Thankful Memories

Oh My Goodness!!...hasn't Mother Nature delivered us the most extraordinary week here in Australia? The highest summer rainfall in over 100 years, some snow in the high country, heartbreaking and tragic floods in Queensland. In my little part of Victoria, we have had rain all week, our river systems are on flood alert and the humidity levels presently rival those in Darwin - all unheard of, at this time of the year!! This might all sound dark and dreary but there is still beauty to be found in the great outdoors - the huge raindrops on my roses were testimony to this. In between the showers of rain, I managed to take some lovely photos. Then yesterday I created a layout using my rose photos accompanied by this poem I found online.

What a Rose can say?

A rose can say I love you and want you to be mine,
A rose can say I thank you for being so very kind,
A rose can say congratulations, whatever the occasion may be,
A rose can say I miss you and wish you were here with me,
A rose can say I'm sorry if I've hurt you in any way,
A rose can say get well soon, May God bless you today,
A rose can say I wish you happiness, and the best for you each day.
A rose can say farewell when someone goes away,
A rose can say hello, I'm thinking of you today,
There's just so many wonderful things that a rose can say,
A rose can say goodbye when a love one is laid to rest,
No matter what there is to say, a rose can say it best.

                                                      -Margie Driver

I complimented the layout with some rose embellishments I created using X-Press IT Blending Card, some stamps from my "Stampin Up" stash ( Natural Beauty and Roses in Winter ) and my Copic Markers. After colouring my images, I added a textured look to them by "dotting" randomly over them with my Colourless Blender ( available from http://www.madformarkers.com.au ). I decided to tear the images from the card rather than cut around the image outlines with my scissors...this added some extra texture. I then ran my marker around the torn outline, this disguised the white edge of the card and added more depth to the colour. I rather like the effect! The papers I used were, Cactus and White Cardstock from Creative Memories, the Tea at Elsie's collection from Kaisercraft, along with a strip of paper ribbon from the Creative Memories Hummingbird Collection.

Copics Used:
Pink Rose - RV25, RV32
Orange Rose - YR00, YR02
Leaves - YG45, YG63, YG67

and here is a close-up of my roses and leaves

I have also taken a photo for you of the pink rose image before I tore it from the X-Press IT Blending Card and coloured it. To stamp this image I coloured the rubber with the broad ( chisel ) tip of my Copic Marker then stamped directly onto my card. You have to work quickly when applying this technique as the ink drys very fast. I have my stamp cleaning pad beside me and as soon as I stamp the image I clean my rubber and this has prevented any staining.

as I sign off from this post... my wish for this week.... is for the rain to stop, the waters to recede and for the donations to keep pouring in to assist those affected by the floods.