SSC April blog hop!

It's time for the SSC blog hop! :)This is the inaugural hop, click here to go to SSC (another lovely site to join with lots of fun things going on). Our challenge this month was to create a card with the theme of the season you're in. (for me, it's spring... for others, not so much!)
I had an entire map of what I wanted to do, the stamps (digi & rubber) picked out AND my paper chosen before I even went to my table. I ended up using the stamps and paper - but the map just went by the roadside! See? I can't even handle my *own* sketches! :D
I am fairly pleased with how this card came out, even though it only looks minimally like my intended card. I *love* my new rubber from Stamping Bella - this is Gertie from the Lulu collection (you have to scroll down a bit). (On a side note, shipping was fairly priced even though they came from Canada and my order shipped pretty fast too!)
Gertie was stamped with Black Onyx VersaFine several times on white card stock. I colored her face, arms, legs & the very top of her dress with Copic markers. The skirt was stamped on a light blue paper and touched up with Copic and Spica markers. After cutting out different portions of each image, I adhered them all down to the base image. I've used this technique before here and here (Level Up from Technique Junkies) and it still surprises me with a very subtle dimension that looks awesome in person. It is, however, a lot of fussy cutting - especially when you don't think about cutting the springy curls before you get started!
The butterflies in her hair were colored with Perfect Pearls and Spica pens. The rest of the butterflies (MS punch on Kioshi paper) were colored with a mix of Perfect Pearls, Spica, Distress Stickles and Distress Stain (Broken China on the blue ones). The flowers were also cut from some Kioshi paper and embellished with Spica and PP.
The sentiment was a freebie download from Gingerloft that I retyped in a different font using PSE. The sentiment was cut with Nesties, swiped with Broken China Distress Stain and spritzed with Ranger's Perfect Pearl mist. Once dry, I edged it with Chipped Sapphire DI and used my Xyron to adhere it to the base (a very shimmery white).
The final touch were the 'beads' around the edge. I measured in from the edges with a clear ruler and marked the holes with a piercing tool. After erasing my lines, I went around the edge with my Glossy Accents and made little clear beads. Unfortunately, doing it by hand means they aren't all the same size - but the clear ones I had were *way* too big! This gives you control over the size... mostly! ;)
You can get a hint of how shimmery this card is IRL in this close up. Between the Perfect Pearls, the Spica pens, the Distress Stickles and the Perfect Pearl spray - well, this card is *alive* in person! :D
Thanks for dropping by!

The next easel card!

Like I said I would last time - I made another easel card! :) This time I took the easy way out and did a rectangular card base... much, much easier! Unfortunately, the pictures really don't do it justice. *sigh*
Here you can see just the front panel. Isn't that a lovely image from Crafts and Me? The Sara Burrier images are gorgeous! (and they just released another that I'm dying for!)
I colored her with Copic markers and a Spica pen. If you look really closely you can just barely make out a blue outline around her - she isn't just floating in all that white space, promise! :) Once I had the panel cut and the corners rounded I added a little Glossy Accents to the bubbles and around the edge of the panel (which was then dusted with a really light blue glitter). That panel was then mounted on an awesome piece of dark blue/green/purple paper then mounted on shimmery white card stock. The shell and beads were from my stash, as was the silver embroidery thread.
Here you can get an idea of what I used on the base as a stopper. I really wanted to use a set of pearls that I had - but they weren't the right color (too creamy on a *white* base). Anyway, I used some blue Dew Drops, a couple of clear drops (floral dept at Mike's), a couple of flat backed pearls and some tiny drops of Glossy Accents. Hopefully it looks like jewels at the bottom of the ocean. :)
I didn't include a sentiment yet, mostly because I have no idea of who this will go to/what it will be for. There's plenty of space at the bottom to add it later, which is (I think) the beauty of this kind of card!
Thanks for dropping by!

Long time no blog...

Although I've been *really* busy! :)
The boy had his fifth birthday - which required much house cleaning (how does it get that dirty??) and food prep. We had decided to do his birthday party on Saturday so that more people could attend - which was also his (FAVORITE!) cousin's birthday too.
In the midst of all this madness, I decided to make my very first easel card. Oy. That was NOT a smart choice! Don't get me wrong - it was much easier to build than I thought it would be. On the other hand, if you've never made one before, a circle easel card is not the place to start! :D
I started with this cute fairy image from Mo Manning printed on white card stock. I colored her with a mix of Copics, Spica pens & Sakura glitter pens. The dotty background technique is something I need to work on, but it looks OK here. It needs more contrast, I think.
I cut out the image and both layering panels with nesties. Both the image panel and the next (pink) layer were popped up with dimensionals. I used a gray Copic marker on the bottom purple layer so it would stand out against the base (and did the same to the base layer at the very end).
The base card (white, but not very visible here) was cut out of super thick card stock with my Curvy Cutter. This was difficult to say the least - cutting through *two* layers of thick c/s was not easy and left some pretty ragged edges. I think this particular card would've worked MUCH better with a thinner base card.
The purple layer on the bottom was stamped with the Hero Arts dots background (versamark) then stamped with the sentiment (colorbox) before adding the butterfly (MS punch). To keep the butterfly popped up I used a little glossy accents underneath the top set of wings (did that make sense?). Once dry (it stays dimensional) I added a little more to the bottom wings and the glue 'bumps' and held it down until it adhered. This lets you add as much dimension as you'd like - even in very tight spaces - and still lets you pop things up at an angle (which is tough with dimensionals).
The worst part of the experience was trying to get everything aligned on the circle! The ribbon was the most difficult, although the fold on the base piece was nearly as challenging. I'd recommend doing either a square or rectangle the first time. Actually, I believe that I *will* do one of those next time! :)
Thanks for dropping by!