Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Playing with Poppies

My sweet friend, "sista", little sis Virginia Lu recently went on vacation with her family to Lake Louise.  She shared with me a few pictures that her husband Dr. John took of the beautiful surroundings there, and I thought they were so lovely that I asked her if I could use one of them as an inspiration for a card. Here it is, compliments of Dr. John Lu:

 Are these Iceland Poppies?  Don't know......but they are gorgeous, aren't they?  How many variations of creams and yellows and golds and oranges are there?  So I got to playing this morning, and here was my first attempt.


supplies: white,  Core'dinations guava, Hero Arts Mandarin layering paper, F3045 Elegant Poppy, CL184 Thoughtful Messages, versafine onyx black ink, Memento Hero Hues sunshine markers, cream and green Prismacolor pencils, EK Success diamond scallop border


I used this Hero Arts stamp from 2004 called "Elegant Poppy", and colored it with markers, and colored pencils, and mounted it on Mandarin layering paper.  One of the poppies was stamped a 2nd time and popped above the panel.

Then I thought of this stamp from 2005 called Shaded Glory.....it looks enough like a poppy that I tried that next, against a distress ink sponged background.


supplies: white and cream and DCWV Green #1 card stocks, scattered straw, mustard seed, wild honey, orange marmalade, and shabby shutters distress inks,  F3254 Shaded Glory, CL156 Treasure the Moments, vintage photo distress ink  

And then I tried it using both of the stamps, since one is an outline and the other is a shadow stamp.   I followed the above example, but to finish, I overstamped the elegant poppy flowerhead only in vintage photo over the already stamped shaded glory flowers.


supplies: same as above, but using dark cream parchment as the card base and using CL497 Find Joy set as the sentiment.

It's not perfect, but I think this one is my favorite.  Of course, none of them get anywhere near to the real thing, but I had fun in the process.  I made a conscious  decision not to use any embellishments on these, and just enjoy the stamping process.

Thank you so much, Dr. John, and Virginia, for sharing these with me - it was almost as good as being there! Virginia will be sharing more of these pictures in the upcoming days, so be sure and visit her blog.

23 comments:

Brenda said...

All three are so beautiful Lin! How awesome to be inspired by such a stunning photo! I love that old poppy stamp!

Sue McRae said...

Gorgeous cards Lin. My fave is the second one with it's soft and dreamy feel. It reminds me of a watercolour painting.

Unknown said...

You totally rocked that third card, Lin! love the inspiration photo, poppies are some of my favorite flowers.

Barb said...

Sometimes a beautiful photo is all you need to keep those creative juices flowing and boy are yours flowing today, my friend! All three cards are so lovely! I think I like the last one best too! Beautifully done, Lin!

MarcyK924 said...

HOLY COW!!! Shall I call you Monet?? These are gorgeous and I love how you just took it further until YOU were happy with it. How sweet of Dr. John. (I keeping telling Vi he needs to have his own blog!) You couldn't have picked a more beautiful inspiration as those poppies. I would blow this up and frame it!!

Virginia L. said...

I can't say which one I like more...but I do love the 2nd and 3rd A LOT!! Wait till Dr. John sees this after work! I bet he would be THRILLED!! You make the 2nd card very Van Gough-like!! Love the dreamy effect on the 2nd one, like Sue said. You are one AMAZING stamper and friend, Lin :)

Stella said...

I can't pick a favorite but I love your stamping skills; both cards turned out gorgeous. The first card almost has a CAS look but that sounds a bit weird with the flowers. But I hope you know what I mean. And your second card; so dreamy...like an aquarel painting of Monet...wow!

farmhouse-story said...

3 beauties, lin! you do the most incredible cards!

donna mikasa said...

Love seeing the "reincarnation" of your original poppy card! I love the last one, too! Just gorgeous, Lin!

Tina said...

Three amazing cards. Each one has captured the beauty of real poppies in such delicate and sweet way.

joy said...

Ditto to all the above! I simply LOVE the 3rd card the most - so, so gorgeous! Your cards are just perfect, Lin.

Kathy Martin said...

Gorgeous poppy cards! They remind me of wild California poppies!

Alice said...

i adore poppies and that is a gorgeous photo. and your cards are absolutely gorgeous, Lin! beautiful colors and designs, too. love love them all!

Savannah O'Gwynn said...

WOWOWOWOW x3! Gorgeous colors used! I love that poppy that is popping off the page! Just gorgeous:)

Clare said...

Wow, these are ALL so gorgeous! Love the pics, and those colors! The stamps you used are just beauts, and I love how you used them!

Donna said...

These really show the artist in you! They are lovely and really don't need any embellishments at all. Nicely done!

stampingandstitching said...

Oh wow Lin, wonderful cards inspired by Dr John's photo! They are all absolutely gorgeous!

Dawn T said...

All three are just stunning, each in their own way. Love the last one

Wanda G (stampcat) said...

Hi Lin! What a neat post! I love that inspiration photo and your cards are a wonderful interpretation of it! Love that color palette. What a sunshiney gift for us! :-)

Trinh said...

These are all beautiful, Lin! I think my fave is the last one too.

Yvette said...

The last one is my favorite, but they are all three fantastic. And I also love the photo!

pcm said...

Lin, these cards are wonderful!

Suzanne C said...

Love your three different versions of artistic poppies and Virgina's picture is so lovely.