A visit to Keukenhof

Lots of colour inspiration from my trip to Keukenhof, the dutch bulb fields in Holland.

This was the first flower bed that I saw as I walked through the gates, look at the mass of beautiful tulips.

The planting was spectacular. Every time you walked around a corner there was an array of colour.

Planted through woodland and around a large lake many tulips, daffodils, narcissus and hyacinths in all colours, shapes and sizes.

This was my favourite statue called Butterfly, if you could like one it is 26,000 Euros! The designer is Jack Van Iwaarden de Vreede.

Indoor installations included this caravan, now I would love one of these!

Wiggly Stems

I thought I would share the images I coloured using the Wiggly Stem Stamps. What a fabulous name for a set of flower stamps!

The pretty pastels on this piece were made using a water technique shared by Christina from http://www.amom.co.uk/ using my Zig pens. By dipping the pen in a little pot of water it drains the ink from the nib of the Zig pen and as you start to colour the ink filters back through the nib and allows you to shade or create beautiful rainbow effects. 

I think this one was my favourite.

Circle Flowers

While the Circle Flower stamp was all inky I decided to stamp a couple more to sit and colour in front of the telly.

So I now have a pretty colour selection which would be nice mounted with gem butterflies and a pastel colour selection which would be nice mounted with lace or pretty paper doilies.

This was the one from Sunday's blog.

Colouring is very therapeutic and its surprising how different they can all look.

Dylusion Paints

There's nothing like a bright sunny morning to encourage bright colours in crafting, I love the latest Dylusion paints which come in 59ml pots suitable for dipping brushes, cloth, cards into.

I am using Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime, Cut Grass and a Pure Sunshine ink spray.

By dipping a corner of a baby wipe in the lemon zest pot to pick up the smallest amount of paint I then used the full wet wipe round my fingers to spread the paint over the card. (When you have a go spray water over the sheet to help the colour move if it's a bit dry.) Start with a small amount of paint, you can always add more paint.

I started on an A4 sheet so I can make four background pieces. Using Fresh Lime paint applied with a baby wipe I made a cross on the centre and added more paint around the edge. Next a small amount of Cut Grass adds depth to the cross and edges.

The bubble effect on the left hand side is Pure Sunshine ink sprayed through a stencil, it compliments the paint colours beautifully.

Decision, decisions, what images shall I use for my card fronts?

It's such an quick and easy way to make a selection of cards.

I added more Cut Grass paint to the edge of the fourth piece which will be perfect for the Eiffel Tower stamp! It reminds me of spring time in Paris.

Grabbing a few Zig pens I decided to colour a couple of my pieces. Starting with the Circle Flower stamps I used pen colours to compliment the paint.

Then I used a wilder selection of colours for the Wiggly Stems flower stamp.

Once the pieces are mounted I will add a little glitter and maybe a couple of accessories or a greeting.

As mentioned before all the materials used can be purchased from http://www.amom.co.uk/