Be Happy, Be Fearless, Be You - Donna Lewis

Hello crafty friends. I’m here to tell you that spring is on it’s way in my part of the world. This week I saw my first buds of spring. Coming from Australia, even Melbourne which has cold winters, I didn’t realise how excited I would be by these first signs of spring, but after several months of Tokyo temperatures rarely reaching 10ºC, I am so ready for some colour and some bird life. So, to celebrate, I have coloured some magnolias.

I recently bought a new watercolour paint while I was in Tokyo. It’s called Opera Pink, and it screams pink! I mixed it with reds and purples for this card. I used the

from Paper Rose Studio, and stamped it along the bottom of the card, using Ink on 3’s Fadeout Ink.

I then painted the flowers one petal at a time, leaving each petal to dry before I painted anything that was touching it. I added darker colour into the centre of each petal and then slowly spread that out with a damp brush so that the colour got paler as it went. I added a touch of purple to the outer edges of some of the petals for some extra definition.

Once the petals, and leaves were painted, I added a wash of pale blue. I was trying a new watercolour paper, and it didn’t appreciated the extra water that was needed for the background so, whilst it gave me some nice cloudy effects, it also gave me sone splotches that I didn’t like, so I covered the flowers with some scraps of paper and added further splashes of the blue paint.

The branches were painted last of all, as their darker colours would have run when I painted the sky. I painted the branches I’d stamped and then added a few extras so that every flower was grounded.

Finally I stamped the sentiment from the same stamp set, and added a few sequins before adhering the panel to a burgundy card with a fine border. I love this sentiment so much, but I find it’s easier to put on a card than it is do achieve it real life! Something to keep working on, I suppose.

Until next time, may you be fearlessly yourself – and I’ll work on it too!

Blessings,


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