Hello dear friends,
Welcome to a cold and windy visit on my front porch! A friend said the weather in Charleston is like picking power ball numbers - 56, 31, 27, 65, 19, 70! Maybe I should purchase a ticket (she laughs). How about you, how's your weather? Our poor little cyclamen plants had to be brought in from the screened porch to weather out the next few days of cold. But no matter the weather, rain or shine, I've got a bluebird on my shoulder! And that my dear friends is the title of my newest card.
I'm sharing a mid-January card using several Hello Bluebird Stamp sets and transitioning these older sets to create new scene for Valentine's Day. So let's get our beverage and start talking crafty talk shall we?
How did I create this card:
- Cut a 4.25 x 5.5 card base (top fold) from Neenah Solar White Classic Crest card stock 110 lb
- Cut a panel 3.75 x 5.25 from Neenah Solar White Classic Crest card stock 80 lb
- Ink blend the 3.75 x 5.25 panel with Ranger Distress Oxide Spun Sugar and Wilted Violet and spritz with water. Stamp your sentiment and set aside to dry. I used Brutus Monroe Detail Ink (Raven) as my ink choice.
- Stamp your images and color with your choice of medium, then die-cut with the available coordinating dies. I used the following stamp sets:
- I colored my images with Copics so I chose to use Memento (Tuxedo Black) as my stamping ink.
- With my panel now dry, I arranged my colored images. I used the stamped sentiment to ground my larger elements. The little girl is popped up with 3M tape as are the clouds and sunshine The puppy and duck are adhered with Nuvo by Tonic Deluxe Adhesive
- Instead of raindrops I've added rays of sunshine hearts in yellow "sunshine" by PaperSource
- Little details are subtle:
- The bluebird on the shoulder
- Tiny heart on the puppy's collar
- Valentine heart in the little girl's hand.
Don't forget those little details for in my humble opinion they take a design to the next level. A simple card such as this now keeps the viewers eye longer and brings a sigh of delight (I hope) *laughing* Background colors also play a big part too. I tried several different colors and mediums before settling on the purple/pink combo (remember your color wheel).
It's my hope to have a dialogue with crafters here on my front porch; so thank you as always for visiting and leaving such lovely comments. I hope you've enjoyed this sunny little valentine.
The sun will be out tomorrow, but in the meantime let's create something that makes that little bluebird on our shoulder sing! Until next time.
Very sincerely,
Susie ~
