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!