love to create

I took some 'me time' yesterday and today! Yes, this little gem took 2 days to do but there were numerous interruptions. Last week's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS was to use acrylic. I've had the idea for this card floating around in my head since then. It turned out different than I imagined, but it's better than I imagined. This is a card I had dreams about as I have been working on it stage by stage. Now that I think about it, this card has been in the works since last Saturday night. Boy time flies, eh?!!!! I worked on it for a bit while DH took youngest DD to a birthday party... Oh yeah!! A slice of heaven!

Originally, I stamped a detailed bug and tried out Zindorf's colouring on acetate technique from her blog. Fabulous tutorial, by the way. I suck at the technique...

For this card, I stamped the flowers from Lizzie Anne's Blissful Blossoms on an acetate sheet with jet black stazon. Since I erased the bug (okay, bugs...) there was a little bit of an orange haze on the acetate. I couldn't get it off, so I decided to work with it since I'm just too frugal to let an entire acetate sheet go to waste - all 18 cents of it *snort*! I chose to colour the image with copic markers. My colouring on acetate with copics looked terrible. It was streaky and uneven, not very pleasant to the eye...at all! So I walked away. I came back, looked at it a few hours later, and walked away again. *sigh*

I came back to it again and decided I liked the look of the streakier parts, so I made it all very streaky and mottled. I finally started to feel like I was getting somewhere with it. I really worked the butterfly wings. Tiny, tiny strokes to make the wings look like they had scales. I LOVE IT!!!

This is a close-up of the butterfly and all the sparkle. I really like the sun coming through the acetate, creating a stained glass/shadow effect.

The layout was tough because the image is so large. I ended up choosing a 5 1/2"x 5 1/2" card base and working backwards from there. I wanted the image raised so I had quite the challenge figuring out how to hide all the pop-dots! I think the flowers across the bottom are a stroke of brilliance! I tried ribbon - several different types - paper, designer paper, crimped paper, brads, name it and it had an audition!

Then, I pulled open the bottom drawer. You know, the drawer that holds all the stuff you'll get to when you feel particularly inspired, except that there's stuff in there from 1990! Nearly 20 years of lost inspiration. If it were in the kitchen, it would be called the junk drawer by DH. He's not allowed near the bottom drawer because if he opens it, he'll release all the pent up inspiration in the drawer and I will miss it!

There, underneath a package of felt flowers sent by a friend (also auditioned, but they were to heavy to dance lightly beneath the transparent image...) was a box that hadn't been opened. A box of prima wanna be's. Hmmm - the green is right, lighter than their felt counterparts. A little plain, but nothing a little trip to costuming wouldn't fix... Suddenly, everything slid beautifully into place. The layout, the balance, the wonder of it all!
I'm telling you, I don't get out enough...

stamps; blissful blossoms (Lizzie Anne Designs)
paper; wild wasabi, brocade blue (Stampin' Up!), festive (Bazzill), Be Good - Ribbons dp (Cosmo Cricket)
ink; jet black stazon (Tsukineko)
accessories; copic markers, three for you punch, boho blossom punch, photo corner punch (Stampin' Up!), dew drops (the robin's nest), silver brads, 5th avenue embellishment kit (making memories), white and stardust gelly pens (sakura )