Bombshell Stamps~Butterfly Queen

This little pin-up reminds me of a Las Vegas showgirl. I wanted to work with this Daisy D's paper, so I dressed her in red. I started by stamping her in VersaMark and embossing her in detail black on Canson's watercolor paper. I almost always watercolor this way because the raised edges of the embossing help me control the watercoloring a little better. I need all the help I can get to make mine look good! I usually use markers, then smear them around with a wet brush. I start with the lightest color and add depth with darker colors as I go. I use four or five different brands. I like SU!'s Blush Blossom for skin, if you're doing a white gal. I'm working on other shades of skin, but I'm not very good at them. I use Bliss Blue as my grounding color, that's the little outline of the image. It helps keep it from looking so stark, since there's no background here. I always mix a little Radiant Pearls with my water, so the whole image has a nice shimmer.

The ribbon is Basic Gray Color Me Silly. I really treasure this ribbon, but I am working on not hoarding supplies. The more I use, the easier it gets, why buy it if you're not going to use it? The heart button is from WalMart. It's very fat, so not great for a card, but I liked the look of it, so I used it anyway. This one will cost me dearly to mail. I used Art Institute Glitter in Lion's Mane for the wings. It's a beautiful orangy gold from one angle, and a complex green from another. I used SU!'s Heat and Stick powder, which I have never had much success with, I'll try something else next time. These wings are too detailed for the H&S to give pleasing results.