Valentine Cupcake Lovers

Did you think I fell off the face of the earth? It’s been over a week since my last post but I’m returning with a “sweet” project.  The Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni monthly challenge for January was hosted by Kharmagirl (Jodi).  See the challenge focus and restrictions below.

Challenge Focus: A Valentine's Day/Love-y Dove-y card!!

Required Element: Texture!! Anything you can *feel* (ie: Fun Flock, Crystal Effects, Embossing/Debossing, velvet ribbon…and I am sure there are a million more things that I cannot think about!!)

Restricted Element: No RED!! Pink is ok…but no red…let's see what other colors we can use for Valentine's Day!

I was not really surprised by the challenge focus to create a Valentine card since we are so near Valentine’s Day. I knew adding some type of texture would be easy. I had a great big belly laugh when I saw the restriction was to use “no red”. Red is not only the color of choice for Valentine’s but it is also one of my favorite colors. Hmmmmph!  Ok…Jodi, the challenge is on.

I decided to play with one of my brand new sets by Taylored Expressions called A Year of Sweets. 

Taylor

has just released a darling three set series of images that represent every month of the year. I chose to use set 1 as the little cupcake couple with the cupcake cupid was just perfect for the Love-y Dove-y theme.  I couldn’t use red but pink is my next favorite color for Valentine’s and I knew it would mix well with browns and greens for a romantic outdoor scene. The stamp includes all the images you see in my scene; the cupcakes, cupid, clouds and tiny hearts but I cut them all out so I could place them individually around to create my scene.  I inked the complete stamp and stamped it a couple of times on scrap watercolor paper, painted and cut out.  I painted the cupcake couple’s top and popped up over the original pair to give the appearance that the frosting was thick and softly hanging over the sides of the cupcake paper cup.  I added Liquid Appliqué (my texture requirement) and set aside, as well as cutting and setting aside each teensy, weensy little heart, cloud and cupid.

I chose to create my scene on a 4 ½ X 4 ½ inch piece of watercolor paper.  I used a large brush to stipple on two different colors of green to create the tree top. I sketched in the tree trunk with an artist pen and then lightly sponged brown in among the leaves to fill in for depth. I sponged in green on the ground area and used a thin brush to paint in flower stems and leaves and well as a few sprigs of grass.  I didn’t do much as I knew I wanted to add a couple pieces of crimped ground popped up over the cupcakes that would add more of the texture requirement. I sponged in yellow along the ground area of the scene to create a soft glow behind the couple and to draw attention to the little flowers.  I sponged in soft blue for the sky area and blended in with the ground yellow.  I added my three little popped up clouds that I think adds such cute whimsy. I used Mod Podge to adhere the tiny hearts to the flower tops and then popped up the couple with Dimensionals after I added the crimped grass. My whole reason to create the big tree was to be able to keep the age old tradition of couples carving their initials in the tree. CC + CC stands for Cupcake loves Cupcake.  Corny I know….but you have to admit it’s cute. I added the multi looped bow to the bottom. I love to create my scenes on as big a piece of watercolor paper as I can so it can be layered simply with coordinating and complimentary colors that allow the scene to be the main focus. I love to pop up images and allow them to create dimension and to actually be embellishments instead of cluttering them up with lots of other stuff. This was a very fun project for me and allowed me to get my feet wet after being away from my stamping desk for over a week.

Stamps:  Taylored Expressions- A Year of Sweets (1)

Paper:  Watercolor; Old Olive, Pretty in Pink

Ink:  Brilliance Black, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Vintage Photo, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue

Accessories:  Twill, Brushes, Sponges, Artist Pen, Crimper, Deckle Scissors, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Mod Podge, Liquid Appliqué