October 1st was World Cardmaking Day... and I'm pleased to say that although I didn't finish it on Sunday, I WAS actually CARDMAKING that day! My personal crafty year got a slow start, but I have been playing with inking techniques the past couple of weeks. Sometimes I took the test too far and ruined things I liked, but that was the point of playing and not intending to actually make any cards. Yes, I finally used up supplies for no good reason but to practice and experiment! Shocking. =]
So I had seen this image popping up on blogs in the days leading up to October 1st:
and on Sunday, LOTV's Ideas to Inspire blog posted a special giveaway. They asked us to post our favorite card made with an LOTV stamp, and, if we wanted, to make a new card with an LOTV image. I had only made one card with an LOTV stamp, so it wasn't too difficult to choose and pull out this
from my Stamptember post. =) But a new card... well, what better way to spend World Card Making Day? I started this card on Sunday, and worked a little bit on it every single day this week. It's been a stressful week at work, so whether it was the night I picked out the papers, or the night I glittered and dabbed and glossed, or last night when I put the finishing touches on, it was soul-satisfying to be a little creative, even if only for a half hour each night.
So here she is, my purple-and-green Rosie marching proudly with her birthday cake.
I purchased a Copics paper sampler pack from The Paper Temptress recently because I wasn't liking how my efforts with ProMarkers were turning out on Georgia Pacific cardstock. This is Heavenly Weight, I believe, and it really IS ultrasmooth. I used ProMarkers on a different image, but I got a few Copics before the prices went up in August and I must say that the Copics blended better for me than ProMarkers. Not sure if it's the colors I'm using or the technique or the paper... more experimentation coming soon for sure. I am in love with and inspired by the coloring skills of a number of cardmakers I've discovered this year, including this stunning work by Delphine (Delphine's Place). I think my crafty inner child wants to be her when I grow up... at least as far as her fantastic Copics skills go! ;)
Anyway, I colored Rosie up with my teensy tiny new collection of Copics, used Deco's Snow Writer for the cake icing with a coating of Glossy Accents since patting down the snow to fill out the cake icing lines gave it a gritty texture I didn't care for on cake - very unappetizing - and some Ice Stickles in grape and orange.
The sentiment was made in Word. I really like LOTV's circle sentiments and some others I've seen, but I don't own any of them yet. I didn't want to recreate something too much like those stamps - feels like copying LOL - so I messed about with some Lettering Delights fonts I got recently. I dotted some grape Ice Stickles on the stars on the sentiment to tie it back in to the glittery bits on Rosie's headband.
I don't have a lot of floral accents (will be shopping at the new Wild Orchid site soon, I hope!) or any of the doohickeys and swirl die cuts, so I chose a more fussy Nestie to cut out my image and went for a more simple look overall. I think sewing the papers together would have given it a bit... more, but I'm liking what I came up with. Although I've been planning to get crafty since February, I haven't actually done a whole lot of cardmaking, so I'm giving myself a pass as a still-newbie card maker. LOL
The inside I left really simple also - The right side is a plain white lightweight paper for writing in my message.
I don't know if you'd call this a bonus (guess it depends on whether you like my work; my Mom will! hahaha), but I was also coloring another LOTV image this week... I'm not finished with the card... it was kind of an experiment also, as it has no intended recipient, and probably will just decorate a shelf in my craft room when I'm done as a practice piece. I think what bothers me is the bear's coloring... I chose a bad light source and then didn't quite follow it... and I used ProMarkers and they didn't blend as well as I wanted. Not sure what I did, but... practice, practice, practice! So I'm just sharing the image with you since I'm not sure I'll ever want to post a finished card. LOL I did like the effect of using two light blues and a grey and dotting around the image. That technique needs work too (if only I was financially independent, you might never find me OUT of my craft room again! haha).
Anyway, I'm heading over to link this post up and see what wondrous creations everyone else has posted. See you soon... and til then, happy crafting! (And love ya, Mom!) =)
