It’s no secret that I love colouring. Whether using markers, pencils or ink, I find colouring very relaxing. Of course I can’t draw to save my life which is why stamping is my passion. The stamp designer does the drawing and I just add the colour. So you can imagine my delight when I realised the Abigail Rose 12” x 12” Designer Series Paper (DSP) included sheets designed for that very reason. So I pulled out my Watercolor Pencils and set to work. Well it would be rude not to…

ABIGAIL ROSE EDGES

The Abigail Rose DSP has a few different sheets containing simple line art designs. The larger groups of flowers are great for card fronts and they’re easy to use. But I hate to waste anything and I wondered what I could do with the large partial designs around the edges. So I chose two of these and began to add colour using dry watercolor pencils.

In fact by the time I’d finished I’d used both sets of Stampin’ Up! watercolor pencils. From the original Watercolor Pencils pack I used Daffodil Delight. However the majority of the colours came from the Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2. From that pack I used Cherry Cobbler, Flirty Flamingo, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Granny Apple Green, Garden Green, Balmy Blue and Gorgeous Grape. Then I used a damp Water Painter to blend the pencil lines a little.

After leaving them to dry for a couple of minutes I carefully cut out the finished pieces with my Paper Snips. I won’t lie, the fussy cutting did take time, but I thought it would be worth it. Even so there were some small areas of white ‘background’ that just got left behind. After all, while I didn’t dislike fussy cutting I wasn’t completely mad.

So there I was at my desk with two very pretty pieces but they still had a hard straight edge. Then I had an idea and reached for a 4″ x 5-1/2″ scratch pad I’d bought recently at Dollarama.

JUST A NOTE(PAD)

The scratchpad was very basic with sheets of plain paper glued to a heavy card backing. So my first task was to create a cover for the front.

Using my Paper Trimmer I cut a 4-1/4″ x 7-1/2″ piece of Basic Black Card. I scored it at 5-5/8″ and 5-7/8″, then folded it along the scored lines and sharpened the creases with a Bone Folder. With that done I wrapped the card over the top of the scratchpad and fixed it to the back using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

I could immediately see that my coloured flowers would look very striking against the black, but I needed some help with their placement. So I turned my attention to the sentiment and knew exactly where to look.

From the Go To Greetings Stamp I chose the largest of the three “Just a note” sentiments included in the set. Then using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it onto a 1-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ strip of Basic White Card.

Next I cut a 1-1/4″ x 4-1/4″ piece of card from the Brushed Metallic Cardstock pack and glued the sentiment on top.

After flipping the sentiment layers over I glued the straight edges of the coloured flower pieces to the back. Then flipped it over again and glued everything onto the front of the notepad in one go.

Only one slight issue remained, and that was those small areas of ‘white’ background that I didn’t cut out. That was actually an easy fix as I went back to the original Watercolor Pencils pack and picked up the Basic Black Pencil. All I had to do was colour in those white areas, and as the last one was disguised my project was done.

You have to admit that this notebook is pretty and the black background really makes the colours stand out. The only thing I’d change? Perhaps I’d do a little more black colouring and a little less fussy cutting. Can you see the difference between the black card background and the black colouring? Nope me neither.

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