Spring is Timid this Year!

If the weather people are right, it will be snowing overnight.  This is simply wrong!  It is, after all, April 16th.  The white stuff should be melted and long gone by now, even here in Alberta.  Considering that the first flakes began falling back on October 23rd, I think Winter and its white accoutrements have had a long enough run.  It's time for a change--a warm change!

As a result of this unseasonably cold weather, I couldn't help but create a card that made me feel more in tune with Spring.  That beautifully rendered stamp set, Nature's Walk (121997 Clear; 121925 Wood) simply cried out to be used.

For this card I decided to use my Watercolour Paper and Watercolour Pencils.  I love the way images look when I use those in conjunction with my Aqua Painter.  The butterfly, bee and flower looked as good as I had hoped they would.  I even used the blue watercolour pencil to create a light wash behind the images.

The colours in the images helped me choose the base cardstock and all the remaining Designer Papers and cardstock colours.  The perfect choices were More Mustard for the base, Midnight Muse as the next layer, the lattice design from the Print Poetry Designer Series Paper Stack, and, for my mat behind the Watercolour Paper, the Midnight Muse with script, again, from the Print Poetry Stack.  I love it when the choices are so easily made.

I knew I wanted to add the bird, as my Spring Robin, but decided to stamp it on the Glossy White paper to make it stand out against the Watercolour Paper.  To colour my robin, I used a selection of the Stampin' Write Makers.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.  The fussy cutting: a real chore, but when you have an idea in mind, you have to go with it.  Thank goodness for the Paper Snips.  They are so sharp and have that wonderful, tiny, pointed end which makes cutting a robin's feet not only possible but actually easier as well.

I wanted to have a sentiment on the card, but I really didn't want to take away from the images.  What a perfect time to use the brand new stamp set: A Round Array (129090 Clear).  I used it with the matching 7/8"" Scallop Punch and also used the 1" Circle Punch to create a background and the 1/2" Circle Punch to cut out the centre of a second image I stamped, to give the sentiment a layered look.

And the card was ready for assembly.  Just making it made me feel as if Spring might actually be ready to show itself.  How could there not be robins out there?

I love the way this card turned out.  The only thing that would make it even better would be looking out my window and seeing the scene as reality.  (Are you listening, Spring?)