May 18 2008
Feeling Blue Landscape - Tutorial
I’m feeling a bit under the weather today with allergies, hence the blue landscape. 
It’s very calming don’t you think? I thought this would be a nice sympathy card for a man.
Let’s get started on today’s tutorial.
Supplies:
Brayered Soft Sky ink all over a Whisper White piece of card stock.
Put post it notes on the card stock where I want my horizon line to be and sponged in a circular motion Blue Bayou ink to form a mountain in the distance.
Sponge on Night of Navy ink in a circular motion to create a mountain that over laps the one in the distance.
Sponged Night of Navy ink on the mountain in the fore ground, not covering the Not Quite Navy ink entirely.
Sponged a little Basic Black right at the post it note edge to really get dark at the horizon line.
Took the post it note mask off and put new ones on to cover the sky and mountains. I also masked a very small part of the water area right at the foot of the mountains to create a light beach area.
With my mask in place, I traced where my foreground mountain is on the post it notes so I can envision where I want my mountain reflection to be in the water area.
I turned the card stock up side down so I could work better. I sponged on Not Quite Navy ink to create the mountain reflection using a circular motion.
Sponged Night of Navy on the mountain reflection not covering the Not Quite Navy ink entirely.
Removed the post it note masks.
Using a gentle swiping motion with the sponge from left to right, I sponged on Blue Bayou ink in the water area.
Stamp trees with Basic Black ink.
Stamped Canvas stamp over main image panel to create the illusion of a painting with Soft Sky Ink. Sorry, it is very hard to see this in the picture.
Assembled card and here it is finished. The finished card measures 5″ x 6.5″.
This ends the tutorial part of today’s post, but if you are interested keep reading to see a bit of my Spring garden in bloom. 
These pictures were taken yesterday in the few hours of sunshine we have had here in a few days.
You just have to love Iris when they are blooming. They are so very elegant with their ruffled petals.
I have these Early blooming Daylilies blooming away also. Love them too!
I have these half Barrels turned over in the garden for interest.
Strawberry jar, I can’t wait to get some berries!
Just another garden ornament.
That’s all for now folks. Thanks for sticking around for a little bit of a garden tour.
Hope your Sunday is one of peace.
Until my next post. . . . .
Michelle
What a beautiful card! and beautiful flowers as well.
Beautiful and inspirational work Michelle! You are an amazing artist! - if only I lived closer to you and Karen B. (I live in Keene, NH) - I know I would knocking on your door for a afternoon of creative stamping fun.
Gorgeous flower garden….Ohio is definitely ahead of us here in NH! - my iris’s won’t be blooming for another 3 weeks!!!
I can’t wait to see your next creations…..
Stampin’ Smiles,
~avril
Your card is of course amazing. It reminds me of one of the summer resorts in the Adirondack Mountains, like the one in dirty dancing. Your spring garden is grand can’t wait to see the summer blooms.
Love the tranquility of the card, and the beauty of your blooms. Living in Maine, it will be awhile until my flowers bloom. Thanks again for the tutorials, I will try this one this afternoon.
Your card is SO beautiful and peaceful. I am in awe of the magic you create with paper and ink!
I love the spit panel on your card Michelle. Your gardens are gorgeous as well. Thanks for sharing them, hope your allergies clear up soon. (BTDT)
Finding just the right sympathy card is often difficult and you’ve solved the issue with this beauty. I hope you begin to feel better real soon. I’ve been dealing with the allergy stuff too. Try Jasmine tea. It won’t cure you but you’ll feel better. I’m in Texas so my Irises have already bloomed and the blooms are already spent. Blumbagoes are starting to flower and will do so till the first frost. Cosmos are kicking in too. I love to garden but have to keep it to a minimum as we live in the country and the deer where here first. I think we’ve found a friendly balance with nature and us. Thanks for sharing your art work and your beautiful garden. And thanks for taking the time to make such descriptive tutorials; I am one of your greatest fans/stalkers.
OMGosh Michelle this is amazing! I totally love this. It is the most beautiful card. You are sooo amazing at what you do with stamps, ink, and paper. Again thanks for all your tutorials, and the time you spend on them just for us. THANKS.
Evelynn
Stunning Michele! So calm and beautiful. I love the way you have reflected the simplicity and sereneness of the scene in the layout of your card. Just perfect.
Beautiful pictures of your garden as well! Gorgeous flowers. Really enjoyed looking at them.
Your cards and your flower gardens are both beautiful works of art - lovely in every way. The peace and serenity conveyed on this card will surely be welcomed by anyone who needs to know that someone cares. You truly are an amazing artist and I love your creations! TFS your incredible artistic talent with these easy-to-understand tutorials. I hope you feel much better real soon!
Beautiful card! Thanks for the garden tour; I wish I could have a nice garden, but alas I have a very black thumb when it comes to flowers. Plants I can usually hold onto and torture for awhile, but flowers I’m at a loss.
I saw your beautiful card on SCS and had to check out your blog. I just love your creative style.
This is just anazing! What a perfect sympathy card so tranquil. Your flower gardens are beautiful. Thank you for your tutorials! It is something that makes my day!
Oh my word, Michelle, this is GORGEOUS! I definitely have to try this tutorial! This card is gorgeous!
Your post is so beautiful today. I’ll start with your card. Your tree cards are always favorites of mine, and this is no exception. I think the Appalachain mountains are one of the most beautiful and peaceful places on earth, and your card captures that lovely blue mist that can be seen there. Love your garden pictures too. Your flowers are gorgeous! Thank you for sharing, and I hope your allergies clear up.
BEAUTIFUL!!!! I just want to thankyou for sharing your talent! Best blog on the web!!!!
Beautiful, Michelle! Absolutely LOVE your gardens too! Hope you feel better! ~Hugs~
Gorgeous card! Definitely calming! I hope your allergies feel better and you’re not so blue soon. Take care and tfs your lovely garden too! If only my plants would shine like that!
I hope you feel better soon. Although the weather is cool, I was tempted to turn on the air conditioner to get relief from allergies.
At the St. Paul Stamp Expo I bought the same color Adirondik ink pads you use for your pictorials. I am ready to copy, baby!
Your garden reflex your balance of color and beauty.
Beautiful card again !! and your garden is so lush and green. The Iris are such a gorgeous colour, they look like one of your card creations !! TFS both your garden and your card :0) Hope the alergies clear up soon!!
Wow what one can do with several ink pad and half a stamp, amazing. Hope you get sunshine soon. We are heading into winter here and the weather has not been to bad, so may be we have pinched your good weather. Hope you feel better soon. You brighten up my life with each tutorial. Thank you. Judy.
Another amazing card- yes, it is very peaceful! I am so looking forward to your blog tutorial posts- I am like a little kid- I get so excited to think maybe I can CASE a goegeous card and it will be really pretty when i finish too!!! Thanks again- and i sure hope you feel better soon. Your garden is beautiful! I just returned from my Mom’s in Kentucky, and all of her flowers are blooming too- up here West of Chicago, we are a tiny bit behing you and Mom and do not have the flowers to look at. I can’t wait for that! Again, thanks for sharing your talent!
You absolutely make magic with your use of colors. Stunning! Thanks for taking the time to make the tutorials - they are so easy to follow.
Your garden is lovely. I just love this time of year.
Michelle, I see why it’s so difficult to stay away from you garden. It’s beautiful. Also see why you get some of your love for colors. Today’s card is just beautiful and peaceful…
Hope you’re feeling better soon… Blessings…
Your card is beautiful…serene… I think it would also make a great sympathy card and you know how hard those are to make!
Now your garden… Wow… I thought you said there were weeds… I don’t see any weeds… It is just wonderful… Your flowers are way ahead of mine and my garden has some weeds - even though I’ve been fighting the back!!!
Hope you feel better soon!
Michelle you are a true artist. The card you did made me think of my Grams and her cottage. Not a day goes by that I can still remember her and the times we had at the cottage. Thank you for the memory.
That is a superb artwork! It’s so serene.
It’s so nice to see your garden. I wish mine was that far on, but my irises haven’t made an appearance yet, yet alone flower. Planted some pansies today, though, they are happy flowers!
Hope you can get over your allergies to be able to garden!
fabulous Michelle…and your flowers are beautiful! ya think spring is finally here??!!!
Gorgeous card - very soothing! And what lovely photos of your garden! Our irises are just starting to bud. Can’t wait till they bloom - I love irises as well!
what a talented artist you are Michelle. I love your feeling blue card. Also your garden is beautiful. So much spring colour. We are just at the end of Autumn here in Australia so have winter soon. Although our winters are mild it will be nice to have the flowers in spring time. take care Andrea
The card is so elegant and serene. Just beautiful. And boy is your garden gorgeous!! How on earth do you have time to do your stamping AND have such a fantastic garden?? Amazing!
Beautiful card Michelle and what a gorgeous garden. Being winter here in Australia it’s a little on the chilly side!
Love this Michelle (and all your garden photos too!).
absolutely stunning!!!
I have a question. . . .
Do you use plain white cardstock for these wonderful pieces of artwork, or gloss cardstock?
THanks for sharing your work with us!!!
Deanne
xx
Sydney Australia
I wish I could create this stunner to send to you to help you feel better and put a smile on your face. I hope you are feeling better. Allergies are no fun.
Great garden pics, love all the elements you have in there.
Yet another super beautiful card Michelle. You are amazing.
Deanne asked “Do you use plain white cardstock for these wonderful pieces of artwork, or gloss cardstock?”
Deanne, I use a matt finish card stock, not glossy.
Love your card. Its so calming. Beautiful work. Also love your garden. I’m jealous. It’s beautiful!!
Hi
As always love it, love it, love it.Probably because it looks like one that even I could do!
Its the start of our Chelsea Flower Show over here in the UK and I am sure you would give the garden professionals a run for their money with your garden.
Chris
Stunning card. Really beautiful! You are just so talented!!!
I love your garden. I have such a bronw thumb and we have so many trees around my house that we don’t get much sun so it’s hard to grow flowers. Even out shrubs are not happy - we planted a mountain lauren and a holly bush last year and both are dead now. I am so tired of spending money on plants and they all die. arghhh. So anyway, I really appreciate seeing your beautiful flowers!
Have a ncie day!
Dorothy
What a beautiful card. You’ve got an amazing talent and perspective, and your tutorials are wonderful teaching instruments. Thanks for sharing this, yet another, wonderful creation.
Cassie Z.
Great tutorial! I love it! I gave you a shout out over at Card of the Week.com for Tutorial Tuesday.
Check it out: http://www.cardoftheweek.com/2008/05/tutorial-tues-2.html
Your cards are amazing, and your garden is gorgeous!
LOVE your blog and have added it to my bookmark list!
Thanks for the garden ideas. Your tipped barrel is just right for a spot between 2 tree trunks that I was wondering what to do with–thanks!
Love all of your cards especially this one. It fits my blue mood right now. TFS! You are really a star and a wonderful teacher. I wish I still lived in CA so I could attend the workshop. Want to visit Austin? Where do you get cardstock that allows you to make your finished cards 6.5″? Obviously SUs 12 x 12 isn’t big enough.
Thanks
Veee asked “Where do you get cardstock that allows you to make your finished cards 6.5?″
Veee, the card measures 5″ x 6.5″. So you would cut a piece of card stock to be 10″ x 6.5 and fold then fold it to be 5″ x 6.5
I always find your work totally inspiring, I love it, the depth of colour, the colour choice, the stamps and the layouts.
We recently lost a friend to cancer, he was very young and left two young boys behind. Making a sympathy card for his family was so hard, I trawled the web looking for inspiration and came upon this one and it was just perfect in subject matter and colour so I chose to CASE it with my own details.
Here is the card I made
http://bp1.blogger.com/_NhD_mKt6RH8/SHrw_ASJDVI/AAAAAAAAB4Y/WFxLBxuu5NE/s1600-h/sympathy+card.jpg
Thank you so much for being so generous with sharing your beautiful cards and providing us with the instructions to achieve something similar.
Lynda x