Frida and Her Flowers

* * *

I decided to (finally) work with the Frida Kahlo stamp set from Kindred Stamps.  I fell in love with the image of Frida in this set.  Love.  I mean, look at that little face! Unibrow and all!

I love using reds and pinks together.  My all time favorite color combination.  There is something romantic and warm about them together.  The depth of the reds with the light touches of pink.  Heavenly.  So, I wanted to use those colors with our amazing Frida.

I started by stamping the My Favorite Things Roses All Over background stamp onto vellum with Versamark Ink and embossing with gold embossing powder.  I love the effect of coloring on vellum!  I pulled out the red and pink tones I had in my (very random) stash of water-based markers and scribbled color on the roses. I used Marvy Uchida's Le Plume markers, and a single Momento.  Again, random markers in my stash.  I think any water-based marker would create the same affect that you'll read about next.  The ink was very wet, and I used a paper towel to carefully buff the color outward onto the uncolored roses, moving hints of color from the darker red roses out onto the neighboring roses.  I then used my lightest pink to move some of the ink around the petals for variation and interest.  I love the background!  You will see it again I am sure.

Next, I moved onto coloring the artist herself.

I used my Copic Ciao markers in E35, E31, E51, and R02 to color her face and skin.  I tried hard to capture the slight cleft in her chin without it looking bizarre.  I (think I) succeeded.  :)

I then moved onto her flowers and dress, using the same color combination for both: R59, R37, and RV14.  For her headband and earrings, I used BG23, a beautiful teal, and used that color to blend out the darker G28 on the leaves in her hair.

For her hair, I used E49, E79, and E35, keeping the highlights at the edges and lightly on either side of the part in her hair.  I wanted to use rich browns to complete her skin tone and add depth to complement the rich reds and pinks.

To complete her dress, I painted on Delicata gold ink to the neckline and hem of her dress, as well as the small dots on her shoes.  Delicata inks are a favorite of mine.  They have amazing shimmer.. simply amazing.  And they paint on beautifully.

The Frida quote was stamped in VersaMark ink on pale pink, and then mounted on red foil cardstock.  Since off-center quotes appeal to me, the quote found its home on the lower right of the card front.  I carefully adhered the vellum panel (cut to 4" x 5.25") using ScorTape along the top and bottom edges.  Once I determined Frida's placement, I tucked a piece of ScorTape beneath the vellum where she would lie.  I wanted to avoid having any adhesive seem beneath the vellum as much as possible, although, to be honest, the business of the background would likely mask it.  Frida was finally adhered on foam tape and the card was complete.

I SO love this card.  I love the richness of the colors and the gold.  I love Frida's round little face and the poetic nature of the quote.  I hope you enjoy this card as well, and try your hand at coloring Frida as well.  Please share if you do!!  

Until next time, fairy friends.. xo

#thefrolickingfairy #kindredstamps #fridakahlo #roses #paintflowers #copiccoloring #mftstamps #goldembossing #fridakahloquotes