Inspire Me Monday - Happy Birthday

Hello, Power Poppy Fans! It is my turn again to bring you the Inspire Me Monday project. I have to confess to this not being a brand new project, but it is the first time it has been seen here on the Power Poppy Blog! I have been struggling with some health issues again, and am a little behind in my coloring projects! I do hope that bringing this out of the vault will be excused!

Now for the project!

Since my birthday is in February, I decided to make a fun birthday card to showcase several Power Poppy images! The only thing missing from this scene is a new book...but perhaps there is a book in one of those pretty packages! This is my ideal birthday...cake, a warm drink, and a pile of gifts! Plus...chocolate AND strawberries...yes, please!

For this project I have combined three digital images: the cake and tea from the Tea Cake with Strawberries digital set (also available in a clear set called Tea in the Garden), the gifts from the Party Essentials digital set (also available as a clear set called Party Time), and the sentiment from the Layer Cake digital set. 

If you want more information on how to put a digital scene together, please see my Power Poppy post HERE. 

To get started with a scene, you first need to print your images to the size which fits your card front. (Or, stamp them if you are using clear stamps instead of digital images.) My finished card is 6" x 8", so I printed the image as slightly smaller at approximately 5" x 6".

A color tip: When you are coloring a busy scene like this one, try to plan out your colors ahead of time so that you don't end up with a hot mess of every color in your marker collection! I call it "avoiding the clown party"!

I started out with the red, because...strawberries are red! I chose to "spread the red" around my picture to give the whole scene a balanced look. I then colored the leaves green, but did NOT add more green to the image. I did not want this to stat to look like Christmas!

I knew I needed to color the slice of lemon in the tea cup yellow. That became my second color, which I sprinkled about the scene. I felt that aqua blue would look nice with both the red and the the yellow. To tone it all down, I used brown. Making the cake frosting and the cake stand brown, rests the eye. Creating three white items (the cake doily, the napkin, and the largest box), also helps give your eyes a bit of rest. 

I think the picture is bright, but not clownish. I admit to being a bit sorry about the large ribbon bows, but...once they were glued down, I decided to keep them! Plus, every birthday needs a few big bows!

Here is the list of Copic markers I used. I did NOT use any colored pencil this time.

Background, napkin, cake: E0000, E000, E00, E21, colorless blender
Doily, box: C3, C1, C00
Ribbon, boxes, lemon slice: Y08, Y06, Y02, Y11
Cake, cake stand: E79, E29, E27, E25, E23, E35, E33, E57, R83, R81
Leaves, stems: YG03, G43, G99, YG21, YG05, Y11, YG01
Cup, boxes: B04, B01, B000
Strawberries, boxes, cup, cake stand: R14, R27, R29, R89, YG21 (strawberries only)

I selected some matching paper from my vast stash of printed paper to create a finished card. I will use a padded mailer to mail this card to a special someone....or I will keep it on my desk to enjoy for the month of February!

Thanks for stopping by!