Boysenberry Beauty

The release week challenge over at Flourishes is a winter thaw photo-inspiration challenge. Well we all need a thaw because BRRRRRrrr... I just bought the Berries set from Flourishes, and although I know that these are supposed to be raspberries, I like boysenberries better. Go figure.

 

Most people are only familiar with Boysenberries from IHOP syrup (IMO the best of the flavored syrups at IHOP). I like Boysenberry jelly though too. YUM. Boysenberries are real. They are a cross between a blackberry, raspberry and a loganberry. Now here is the weird part. Loganberries are crosses between raspberries and blackberries... So wouldn't a Boysenberry be a loganberry????? And something I did not know, is that they have almost twice the anti-oxidants as blueberries. WOW.

I am not really sure if I got the color quite right. I tried really hard. I figure these are not quite ripe Boysenberries.  I think that I got a little closer to the berries on the front of Knott's Berry Farm Amusement Park Gates, than actual ripe ones. :-)

I colored these a little differently than I usually do, in that I didn't blend quite as much. I started off with a base coat of V12. I added shading with V15 and a little V17. I tried to add more of the darker shading toward the bottom of the berries. However, since each drupelet (and yes that is a word - I was trying to figure out what to call each little section and that is the actual word - who knew?!), can have multiple colors, I tried to shade those as well.

Once I was done with the shading, I did one SLIGHT blend with the V12. Then I went back. Boysenberries have a reddish tint in addition to the purple. So in certain areas (darker primarily and some of the lighter drupelets), I added RV17 to it and blended SOME of it with the V12, but not all.

The Leaves and Stems are G21, 24, 28, and the flowers have a touch of Y0000 along the petals, and Y11 in the center.

To finish off the card I found a background paper of this purpley boysenberry color, and used the Lacy Square Nestie to cut it out. Through some weird twist of fate, I had a purple ribbon that matches almost perfectly.  The Nestie is popped up off of the white background. I am not sure if you can see it here, but the white is spritzed with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist to give it a crystally sparkly look.  I added the crystals as an embellishment around the edge.

Since this also meets the criteria for the Copic Creations Challenge of Cool Colors, I am also entering it in that challenge.

Hope you all liked your tutorial on Boysenberries. LOL. Now I am hungry and going to go find something to eat.  Hope to see you again soon.