen with a craft knife and used acrylic paint and a dotting tool instead.

I used die cut rectangles to cut out the colored image and a white mat, then attached those panels to a black card base. I found some pretty purple enamel dots in my stash and used those to add a little color to the grunge background.

I used a few pale gray Copic makers to draw some shadows under the leaves and petals.

It is pretty rare for me to make "one layer" cards without a lot of printed paper and ribbon. But sometimes, I really like the more simple look of just a colored image and a subtle background. Plus, these peonies need to be the star of the show!

I hope that you will check out the Graciellie Design shop and blog to see more amazing products! There are both digital and rubber stamps, and loads of inspiration on the socials! Right now there is a 25% off code HERE, plus a FREE gift with $10 order!

Thanks for joining me today!