Pear Zentangle Stamp

Good Morning, and brrrr...it is quite cool & breezy around our community today, even though the sun is shining. We had some plants freeze over night, so we'll have to go pull them up later this afternoon.
(we did know this would happen, which is why we didn't cover them last night. I'm not spending the winter, out each night to cover up plants! These were coleus by the front steps and we knew they'd have to come out pretty soon).

I have been working on this card for several nights...and finally finished it. The card was placed on a black ground to photograph. Actual card is the background described below.

- The stamp was purchased at the September Stamp Convention. I stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento, then using 2 different Kaleidescope pads (sorry, don't remember the names of the K pads..I was just experimenting to see the effects). The gray pear was adhered with dimensional tape, so it is a bit elevated from the 2 flat pears.

In another stamping trial, I used Memento Cottage Ivy, coloring in with some Tombow Irotjen pencils. These pencils are very hard, hold a point great, but I'm finding them too waxy when laying down the color. Could be I just need more practice, but my first effort with the Derwent Colortense pencils seemed to yield a better result. I'll be back with the pencil colored stamp later.

- Background created by using a light coat of Gesso over a #90 Canson w/color paper. Let it dry, then sprayed with white linen dilutions of Orange Zext, Cut Grass and Calypso Teal. While wet, the colors were soft & pretty, but once dried, much too pale for what I wanted. Went back with the same undiluted colors, and still didn't get the usual intense color that the Dylusions create. Had to be because of the Gesso on the paper. Still it was something fun to try. The other thing about using watercolor paper as a card front, it has a tendency to curl even though it's adhered down well. I left something heavy sitting on the card overnight, also used my hand to 'curl' it the opposite way. Any suggestions?

- Sentiment is Elizabeth Craft die cut from a snippet of a pretty background created here. Overall I like the card, but I think the background should have had a stronger contrast. Oh well, I'm learning!

Have a great afternoon, and hope your weekend is off to a great start. Give a hug to someone who might need it. Here's one for you, and thanks for joining me!