Merci Beaucoup

Hello!

"Merci Beaucoup..."  That's what today's card says in a most elegant font.  This was a commission through my Etsy shop by a lady who loves pink and purple and wanted "elegant and ladylike," a style which is dear to my heart.  I don't work with a lot of purples, so this was a fun challenge.

Let me say right now that this is a tad more vivid than it is in real life.  The purple of the base cardstock and handmade stick pin is not "in your face" as these are here, but I don't know what is happening, so you'll need to get the gist of the card.  At least the other colors are showing true.

I've dry embossed the base layer then heat embossed the edges with gold  Then I followed a sketch and added the patterned papers, matting them with contrasting card stock and stitching as I went along.  I love stitching on paper - it adds so much personality and character to a card.

The greeting is stamped on white paper then die cut with a lacy rectangular die.  If you've followed my work at all you'll know that I just don't DO white, either the color or wide open spaces, and this piece, small as it was, was no exception.  It was so...WHITE.  So I added the pearls to the corners and then added clear Stickles to all of the flourishes which shows a little bit here.  The sparkle in real life is subdued (this is a ladylike card, after all), but it's still there to diminish all that white a bit.  Phew.

The bow is where I had the most fun.  I LOVE bows.  I don't know why as I hated wearing them as a child (just ask my mother), but they seem to belong on cards as much as possible, and this one was no exception.  I used a delicious 1" wide silk ribbon to make a luscious double bow and adhered a small lace rosette behind it, then finished it off with one of my handmade stick pins which I thought was the perfect jewelry for this card.

The inside was finished simply with contrasting card stock and a small stamped greeting, the English version of what's on the front.  Just in case.

Merci beaucoup for joining me and I wish you a lovely day full of summery delights.

Happy crafting!

Easter Greetings with Gecko Galz

Hello!

Today's project is one that I'm entering over at the Gecko Galz blog, something that I've long planned to enter but somehow never did.  WELL.  That's all changed now.  Why?  Because just a few days ago I returned from the FANTABULOUS, mind-boggling, craft-laden, prize-heavy, idea-filled, rootin' tootin' Cowgirl Diva retreat!  (That's us, some with cowgirl hats for the contest, some without.  Next year's theme is completely different.)

I'm pretty new to the whole retreat business having only attended one before this and was pretty much the wet-behind-the-ears newbie in awe of all the talent the seasoned veterans who attended displayed.  WOW.  And...WOW again.  In between all the wonderful classes, demonstrations, contests and fun, everyone worked on their own projects.  Well, everyone but me.  I'm so used to crafting by myself that I didn't think I'd be able to work in a room full of women.  HA!  That'll learn me.  My mind drew a complete and total blank even though I toted a cart full of supplies, but I vowed that next year would be different.  I'm taking TWO carts full and will be more prepared to craft with the best of them!  Not that taking tons of supplies is a guarantee of artistic creation, because my good cyber friend Heather Hudson, the uber talented creator of My Artistic Adventures for whom I've been guest designing lately and who I finally got to meet in person (!!) didn't take ANYTHING and created the most wonderful little album using borrowed supplies and the gift pack given to us on the first day.  And she won a prize!  Now THAT'S talent to make a prize-winning piece of art out of just a few things.

At any rate, all that to say I've been newly inspired to create with the wonderfully vintage and retro images that Leanne Seed sells at Gecko Galz.  I've been purchasing her collage sheets and digital stamps and papers for well over a year and was using them in my projects but hadn't entered any of her challenges.  So this is the first but by no means the last for me.  The theme is Easter, and I have used several of her images.  (I will show them below.)

 It is a mixed media collage on canvas board and was one of those projects that took on a life of its own.  I started out by coloring the canvas with various soft Neocolors and decoupaged it with tissue that I stamped with music.  Then I stamped swirls using black archival ink.  And now most of it is hidden, but you can see little bits here and there.  The paper layer is from the Moments in Time paper pack (a retreat gift) and I've distressed it (a LOT) and folded a corner over to reveal the postcard from the Wild About Flowers set.  The real image is much, much brighter but I desaturated it so that it wouldn't detract from the focal point of the project.

I used one of the images from the Easter Bonnets collage sheets - isn't she lovely?  I adhered the image to a piece of grungeboard and then brushed clear crackle paint on top to give her the look of an old oil painting.  The frame is from the Frames set.  I used Photoshop to adjust the size to fit the "painting," then cut out the center, embellished the inner edges with bronze glitter glue and popped the frame up on the image to give it more dimension, then I popped the whole thing up on the base for even MORE dimension.

BTW, the lace up the side was white but I used Neocolors to help it coordinate with the piece.  Pearls were added as well.

 Here's a better view of the crackled layer.

I LOVED putting this floral arrangement together with a big black paper flourish underneath.  The blue rose is my last from the bag of goodies we were given at the retreat and the rest of the flowers are from my stash, some of which I painted with shimmer paints.  I included two bows using custom dyed ribbon and some die cut leaves which I also enhanced with shimmer paints.

And what's an Easter project without bunnikins?  He's from the newly-released Hip Hop Easter collection and I fussy cut him and then enhanced him with various tints of glitter glue and some Glossy Accents on his eye before popping him up for dimension. 

 A close up of the enhanced leaves...

...and the greeting, which was printed on tissue paper and then decoupaged onto the postcard.

I will also be entering this challenge over at Craft Hoarder's Anonymous Challenge #3, the theme of which is Retro/Vintage. 

And that's it!  Thanks so much for joining me and I urge you to RUN over to Gecko Galz and check out the many delightful offerings.  I noticed just today that there are many new collage sheets, so I'll be running there too!  And don't forget to enter the challenge.  You only need to use ONE GG product, and they can be any of the freebies that Leanne so generously offers every month.  Just check the home page at the lower left and you'll find them.  See you there, and happy crafting!

P.S.  This piece is for sale in my Etsy shop!

And now for a couple more pictures...

Heather Hudson and me with our gift packs

Heather of My Artistic Adventures, and Leanne, the genius behind Gecko Galz!

Gecko Galz materials used:

 

Pearls and Lace

Hello!

It's been a wild ride for the past few days with first my computer's router going out (and thus losing internet connection) and then my phone going kaput as well (which was my internet backup connection).  Frazzled?  You bet.  I had to go to my daughter's home and use HER laptop to get my last couple of blog posts up right before leaving town for the weekend, but now I'm back, the phone's working again, I'm using it to connect my computer to the internet until the computer guy comes this afternoon with my new router, and all is well while I get back up to speed.  Technology - it's a love/hate relationship with me.  (And right now I'm back to loving it again.)

Today's card was made for the latest Fussy and Fancy Challenge, the theme of which is "Pearls and Lace."  I love pearls and I love lace, and I love challenges like this because there's a lot of room for interpretation.  Pearls and lace don't always mean frilly pastels.  Today I was in the mood for bold red and black because I might be using this for a masculine thank-you card.

I've used stamps from Inspired By Stamping: All Year Wishes I and Fancy Labels II, the latter of which is from Joanna's newest collection released earlier this month.  I don't have the Fancy Labels II dies yet so I've fussy cut the shapes, but I'll certainly be getting them soon - isn't that shape gorgeous?  So versatile!

I heat embossed the frame and greeting for a little added texture and popped them up on foam dimensionals.

By the way, the pearls were light brown, but I colored them with a black Copic marker. 

And while I'm on the subject of IBS products, check out Joanna's blog to see the latest blog hop, the subject of which is "backgrounds."  She will select 2 random winners on June 17th. These talented crafters will win a stamp set of their choice, plus the lucky winners will be featured on her blog!  

Thanks for joining me today, and I hope you're already having a lovely week!  (My sweet but naughty puppy is in doggy daycare today for the very first time, so my week is starting off GREAT!)

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Fussy and Fancy #89 - Pearls and Lace

Simon Says Stamp & Show - Favorite Ink (Versamark - I love to emboss!)

Eclectic Ellapu - Pink Team Anything Goes