Almond Blossom Fairy

I've got to say, I just love these Flower Fairies stamps by Crafter's Companion.  They are so intricately detailed.  Today I chose the Almond Blossom fairy.

Sometimes that same detail that attracts you to an image can be a bit daunting and time consuming to color.  Along that vein, I actually have a confession to make -- I don't have too much patience with coloring, preferring faster techniques, and I never thought I was good at it.  However, since I started practicing with the Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, I've been told by many that my coloring skills have really improved, and I do enjoy the process much more than I used to.  But, at times I revert back to my lazier habits, LOL.

This 5x7 card is one of those lazier (whoops, quick) cards.  I decided to go with a monochromatic color scheme instead of doing detailed realistic coloring.  As a general rule, monochromatic color schemes go faster. I started by stamping the large fairy in a sepia toned ink onto vanilla card stock.  I then masked the legs and stamped off a row of flowers at the bottom and lower right.  Separately, I stamped the fun 'fairy kisses' greeting, hand cut it in to a banner shape, and sponged the edges.  On small pieces of scrap card stock, I stamped and fussy cut three flowers and three butterflies, all from the Almond Blossom fairy set.

Then, I shaded everything with pastels (chalks), using golden yellows, tans, and shades of browns. I used a Q-tip and at times my finger-tip to blend the pastels. I added glitter to the fairy's wings and to the butterflies, and brown micro-beads to the flower centers.  I sponged the card edges, and mounted it on brown and then again on vanilla.  Finally, I attached the greeting, butterflies, and flowers with glue dots.

And it was done!  Half an hour from start to finish, now that's my kind of card!