Sunday, June 10, 2007

cheap thrills...

If you know me at all, you know that it takes very little to amuse me. :) I found these silk flowers in Bali - they were like 89 cents for about 100...I think I got 7 or 8 packages, just for fun. No Primas in the tropical paradise...so I have to make do with what's here. I thought since the colors were light I might be able to dye the flowers myself, and it turned out that the Versamagic chalk inks were perfect for this. The ink is thick, and it dried well...so now I have custom colored flowers that match my ink. Yeah!

See the paper I had underneath as I was working? How could I throw that away? :) Sweet, floral background paper!


DH and I were looking at my cards and he pointed out a few things about 'my style'...
--I almost always use nature images
--I almost always use a combination of 3 colors on my cards
--I rarely feature text as the focal point of my card
--most of the 'action' is in the top 2/3 of my card

Amazing, huh, that he should be so perceptive about cardmaking...! Anyway, I decided I needed to make a card that is just a teeny bit out of my apparent box. I couldn't get past using a nature image...I already had this butterfly painted and waiting to land on a card, and it goes with the saying (all stamps by smARTworks). The vertical panel is the same paper shown above! Isn't it pretty? and that makes more than 3 colors, right? :)

Lots of stippling going on...butterfly wings are popped with mounting tape (2 pieces under the top wings so they're raised more)...antennas are stamped on the quote panel so I didn't have to cut them out...the ribbon is also a stamp.

And...here's one more card with the flowers 'in action'...This one is for a co-worker who's in the States right now and about 7 months pregnant...been there, done that...and know the feeling of "memory lapse" - when laps are a memory! HA! I love it. :) Stamps are by Art Impressions (it actually comes as one stamp, but *surprise* - I cut it apart!), from their line of Pun stamps. Prismacolors/OMS, scalloped scissors, paper scraps and eyelets.

Thanks for checking on me today! Have a great weekend!

7 comments:

  1. Wow - you were really thinking outside your box, weren't you? I love the way you used the chalked paper as background - getting creative here - I would never have thought of that, but it's perfect & dying the silk flowers to match - how great is that! You had a good day all in all! Really a good idea, too, to look at your work & see if there are any problems with being "stuck in a rut". It's a good rut most of the time, but knowing that might help to make you use more color & design. Thanks for the idea.

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  2. FANTASTIC artwork! You certainly fooled me w/that ribbon. It looks real! Also excellent idea of dying flowers to match. I've gotta try that one. Thanks!

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  3. OH wow oh wow oh WOW! That butterfly card is so rich and gorgeous looking!!!! Those flower may not be 'real' primas but they sure look like'em! And the pregnant card is a hoot! Very cute!
    ~Angie

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  4. you are so clever and creative!!! those flowers turnde out great! And the cards are beautiful!

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  5. You just never cease to impress me. Whether you are in your comfort zone or outside of it, your creative talents excel. God blessed you with so many talents. Thank you for sharing some of them with us.

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  6. both your cards are great, but hands down my favorite is your butterfly one. It is gorgeous and the backround paper you made is perfect. I'me going to have to make my own now.

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  7. What an incredibly rich and vibrant colored card! Your butterfly is amazing! I know I'm going to head to smARTworks to shop... it's completely my style.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Lisa

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