SEERSUCKER?

I don't know it it's so much in vogue nowadays like it was in the olden days. But I have a sweet affection for seersucker because it plays a fairly nice role in my youthful memories when my mom sewed a lot of my clothes.

Seersucker is most often a fabric with lightweight stripes and a cool texture. So . . .

As I completed this card, my first thought was, "Aha -- SEERSUCKER!"

Initially I had planned to texturize the smaller striped piece of Designer Series Paper and add it vertically to the center of the already vertical piece on my card. But NO! It looked horrible. That plan was dashed immediately. But what to do instead? I wanted to use this piece. After all, I loved the way the hibiscus looked against it.

I'd even attached a piece of Poppy Parade cardstock to the sides to help differentiate it from the rest of the DSP. What a waste of paper. It simply looked like another stripe.

After tossing it around some, it landed horizontally on the card base. I was immediately attracted to that look, and decided it was exactly right for my card.

Oh, I almost forgot! The embossing folder I used to create my faux seersucker is the other folder found in the Greenery embossing folders pair, found on page 184 of the new Annual Catalog. I love both of these embossing folders!

The hibiscus is from a retired set, but I love it -- as I am already in love with the hibiscus flower anyway -- so will continue to use it. I had colored it with Stampin' Blends at the same time I colored the hummingbird in my previous post, and since the use of the Color Lifter Pen (page 143 in the Annual Catalog) worked so well to give some needed interest to the hummingbird, I decided to use it on my hibiscus as well. 

This awesome Designer Series Paper, as in the hummingbird card, is from the Flowers For Every Season pack of 6" x 6" papers on page 148. Besides an assortment of other colors, this pack of DSP features all of the new In Colors.

The great sentiment I used on the card is from the Celebrate Sunflowers set on page 13. The sentiments in this set are so useful.

If you are not familiar with, or are interested in the history of, seersucker, you can learn a bit more about it in this Huffpost article: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/seersucker-suits_n_572ba14ce4b096e9f090b30e.

Seersucker

Smiles.

SOMETHING OLD SOMETHING NEW

I called this post Something Old Something New because that's exactly what I am going to be discussing today. Some of the products used in this cards are oldies, but definitely goodies, some are current, but not new, products, and some are brand new products, introduced only last week when the 2020-2021 Annual Catalog went live.

First off, the star of this card is definitely the fluttery hummingbird. Retired now, as well as are the dies I used to cut out the bird, it is such a cool combo that I intend to never give up on it. Retired or not.

Cut out with its die, then popped up against an embossed background, it almost gives the viewer the impression that the hummingbird is suspended in midflap. Note the shadow cast underneath his beak and belly.

Notice the edge on the piece to which the bird is attached. I adhered strips of the new Bumblebee Gingham Ribbon (page 191 of the Annual Catalog) to the back of the piece so most of the ribbon is exposed. I love this as a mat look on the piece in lieu of colored cardstock. 

And do you like the pretty flowered Designer Series Paper that is the backdrop for the card? This is a piece of the Flowers For Every Season 6" x 6" DSP, found on page 148 of the Annual Catalog. Lovely designs in this pack, fitting for every season of the year. 

I normally am drawn to the more showy sides of any DSP pack, but this particular one, NOT the showy side of the piece, was perfect as a background for my delicate hummingbird. I didn't want him to get lost amongst too much color and design.

Take note of the lively embossing on the piece that holds the bird. That is one of a pair of new embossing folders in the Annual Catalog. Smaller in size than the usual embossing folders, each at 6 1/4" x 3 3/8", they are intended for use in the new Mini Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine, introduced on page 170 of the Annual Catalog. This set, which consists of two embossing folders, can be found on page 184, and is called Greenery.

Now, the thing about this card which I am proudest of is an accidental discovery I made with my Stampin' Blends. After I'd colored in the hummingbird with Light and Dark Pretty Peacock and Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends, while nice-looking, it seemed a bit flat to me. I just wasn't satisfied with the look. 

You know how hummingbirds almost seem to shimmer with some of their feathers almost iridescent? I could not decide how to capture that look in my bird. I thought about incorporating a little Wink of Stella here and there, but I knew that just would not be what I wanted.

Finally, sort of by accident, I hit on a solution that I think works fairly well. I don't know what made me try it, but I grabbed my Color Lifter Stampin' Blend (page 143) and started to work it around on the wings and face. I discovered that if I sort of daubed it on in places, then left it to dry, it lifted just enough of the color to give it a mottled look. After it was completely dry, I came back and repeated the process a few times. 

I think the result, even though not an authentic look, gives a slight impression of shimmering. At least, it gives the feathers some personality and variation, rather than just the flat look of straight coloring.

The final touches for my card were a tiny (old) sentiment stamped in Pretty Peacock ink, and a few Basic Rhinestones, colored with the Dark Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blend.

I should mention that the embossed piece behind the hummingbird as well as the card base are in Very Vanilla cardstock.

Faux

Shimmery

Smiles.

#dailycreating JANUARY 2020

It's hard to believe that four weeks have passed already, the last time I shared an installment of my "better" drawings for a month's worth of prompts with the #dailycreating group, hosted by Visual Artist/Creative Encourager Terry Runyan.

I am a fairly faithful follower of the daily prompts. Sometimes they work for me, sometimes not so much. Some of the prompts I have trouble connecting with, so invariably the drawing doesn't go all that well. 

During January, I found among my 31 drawings 11 that satisfied me somewhat. I present those to you in this post.

As always, above each of the drawings, I will add the prompt, as well as any other tidbits of information I have. You will probably notice that three drawings this month are of my own design, not following any references whatsoever. I am not comfortable with that aspect of drawing, but am working on it. Usually I don't like the results of my own creations, but these three I find somewhat endearing, so I have included them. I am sure it will be apparent which three I am talking about.

#thingonthing

secretary bird

#dogurday

cavalier king charles spaniel

#thingonthing

#dogurday

chihuahua

#elevate

#hibernate

#illuminate

#dogurday

beagle

#outsidethewindow

female northern cardinal

#thingonthing

#majestic

And there you have it. 

Terry has designated all Wednesdays as #thingonthing day, sometimes throwing in an additional prompt. I like this day because the interpretation of this prompt can be stretched in any number of ways, giving me all sorts of freedom. 

Also, Saturdays are always #dogurday or #caturday, once again with an optional prompt often thrown in. I am not very good at drawing cats. I don't understand that, cat lover that I am. So I usually opt for drawing a dog for #dogurday. Lately though I am burning out on dog drawings. 

Please respect that these are my original drawings and are not to be used in any way by anyone other than myself without my express permission. I will have a giclee print made for you of any you find to your liking. Please contact me.

#dailycreating

Smiles.

SUNFLOWER THANKS

This card features a few old techniques -- floating reinkers and a tent topper card -- and lots of new products. Let's jump right in.

First of all, the lovely sunflower is from a new set, Celebrate Sunflowers, found on page 13 of the new Annual Catalog. Isn't it wondrous? Knowing I was a lover of sunflowers, this one literally jumped into my shopping cart! You should have seen that!

Two of the new In Colors are also featured: Cinnamon Cider (this delicious-sounding color is the darker one) and Bumble Bee.

The bit of embossing on the Bumble Bee piece is one of the new embossing folders, one of a set of two folders called Greenery, page 184.The other folder in this set features a floral pattern. The  embossing folders in this double set each measure 6 1/4" x 3 3/8".

The last new item I used on my card is the darling Bumble Bee Gingham Ribbon, found on page 161.

Because the sunflower is so large and lush, I decided to use it in a tent topper card. As a tent topper card, this simply means that a portion of the card extends above the main body of the card, giving it a bit more importance. I love the look of tent topper cards, and forget too often to create them.

The cute, perfectly sized "thanks" sentiment is from the Inspiring Iris set, to be found on  page 118. Not only is the iris inspiring, but so is the whole set. 

The idea that was the instigator for this card was that I wanted to try an old technique, Floating Reinkers, with the large sunflower image. I thought it would be perfect for this technique.

Back in the day, when the Floating Reinkers technique was so popular, it was usually done with the image embossed in white. This time though, to add to the earthy feel of  the sunflower image, I embossed it in gold. Unfortunately, the embossing subdued a lot of the detail in the center of the flower. More on that later.

I stamped the flower image onto SHIMMERY WHITE cardstock with VersaMark ink, then sprinkled the sticky flower with gold embossing powder. I embossed it with the heat tool.

To do my Floating Reinkers (only relying on my memory), after embossing the flower, I used an Aqua Painter (now called Water Painters, and you can get THREE different sizes in the set for $12.00, and is found on page 147 of the new Annual Catalog) to completely moisten the flower area.

Using retired reinkers, I put a drop of each color I wanted to use in a separate well of a palette. With the larger of the Aqua Painters, I dipped into one of the yellowish colors and dropped it onto the moistened image here and there, not being careful at all. I repeated the process with the other yellow color, blending them a bit so all of the flower portion was filled in. I didn't have a brown reinker (!), so mixed together two really old reinkers, True Thyme and Creamy Caramel, for my brownish center.

I let the colors dry naturally. Doing it this way allows the colors to penetrate the cardstock a bit more for more vivid coloring.

Once it was almost dry, I did flick it with the heat tool to make sure it was completely dry.

My next step was to fussy cut the flower, which I did very carefully so as to not trim off any of the gold embossing.

I die cut a circle almost exactly the same size as the fussy cut flower from a satin metallic gold cardstock. The flower was mounted onto that.

Once that part was done, it was off to the math table, my least favorite part of cardmaking. When I run into a situation such as this, I wish I had paid more attention to any of the math they tried to teach me in school. Yuck.

After some trial and error, I came up with a good size for the card base, so it wasn't overpowered by the size of the sunflower, but yet was a good complement in size. The card base ended up being 3 3/4" x 7 1/2", giving me a 3 3/4" square card. It is important when making a tent topper card that, once the focal point is added, the card still remains within the 5 1/2" size so it fits inside an A2 envelope. My card is just a smidge under 5 1/2" tall. Whew.

Because I lost so much detail in the center of my flower as the result of the embossing, I needed to do something about that. I tried so many ideas, none of which I liked at all. Almost ready to give up, I suddenly had a welcome aha moment! I colored with the Bronze Stampin' Blend a few of the Basic Rhinestone jewels and added them willy nilly to the center of the flower. Voila! I liked it!

I embossed the 3 1/4" square piece of Bumble Bee cardstock in the new embossing folder and added it to my Cinnamon Cider card base before adding the big sunflower.

Since the embossed background was so cool, I didn't want to cover up just too much of it. So, I chose the small sentiment from the Inspiring Iris set and embossed it in gold onto Bumble Bee cardstock, then cut it out with the small oval from the Stitched Shapes dies (page 183 -- the BEST $30 you'll ever spend!) and mounted it with Dimensionals to the card with a few snippets of the Bumble Bee ribbon crisscrossed behind it. I also added one more bronze-colored Basic Rhinestone to the sentiment.

Have you had a chance to check out the new Annual Catalog? Do you love it?

Sunny 

Smiles.

LOVE-FUL

Today is our 47th wedding anniversary. I always like to create a cool card for my husband for this special occasion.

Recently I went through my Designer Series Papers, both old and new, and chose a random selection of papers that had white on them that could be colored in with Stampin' Blends. 

Shown below with a swatch of the DSP I started with is the card I made for him. I love how wonky it turned out. And he was thrilled with it too.

It just takes a little time and patience to give Designer Series Papers a brand new look. Even though I loved this paper in just the blues and white, I am happy with the look of it with Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends filling in the white spaces. Adding it to a Flirty Flamingo card base reinforced this new look.

"Love" is an appropriate sentiment for an anniversary card, isn't it? To create my love sentiment, I die cut the word three times: the bottom layer is Night of Navy, the middle layer is Flirty Flamingo, and the top layer, the one that shows, is a surprise! Yes, it is! 

I had lying around my Creation Station area some empty Kleenex boxes that I was die cutting for another project. The box on the top of the pile featured colors and a weird design that complemented the design of my card. So, the top layer of my sentiment is die cut from a KLEENEX BOX! Yes! I love it.

Go on now. Check out your Designer Series Papers, especially the ones you'd intended to use before they retired, but they're still hanging around. Anything with white on it is fair game. 

Coloring in these papers with the intent of using them in a unique card is such a soothing tranquil thing to do in this crazy time of our lives. I've been doing A LOT of coloring!

Weird

Smiles.