Thursday, March 19, 2009

It's in the air!

Spring is in the air! For those of you with allergies, I'm so sorry. I sure hope there is some GREAT medicine available so that you won't miss a minute of this glorious season! But just in case you need to hunker in for a while, I have a great, allergy proof way of bringing a little spring indoors....

This fun little card!


I'm teasing you a little bit, by using a set from the "Occasions Mini Catalogue" from Stampin'Up! that starts from April 1st and runs until June 30th, 2009. As a demonstrator we can get our hands on products a little early, so if there is some drooling going on... just be patient...

I was NOT patient, so I grabbed this set, "Forest Friends" immediately! Just like the Leprechaun from "Pinch Proof", nice bold images! I LOVE the artwork and design. They are stylized, but classic, in my opinion. They remind me of children's images from the 1940's with their big, sweet eyes and bold image. Very versatile! I plan to play with these a lot! Maybe you will too!



Darling!

To make this card I stamped "little deer" with "Close to Cocoa" Classic Ink on "Very Vanilla" C/S (card stock). I inked the eyes and nose with a black "Stamp and Write" marker and used a q-tip in "Blush Blossom" chalk and just lightly swirled it on the cheek of the deer. I added a smattering of "Dazzling Diamonds" glitter to the baby spots on the body with some "Crystal Effects" and then just cut the little cutie out with my FAV detail scissors (shockingly, also from S/U!).











When silhouetting an image, I almost ALWAYS cut out six or more. I believe in making multiple cards for many reasons, but most of all, I think it's the best way to "re-coup" your time investment of developing a card composition... That's the time sucker, right there! So if you work in multiples, you then have cards to send, submit and maybe even sell! If for some reason I don't use all the cut images, I save them for quick labels & tags, mini cards or scrapbook embellishments... Great ways to make your creative energy pay you back!!!

The "Delicate Dots" paper assortment from the current "Sale-a-bration" from Stampin' Up! is quite a pleasing palette, I must say! So, I used the stripe, flowers and polka dot patterns to liven things up a bit for this little card. S/U! has brought back window sheets and even has thick transparency (20mil) for your crafting pleasure, offered in the new spring mini! I used the thinner gage (7mil) to make a window over the chipboard frame and then covered it with those "polka dotty, polka dot" paper and placed it OVER the Certainly Celery polka dotty flower print... You may think it's a shaker card.. It's not. Here's why: I used the window sheet to support the deer, so that he could cast an interesting shadow (without pop-dots/dimensionals) and keep his little body "safe!" In photography, I was able to catch a nice shadow and it was worth the effort. You could ALWAYS have made that a shaker box, but I wasn't shopping for that effect here. I glued the stripe paper to "Sahara Sand" C/S and ran it though my Sizzix with the Top Note die and HELLO, spring! "Happy"and "Day" is from the "All Holidays" sentiment collection and I just omitted the "Father's" day portion of the image... Yeee Haw! Mi likey! I hope you do, too!



I do, I do, I do hope it's a happy day for YOU! If you have any questions about this card or techniques used, please contact me! I love YOUR feedback, good or bad! Have a HAPPY DAY!

4 comments:

Tracey said...

very cute Elise. As always, you make things come alive.

Karen said...

Cute card, Elise!! Love the shadow effect with the deer on the window sheet. You're right, figuring out how you want the card to come together is really what takes the longest! :>

Jenny said...

I think this is seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

tg said...

I am loving your tutorials! This is an adorable card and as always you have inspired me.