God's Plan For Sure

 Hey Everybody,

I had a friend tell me that her elderly mother-in-law, an artist, couldn't decide what to sketch in her sketch pad anymore. So my friend ask me if I had any line art that she could stamp and see if her mother-in-law would enjoy coloring them.

She used colored pencils and did a beautiful job of shading and coloring with multiple colors on the images.  It's truly amazing how an artist shades things. 

Here are the first two images she colored. In the top card, the image was trimmed close to the figures then added to Stampin' Up Thoughtful Journey designer series paper.

I was struck by the white areas she left, like the bottom of the dresses. The hair is very light on top because the sun is shining on it.

In the bottom card, I received it already die cut so I cut it a bit smaller so you would see more of the background.  I added colors of grass and sand to blend better with the printed images. Since these will go on dinner trays at a local hospital I decided to stamp something about kindness.

The next two are favorites. She colored and fussy cut them out. If you look closely you can see multiple colors in the flowers on the pansy card. It's funny each time I colored this card I made the pansies purple or blue. I never thought to make them this brownish color.

For the card on the left, I used dimensionals behind the lilies. I also switched the papers adding cajun craze behind the tiger lily. Then I added a green designer series paper behind that to bring out the green of the leaves and stems. I added a small, white bow and a die cut sentiment. Lastly I added the gems.

For the card on the right, I dry embossed the cajun craze panel and put it behind the flowers on the left. To bring out the yellow in the flowers, I added a yellow striped panel on the right.  I added a touch of lace ribbon because this felt a bit old fashioned to me. I added the die cut sentiment with gems to finish off the look.

I have to tell you that she colored these the colors she wanted to color them. I looked through my designer series papers to see what I had that might go with them.  Each and every time I found something that brought out the beauty of the colored image.  Not me for sure, but by God's leading these were put together.  

This was a bunch of mini challenges for me. I just had the colored image. If it wasn't cut out I looked at what it might go on top of and would I need to fussy cut it, die cut it or leave it alone.

The next card has such a  beautiful combination of colors on it. I never would have thought to color the petals two different colors. The flower looks so realistic to me. What a talent she has. I do envy artists and what they can do. To be able to look at things and be able to draw and color them is such an amazing ability. I know it comes from much practice. I tell people, I can't draw a straight line so I stamp! LOL

For this card I found designer series paper that went with the image. I popped up the image with dimensionals on the left side. I added a small bow of white ribbon, a die cut sentiment and some gems.  The card base is a partial fold so the flower can be seen on 1/2 of the card without the card front.

It's a piece of cardstock that is 6 3/4" instead of 8 1/2" long to make that shorter card front to add the images to.

The next card came to me already die cut so I just looked for something similar to use for a background. I colored the flowers and grass on the card a bit more to match the flowers on the designer series paper. Then I positioned the girl so she could see the tree. I added a card base of Azure Afternoon to bring out the blue in the sky. Lastly, I added gems.

The next card is also one of my favorites because of the colors she used. The image was die cut when I got it so I placed it off to the left of the card front. Since she was in water, I thought it would be good to add the texture of water with an embossing folder. I used lost lagoon paper and added that to an  azure afternoon card base.  I blended the water she is in to look a little more like lost lagoon. I die cut a sentiment and added gems to it.  

I like the texture of  her arms and skin. I also like the differences in the dark and light blue clothing. Many times I think of using two different colors not shades of the same color when I color clothing.

The last girl was colored with lots of white spots where obviously the light is shining. I've never colored that way. I color the folds in the clothing darker but never thought to leave some of the areas, white.  I'm learning so much about shading just by see what she's done with these images.

I would be fascinated to watch her color images.  I'd love watching and asking her what she's doing and why. I love to learn new things.  

When these were finished I photographed them and sent them to my friend so her mother-in-law would get to see the finished cards.

I asked my friend if we should stamp the back and sign her mother-in-law's name. I also asked if she thought her mother-in-law would like a thank you note from the hospital.

She said yes to both. She said to know she's helping someone else and someone is getting enjoyment out of what she has made, would bring her a lot of joy.

I told my friend to tell her mother-in-law that now she too had a Card Ministry for the local hospital.  Imagine getting older and feeling less useful all the time. Then someone asks you to use your gifts and talents to help others.  It's a win/win!

I pray that this woman continues to take an interest in coloring images for these cards. I had such a great time putting the cards together, that I signed up to do it any time there are new images.

We all need to be needed don't we? How wonderful at ninety-something to still be needed by others. What a beautiful gift God has given all of us in this ministry.  He never ceases to amaze me!

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,

Sue