Tweet Leaves

This is a Stampin' Up stamp called Tweet Leaves.  On first glance the stamp looks like it has to all one color when you stamp it.  But today I tried coloring the various parts of the stamp with Tim Holtz Distress Markers.  I don't have all the colors yet (try to buy them on sale!).  I was skeptical when I saw Tim's demo on using them.  You can imagine how long it took to color all the parts and I thought surely the ink will be too dry to stamp.  Tim's trick is to breathe (huff he calls it) on the stamp when you are done coloring then stamp.  It works!!!  It has a very soft painterly look and you don't have to be exacting about where your colors go.  If you let part of a leaf or flower be the same color as a stem it looks even better. 

I used SU cardstock and DP and the Spellbinders Marvelous Squares.  This Spellbinders set is wonderful....my new "go to" set.  It has five square dies....ALL DIFFERENT.  I love to do 5" square cards and this works perfectly for that size. The cocoa layer and the white layer are from this die set.This little stamp makes a nice all occasion card no matter how you stamp it.