Hues to Use -- show me some GREEN!

Hello, Hues to Use fans! Is it Tuesday already? Geez-o-Petes, it just felt like we were together yesterday! Fear not, just because time flies, it doesn't mean that we won't usher in a new color combo for you to cling to next time you need a little colorific inspiration when creating!  Are you ready?

 

This little lovely right above is something that, well, Marcy just "winged" for Kathy Racoosin's The Coloring Challenge Road Trip. If you want to see more of Marce's paintings at the event, all you need to do is click HERE. Spectacular! Truly! We felt it was the perfect dose of inspiration for this week's Hues to Use! 

SO, HOW DO YOU PLAY ALONG WITH HUES TO USE? Well, my friends, it is as easy as 1-2-3! Simply use all three colors -- green, black and white -- in your next creation and then, don't forget to link up your fine work using the linky below! Just that simple!

Well my friends, as promised, Hues to Use is getting back into the guest designer business and with it, boy do we have a treat for you! Let's all put our hands together to welcome this fine lady and hear a little bit more about herself and her design process!

"Hello, I'm Lynda! My husband of 39 years+ and I live in upstate New York. Our grown daughter lives a couple of hours from us, in Buffalo, with her husband and our two grandchildren (girls age 7 and 13).

About nine years ago, I closed the door to my rubber stamp store, The Stamp Pad, after 13 years in business. It was difficult to let it go, but it was time. My oldest granddaughter was three, and I really wanted to have more time to spend with her and my family. Shortly after, our pastor asked me if I would consider working as parish secretary, and I accepted. I loved everything about my job, and it was a piece of cake only working 32 hours a week after owning my own store and working almost double that!

Now the hubs and I are happily retired, and spending as much time as we can with our family. I created and run our church Prayer Shawl knitting ministry, and also the Card ministry. We make and send about 135 cards every two months to shut-ins, and cards to families of people who had died on the 3 month and 1 year anniversary of the funeral. We also have cards available on a rack in church for people to take, no charge, although almost everyone leaves a donation, which goes into the ministry for postage for mailing.

I have just finished a six month Dirty Dozen design team assignment at Splitcoaststampers. I am currently on the Technique Junkies design team, and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge team.

When I am not stamping, or with my family, you will find me working in my garden, reading, writing, blogging, knitting, or walking along the river trail behind our home. I also love to `tangle' (Zentangle) and am teaching myself modern brush calligraphy. My latest endeavor is Bible art journaling. My hands don't know what it is to be still! I thank the Lord for the gifts he has given me, and the joy they bring me. I seek ways to help others discover and develop their own talents and encourage them on their life's journey in any way I can.

LYNDA'S CARD

I copied the Power Poppy digital image Chinese Lantern onto green cardstock. For my coloring, I used Polychromos colored pencils, choosing three shades of green, the deep indigo blue, and white. I began by coloring most of the ‘lanterns’ with the lightest shade, being careful to leave a highlight spot, Then I gradually added the other two shades of green, and then the white highlights. I used a ‘flicking motion’ when applying my layers, so as to give the lanterns some texture and shape. 

The final step was the deep indigo blue for shadow contrast. I repeated this with the leaves and stems. For the berries, I colored them mostly white, with a little green and indigo blue for shading. I went over the image with a Micron black fine pen to bring back some of the stamped lines.

Once that was finished, I felt that it needed some additional texture and interest. With a small piece of nylon screening (from the hardware store), I sponged ColorBox white pigment ink through it, intermittently, onto the card. I buffed it out a little with tissue to dull it so that it would recede into the background and not compete with the image. I cut it out with a stitched square die.

For the phrase, I used the happy birthday from the Dynamic Duos Peonies & Tulips Power Poppy clear set. I cut the words apart so that I could use them stacked instead of drawn out. I white embossed it onto a scrap of black cardstock, then used a circle stitched die.

I added some dimension and additional interest by cutting around a small portion of the lantern and berries image and slipped the circle under the cut edges. To balance the black and white, I added a narrow strip of striped patterned paper along the left edge. I layered it onto black cardstock, then onto a white 5” top-fold square card.

On the inside, I used a lightbox to trace just a piece of the stem with two of the lanterns and three berries with my Micron pen. I colored it with the colored pencils. The verse is from the Power Poppy Short Stacks clear set, and stamped it with distress ink, layering it onto the same green cardstock. That's it! 

Thank you so much Lynda for sharing! I am actually blown away by all you do and what a beautiful thing -- to create cards as a ministry for those grieving a loss? That is such a precious use of your talent. Maybe we should all send some cards your way! Your creation is stunning and all the detail you added with colored pencils is perfection. We are so glad you decided to step into the spotlight with us this week and share your gorgeous creation!

Okay folks, now it is your turn to take this color combination for a spin! And, when you do, be sure to link up your card using our linky below! We can't wait to see what you come up with! Thanks again Lynda for guest designing! Stay tuned -- there are more talented designers set for the weeks to come! Until then, get those fingers inky and join us in the fun! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Julie

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