Hello and happy Sunday! I’m happy to be back today, to share one of my favorite things with you . . . calendars! I always keep a handmade calendar on my desk and love creating a new page for it each month. I was thrilled to find Flourishes has this awesome downloadable 2012 Calendar and couldn’t wait to try it! A Year In Flowers 1 was the perfect stamp set to get started with this year!

After printing the calendar onto ivory cardstock, I trimmed it to approximately 4.50” x 5.25”, having the calendar offset to the left, leaving more unprinted cardstock on the right. I filled the space on the right by die cutting it with one of Spellbinders Edgeabilities decorative inserts and then zig-zag machine stitching the edge. The calendar was layered onto a pink cardstock base measuring approximately 4.75” x 5.50” and now it fits into the CD case I’m using for this year’s calendar!
Next, February’s Primrose was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white cardstock and then colored with Copic markers (listed below). Here are a few Copic coloring tips for you . . .

After stamping, I die cut the floral image with Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities die and while the cardstock was still in the die, I airbrushed the background with Copic B0000:

I usually don’t bother making a mask for airbrushing (just because I find it too tedious!) — I can usually get pretty close to the image without getting too much overspray onto the image (left photo above). A little overspray usually won’t affect your final colored image but if you wish, you can remove any unwanted color with the Colorless Blender marker (right photo above).
Next, I colored the flowers with R81, R83, R85, centers with YR31 and then moved on to the leaves:

To get some nice shading detail in the leaves, I base coated them with YG61 (left photo above). Putting down your lightest color as a base coat helps to prime the paper and make the subsequent colors go on smoother and blend easier. Next, I used darker YG63 to shade the darker areas (right photo above). Keep in mind if you were looking at a real flower, parts of the leaves further away from you would naturally be darker, while parts of the leaves that are closer to you (or where sunlight would be hitting them) will be lighter. Then go back with the lighter YG61 marker and soften the edges of the darker color, so it blends into the lighter color.

To give the light pink die cut mat behind the floral image a little darker contrast and to make it match the flower coloring, I used the darkest R85 Copic marker to airbrush the edges (right photo above). After die cutting and rolling the yellow Spellbinders Spiral Blossoms One flower in the right photo above, I used Copic YR23 marker to lightly color the edges and center of the flower. Lastly, I used Copic W0 and W1 to shade underneath the Primrose image.

Thanks for stopping by today . . . I look forward to seeing you back here again next Sunday!
~ Sharon Harnist

{February Calendar Supplies}
Stamps: Flourishes A Year in Flowers 1.
Dies: Spellbinders Classic Oval and Big Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, Classic Ric Rac Edgeabilities, Spiral Blossoms One, Grand Calibur die cutting machine.
Paper: light pink, light yellow & ivory cardstock.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black.
Copic Markers: B0000, R81, R83, R85, YG61, YG63, YR31, W0, W1.
Accessories: Flourishes 2012 Calendar Download, Copic Airbrush System, sewing machine + ivory thread, foam tape, CD case.

Hi all! Happy New Year to all of you! We at Flourishes hope that nothing but blessings abound in your lives in the coming year! As we kick off a new year, we kick off a new month and a new designer to grace the pages of the Flourishes blog every Sunday this month in the Limelight! Before we get to the big unveil, we want to offer a warm thanks to Suzanne Czosek — who rocked the house with her fabulously creative posts all month long! If you want to see what Suzz has been up up to… you can always click HERE to visit her blog! Thank you so very much Suzanne!!!

On to this month’s designer! She’s provided five years of inspiration on her blog HERE and can work magic with Copic markers! Who is it???

INTRODUCING….

I had the pleasure of meeting Sharon at summer CHA and she is as gracious in real life as you would expect her to be. She just has this kind of calm about her that is contagious. I’m so excited to see what she whips up for all of us this month — I know it will be a fun few weeks! To get ready for her big reveal next Sunday, we asked her to share a little bit about herself!

I started my love of paper crafting with scrapbooking in 1999 after the birth of my oldest daughter.  It wasn’t until February 2004 that I was first introduced to rubber stamping and found a new love! I began blogging and designing for rubber stamp companies in 2006 and have been lucky enough to be published in a variety of major paper crafting magazines.  I live with my husband of 17 years and two young daughters in Texas and we enjoy getting away to tropical vacations whenever we can!  I had the great honor of guest designing for Flourishes in April/May 2008 and am thrilled to be back working with the most gorgeous stamp designs in the industry!

Thanks Sharon!!  We are honored to have YOU as well. We might be biased, but we think you’re right — Flourishes does have the most gorgeous stamp designs in the industry and we can’t wait to see your take on these images!

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Sharon will be here with her first post next Sunday! We’ll see you back here soon!