Watercolor Iris Mother’s Day Card

Good morning, kittens & dawgs! This week I’m sitting things out for the most part in Blogosphere. I need a little regroup time after last month’s exhausting but fun and rewarding challenge. You’re invited to read my A2Z Reflections post.

Yesterday I was swamped with catch up and I had an appointment with ENT doc. We’re going to give the nasal spray another month before resorting to surgery. This means my hearing continues to be limited and it’s a total annoyance but if this inconvenience prevents the need for a hearing tube then hooray!

During the April A to Z challenge, my flame for drawing grew. When I sketched my Iris picture, I knew I wanted to use it as a Mother’s Day watercolor design for my mom. I ordered Strathmore watercolor paper from Amazon after finding out regular cardstock (with mom’s bday card) buckles badly when using watercolors.

After I sketched my image, I used a Micron #02 pen to outline then erased pencil marks before applying Kimberly watercolor pencils and a dab of water. The watercolor paper worked beautifully as expected with no buckling. I’m a happy girl! The cool thing is this paper is manufactured in the USA (see upper right corner). Here’s a close up of my card.


I liked how the design turned out and decided to use it for DD#2’s upcoming birthday this Sunday. Yeah, her bday falls on Mother’s Day this year. Isn’t that neat?

Now moving on to a bit of mewsic!

I can’t recall how I stumbled upon this morning’s featured mewsician but that doesn’t matter.  Susan Wong is truly a “China Doll” born in Hong Kong. She spent several years in the land down under as a child with her family but after graduation, she moved back to Hong Kong. Her genre is classed as easy-listening with smooth jazzy vibes and if you’re like me then you’re going to enjoy her sound.

 

Last week while catching up with missed A to Z posts, I was visiting Toni from Wandering and Wondering who was playing along with Airing My Laundry (click button) in “Hey, It’s Okay!”

This is what the hostess says… I got this idea from Glamour magazine. You can link up any day of the week. All you have to do is make a list of what you’re okay with. Simple! Please do not link up a post that has nothing to do with “Hey, It’s Okay”. It’s rude.

Hey, it’s okay if DH chooses to indulge me how every he wishes on Mother’s Day weekend. It doesn’t have to be anything grand because love shines through and there’s no amount of money that can buy that. ?

Let me finish my chat session by joining Les from Ink Interrupted for Tuesday Coffee Chat this with this morning’s prompt: It’s my birthday and Mother’s Day soon… what should I do?

Contrary to the way some mothers feel, Les, I think Mother’s Day is best spent with the children.  I’m sure you’re like me on this score, too.  Enlist left brain to take you and the kids out for a picnic lunch in a beautiful park where you can watch them play while photographing those magical moments as a family or snapping the occasional picture of a beautiful flower or friendly critter or whatever strikes your fancy. Indulge yourself with something sweet like a scoop or two of ice cream. That’s the way I would go but choose something that’s special to you. After being out all day, get some take out to take home to spend a leisurely evening with the family.  Oh but wait, it’s your birthday, too! Start dropping hints (a good way to drop hints is to send him today’s post URL from my site or others playing along) now for left brown to help the kids bake a cake for you and offer suggestions for gifts of pens, a writing journal, color pencils, or your favorite ground coffee or tea.  The possibilities are endless. I’m sure your family already has plans for you and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was along these lines. Happy Birthday and Mother’s Day to you, dearie! ?

That’s a wrap for this morning. I’m hopping over to Stacy’s for Random Tuesday Thoughts and you’re welcome to join me if you want. The rest of the week and maybe the next two, I’m talking it easy to regroup after the April A to Z Challenge. Not to worry, if you leave your footprints here on my site, I will follow them back to you. I’ll see you soon!

I hope you’ll hop & link up tomorrow for not-so Wordless Wednesday.

 

Have a terrific Tuesday!

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29 comments

  1. Your iris watercolor is wonderful, Cathy. Definitely keep on exploring colors, you’re on an awesome journey.
    I read in a comment Tombows – I have those, too and love them. I also recently used them in my mixed media pieces, but a word of warning: They are very, very potent and resilient as well i.e. Paint over them with white acrylic and they will still pop through. But – as I always say: Experiment!

    1. Claudia,

      I appreciated the tip on the Tombow markers. I haven’t tried using them to watercolor but I like the idea that you highlight the colors with some acrylic paint (I’m assuming or does it come in another form like a pencil or pen). I hope to try using the markers in this capacity soon and I will have to look into getting white acrylics for my project. Do you have any other suggestions? 🙂 Thanks for visiting!

  2. Lovely irises! They do make for a pretty card.

    I agree with you that a picnic with ice cream and take out with cake sounds like a fun way to celebrate Mother’s Day and a birthday all in one. Of course, it also sounds like a great way to gain 500 pounds, but who’s counting? 😉 You only get ‘one’ day a year, might as well live it up. 🙂

    1. Mandy,

      Thank you, I’m glad you liked the card. My suggestion to Les was a good one and when DH offered to take me out on Mother’s Day to for ice cream and burgers then I jumped at the chance. I had three scoops of Baskin Robbins ice cream which is one more scoop than I normally get. lol That was a bit too much but I enjoyed it all! 😀

  3. The card is so beautiful!!! I love the colours and the fact that you made it is so very special. And I really love the idea of a picnic in the park!!! That’s exactly what I am going to suggest and let’s pray our funky Canadian weather works with us on this one!! My mom did show up with my favourite coffee today, so I am settled on that score – and proves it’s still true that Mom Knows Best!! ha.

    1. Les,

      Saying prayers that the weather will cooperate for you and your family to enjoy a beautiful day picnicking at a lovely park soon and yes, Moms do know best! 🙂

    1. Pam,

      Purple is one of my favorite colors. It used to be my top color but since I’ve grown very fond of soft pinks. I’m totally a girlie-girl!

    1. Diana, Thank you! I’m glad you liked my Mother’s Day card. I hope my mom enjoys it, as well as I hope my daughter likes her bday card. 🙂 I had fun making both cards a lot and am looking forward to experimenting more with watercolors.

  7. This post is a veritable plethora of cool stuff, Cathy! 😀 Your iris card is stunning. Love the colours! ‘Hey It’s Okay’ sounds like a fun blog hop. Definitely okay to be indulged by your DH on Mother’s Day and any other time. Some things are way more valuable than anything money can buy. Susan Wong has a lovely voice, perfectly suited to this ‘smooth jazz’ tune. Happy Mother’s Day!

    1. Debbie,

      My Tuesday posts have a bit of random chatter with a mix of mewsic. Sometimes I wonder if I should break apart these into separate daily entries but then I think it would get confusing for my readers. What do you think? Do you prefer seeing everything all together like this or as stand-alone posts? Thanks for the lovely comment on my watercolor design, the visit, and HMD greetings, dear friend. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

      1. Making separate posts would be more work for you and your commenters. I think it’s fine the way it is. Lots of bloggers combine different things into one. It’s all good! 🙂

        1. Debbie,

          I’m glad to hear you say this because you’re right it is more work for me and I know when I visit someone with multiple daily posts it’s difficult to figure out sometimes which one they are expecting me to read and comment on.

  9. Your card came out fantastic. I hope you have a nice Mother’s Day.

    1. Thank you, Ellen! This weekend’s plans are to do some much-needed chores outdoors if we don’t get rained out. I told DH I wanted ice cream for Mother’s Day, which we have plenty in the freezer but we may have to see what’s new in the store freezer area. 🙂

  10. I love your irises! So nicely done and such a special gift that will surely be a keepsake! I once asked my son to send me a new picture of himself and told him I would send him cookies as a reward. He cleverly sketched a stick man inside the card. I responded in kind, with a smiley face and a sketch of chocolate chip cookies! Needless to say, I got a real picture very shortly! 🙂

    1. Josie,

      Oh, that’s good! This reminds me, DH always draws stick people family when he makes me a card for any occasion. It’s just so cute and always makes my heart smile. You just can’t buy anything like that from Hallmark. 🙂

  12. Love your iris card and she will love it because it comes from the heart. Watercolour paper is the best for that and it came out really well. One can watercolour with so many different mediums-I have tombow markers which can be used to watercolour, pencils, Distress inks (press the ink pad on a piece of plastic and then spray some water on it, then dip your brush in and have fun). My mom would agree that she loved spending time with us and i will be seeing her this Sunday but it is always bittersweet since she is not my mom as I used to know her. My friend has a birthday on the 14th too so they will both have a double great day

    1. Birgit,

      Oh, I also have Tombow markers and I think mine can be used that way. I had forgotten about that, so thanks for reminding me. I’m sorry things aren’t the way they used to be between you and your mother. Unfortunately, that’s one the horrors of the aging process. I have two May babies and often times it falls the week after DS’s and/or the week before DD#2 but sometimes her bday is on Mother’s Day like it is this year. Oh well…if it weren’t for my kids then I wouldn’t be celebrating this day anyhow, so I like the double day celebration. 🙂

  13. Delightful Irises. I like the quality of that paper, it is my go to for watercolors, although I have worked with my watercolor pencils on lighter weight paper and just pressed the finished project between books.. The recipients of the artwork hopefully treasure it.

  14. Hi, Cathy!

    Your watercolor Iris is absolutely gorgeous. That’s the only adjective I can think of that goes far enough to describe its impact on the eyes and emotions. You were smart to put your painting on professional paper stock. Your mother will be awe struck by her beautiful Mother’s Day card and your DD2 will also be delighted to receive your artwork for her birthday. Happy Mother’s Day to your mom and happy Mother’s Day and birthday to your darling daughter!

    I agree that “Hey, it’s okay” if your spouse simply spends a little more time with you and gives you a little extra attention on a Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. That means more to me than a store bought gift.

    Like the artist you introduced Sunday night, Susan Wong gets right inside your head with her intimate, jazz influenced vocals. I like her style. I hope the nasal spray starts to make a difference in your ear function so that you can avoid an invasive procedure.

    Again, terrific job on that Iris illustration. It’s a piece of art suitable for framing. Have a great Tuesday, dear friend Cathy!

    1. Tom,

      Thank you! It was a joy to create this card for my mother. Being a mom, I’m sure she’ll like it if for no other reason than it’s from her daughter because that’s precisely how I would feel. Unfortunately, my kids are too busy to make time to send out greeting cards store bought or handmade. I’m lucky to get a phone call or text on special occasions. lol I’m glad you enjoyed today’s featured artist. Yes, I hope the nasal spray does the trick. I just need to be patient and put up with limited hearing range a little longer. Thanks for visiting, my friend

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