A Card... and Something Different

The first thing I want to show you today is a card I made for a StampNation challenge this last week. We were given an inspiration photo to springboard from...

... and this is what I came up with:

As you can see, I was inspired by the colors, the zigzag pattern in the pillows, and the row of what I think is in part flowers down the center of the table. This is a little more "beige" than I usually do, but I thought I'd work out of my comfort zone. The cardstock is SU! Naturals in both white and ivory. I embossed the Vivid Vases image with detail gold embossing powder, and added color using primarily my Spectrum Aqua markers with a wee bit of Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers as well.

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My other project is from a Hunkydory Oriental Blooms kit, and the project is called a Lotus Blossom box. This is my first purchase of a Hunkydory kit, and I have to say I'm impressed! The gold foiling is exquisite, the Asian artwork is divine, and the instructions for this particular project in the kit were relatively easy to figure out. The lotus blossom easily folds up to fit under the lid. I think my next projects from the kit will be even better now that I know I need to smooth off the nibs that show from where I punched the project pieces from their original pages, and I need to do something (to be determined) to be sure the tips of the blossom do not get bent. I have three more of this project in different colors to make, and will post them when that happens.

As I confessed to my StampNation sistahs, I typically feel like I'm "cheating" if I use a kit rather than design projects from beginning to end. In the last year or so, though, I've branched out and used My Paper Pumpkin kits from Stampin' Up! as well as some other kits they've offered in their catalogs. As a result, I'm starting to lighten up on myself for using kits because I see that there is room for creativity because kit instructions are not written in stone, and in fact they often contain added materials to encourage artistic license. I've had some long spells of low mojo in the last year, and I think I'd rather use a kit to keep my hands busy (and possibly inspire me) rather than sit idle as my frustration grows.

How about you? How do you feel about using kits? I'd love to hear your opinion, so please leave a quick note in the comments below to weigh in on the subject.

Shiny Smiles,

Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce

            

Color Burst Cards

It took me awhile, but I finally sat down and turned my Color Burst backgrounds from the last post into cards - and I love how they turned out! Special thanks goes to Tristan and Michelle W. in Australia, two of my StampNation Sistahs, for their help during our Skype session. 

I'm posting the cards in the same order as the "Experiments" in this post, in case you want to compare the 'before' and 'after' photos. I used as much of the color pieces as I possibly could to minimize waste and have the biggest "burst" of color on each card.

Card 1:

Of these seven cards, this one is my favorite! I just love the mixture of violet and blue with a wee bit of pinkish red... and the person who will be getting this card will, too, I think. I was especially happy when I realized that the color in the lower right corner was dark enough to emboss over in white, and I couldn't resist using this sentiment (which I left plenty of room to apologize for on the inside, lol!).

Card 2:

I wasn't quite sure what to do with my second Color Burst panel until I remembered how Sharon had used a butterfly die on her first background -- so I stole the idea! I was pleased to get five butterflies out of the one panel. I'm still not sure if I overdid the sequins here.

Card 3:

The pattern the Color Burst made on this green card reminds me of fireworks, so I just had to go for a "Celebrate" theme. The gold is embossed, but looks flat on the distress watercolor paper on the card front, maybe because I used detail gold embossing powder. The inside embossing is raised and shiny, though, and looks very delicate.

Card 4:

Anyone who knows me well knows I hate the color orange. Don't know why, just do. Since I had the orange Color Burst, though, I felt compelled to use it, and then felt compelled to take the resulting panel to completion. I'm glad I did! I love how the turquoise came in over the edges, so I went with a Tempting Turquoise card base which I think tones down the orange. I used my MISTI to stamp the inside perfectly. 

Shout out to Tristan for her input on this card. I originally had 4 turquoise sequins and 3 gold, but when I showed her my work she suggested I go with all gold. I think it's better this way!

Card 5:

I was on the fence about using this panel because the butterfly embossing got a bit washed out along the edges during the process of adding the color and water. I decided to forge ahead, though. I initially chose a Brilliant Blue card base to bring out the blue Color Burst, but at Tristan's suggestion went with Lovely Lilac instead - which turned out to be a good decision.

Card 6:

The Color Burst resist technique turned out much better on this piece, and just for fun I embossed a smaller butterfly next to it. The shimmer on this card is amazing, which would make sense considering I used shimmer spray instead of water with the Color Burst.

Card 7:

I die cut this large butterfly from the piece of distress paper I used to sop up extra Color Burst and water with while making the previous cards. I like it!

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I'm making a conscious effort to move along in my unpacking and organizing, which seems like a good idea considering I moved back into this apartment around a year ago. (I think I just needed a long rest after the two moves last year!) It's coming together slowly but surely as I am purchasing iris carts and other things to help me sort through my supplies without having to shift boxes all the time. In the process of unpacking I'm finding all sorts of "new" stuff I want to play with, so I will continue to create during the organizing process.

Thanks for visiting, and I'll be back soon!

Happy Stamping!
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce