Saturday, May 22, 2010

I've seen ANOTHER scene!



There is a certain way I've approached art for as long as I can remember... LITERALLY.

Literally. I "see" with a realistic lens, and have, since drawing the stitches on patches of the Tin Man's clothes after watching a production of the Wizard of Oz, when I was in the first grade.

Not long after that I discovered that people have veins in their eyeballs{!}, hence a series of "allergy-eyed" portraits between first and second grades... it went on from there. The reason I'm sharing this with you now is, to, first of all explain, perhaps, why I'm so often drawn to create little "scenes" in my cards.

Equally, I'm "design" challenged. CAS cards, mystify me. I'm dazzled by those of you who work with minimal color and JUST THE PERFECT sentiment then tell the tale, beautifully! Bold and crisp, perfectly PUNCTUATED, sophisticated designed... IT'S DIFFICULT ~ your work AMAZES me!



Equally, monochromatic work, MYSTIFIES me. I'm so thrilled and delighted when I see beautiful work in subdued tones. IMAGES that are stamped in colors that we are not accustom to seeing in nature.... It hurts my brain to think of doing that, but I ADORE it when others do it...

SO, now I've really challenged myself. I was dying to use Courtney's stamps from Practicing Creativity. They've been burning a hole though my stamping table for months, and I haven't found a way to incorporate them into "just the scene" to do my REALISTIC heart justice... Until this challenge!




This beautiful color scheme and fantastic challenge site is BRAND new to lil' old me! I was positively drooling over Maile's latest card for Wplus9design "All Eyes On" AND it's her guest designer INSPIRATION, the Play Date Cafe! You all probably know about that fun spot ALREADY, but I haven't been able to catch too many challenges lately and I was mesmerized by the DT's work, so HERE I GO! A card/a scene/stamped images that BREAK ALL OF MY SILLY LITTLE RULES!




{I know! - my middle name is DANGER!}

Okay, so not exactly a walk on the wild side, but for me, I really strained the creative muscles! I RESISTED floral images... Wedding cake and BABY cards.... I decided not to let another card be made unless I used Courtney's DELICIOUS stamps! And, oooooow, baby! They were worth the wait!

MY DEAR MOM {God love her!} tried, she really tried to free me from EARLY creative binds. She must have seen my need for realism, right after I exited the womb... PRIOR to my scarecrow and veiny-eyed self portraits, she introduced ART HISTORY! We had this wonderful coffee table style book, appropriately named, The History of Art... In it, she showed me an artist named, Marc Chagall, and triumphantly explained that he helped make it okay to paint a PURPLE COW and many other such wonderful celebrations of image and color....

Mom, this card's for you!

Have a great Saturday, and thanks, always, for sharing your CREATIVE pathways and inspiration with me! I'm ALWAYS better the artist, for it! {Wonder what Mr. Chagall would have done with a BLOG!?!}

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Practicing Creativity
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Glitter - Stickles
Brush Pens - Stampin' Up!
Border and Corner Punch - Stampin' Up!
Swiss Dots - Cuttlebug

19 comments:

Dana Gustafson said...

WELL! You sure picked a dilly to break in Courtney's stamps on. Holy hot air balloons and HAND PAINTED mountain scene!! omg, omg, O-M-G!!!! This is classic YOU! Rules schmules! You don't need no stinking rules in art...besides, you know you love a good session of rule breaking as long as you are using your powers for GOOD not eeeeeevilllll. Way to go Superwoman, you've earned your lycra cape and tights with this one!!! Smashing good show!

~amy~ said...

♥♥thud♥♥ I LOVE it!

Kim Wilson said...

This card is adorable Elise! Thank you for the comment that was sooo sweet :)

Beth said...

You can paint a purple cow???!!! What??? Wait!!! Hold the phone!! I love your literal-ness :-) And your card, too!

Cassie_lu said...

you did an amazing job with the stamps and the scene is stunning. I've been eyeing that stamp set myself :)

Andi (RrlScrapGal) said...

Elise! This card is so beautiful! I love the colors, that strip of pink along the edge, the scene, everything!

Smooches!

Dotty Jo said...

You know what Elise, I always love your scenes! this is stunning and wonderful and... well, just about perfect once again! Great work with the colours you rock star cardmaker you! Jo x

Dawn said...

I too love your scenes hon! And this is no exception! I envy the way you use a piece of cardstock like a canvas and create the most amazing pictures.

It's funny because I am just the opposite. A true minimalist at heart. But I am always inspired to push my comfort zone by your beautiful creations!

Rosemary said...

Friend, sweet friend, please, please, please just keep doing what you do because it is totally FABULOUS!!! Your card is amazing, truly amazing! I ditto what Dawn said! I'm so inspired by YOU!!

Karen B. said...

Um, wow. Wonderful. Amazing. Thank you.

Mona Pendleton said...

Oh what a fun card! Makes me think of the song - "in my beautiful balloon! :)" Thanks so much for playing along at the PDCC!

Kathy Martin said...

Wow! So pretty! LOVE your scene you colored in! :)

Jenny said...

So pretty... love your card!!! :) :)

Courtney Baker said...

Oh girl I SOOOO love this! It really gives me a big smile to see you use my set! :)

Lisa Somerville said...

Lovely scene you created! Thanks for playing at the PDCC.

Savannah O'Gwynn said...

Love it--I love that you said you were trying to not make your normal style/type of cards! I have the same issue--BABY cards or sewing techniques! I love this card---very pretty:) Great use of the colors. Thanks for playing along with us at the PDCC!

Karen said...

Beautiful!! Love the soft take with Courtney's balloons. And while the hot air balloons we see up here in the mornings are brightly and boldly colored, your take on them actually pretty accurately represents the feeling of being on the ground and seeing one of those grand balloons up in the early crisp morning sky and the peaceful and serene scene that waltzes Princess and I into a hot air balloon trance.....ahhhh....I'm going there now (hmmmm....now I want to take a nap and just dream about a big soft pink balloon in the sky... :>:> (Oh shucks.....hope I didn't loose you in my balloon trance! :>) Let me see if I can just state the facts: Fresh and serene balloon scene card! :>

Unknown said...

Wow! This is just fabulous, Elise! Thanks for playing with the Play Date Cafe!!

Suzanne C said...

This is such a fun scene and lovely use of your stamps. Beautiful! Thanks for playing along with us at PDCC this week.