Clean and simple day 3 take 2

Good morning.
I managed to make another card yesterday for day 3 of the clean and simple online card class, but I was not able to photograph it before the sun went down, so I did it this morning.

The topic of the day was 'optical illusion' and Jennifer showed a few masking techniques that inspired this card.

Firstly, can I jut say how much I LOVE this stamp set.  I fell in love with it the second Nichole Heady sneak peaked it.  Unfortunately for me, I was not able to place a full order on release night so I resigned myself to admiring it from afar. Until a very sweet lady on the PTI forum offered to add it to her order and mail it to me.  The dies were sold out, so I still have to get that, but I am one happy camper for the time being.  Now onto the card  ;)

The moment I saw this set, I just knew it had to be colored.  I digressed from the examples Jennifer showed us in that she had a a lot more white space. So at first I thought I would mask off a border along the outside edge of the card.  But these flowers are quite big and I really wanted to show them in all of their glory.   I opted to go all the way. 

I started off by embossing the smallest rectangle in the Lil inkers stitched mats die set to create a frame for my sentiment.  I just adore these stitched mats, they add such a fun extra kick to a card.  Next I masked that section off with some post it tape and went to town stamping all those pretty flowers in Momento tuxedo black ink.  I then spent an insane amount of time coloring in the flowers with copic markers.  I took great care to use lots of shades and highlights to add the optical illusion of depth and height. I used a white gel pen for the dots. I wanted these flowers to sing! When I was done with all the coloring I took a very light grey marker and outlined the flowers for even more dimension. So, it all looked great! (IMHO) ;) but I decided to add some distress ink in scattered straw to the outside of the panel. Lastly I embossed the stitched lines on the outside edges to tie it to the sentiment panel and finish it off.

I cannot tell you how much FUN I had making this card.  I know for a lot of people spending this much time on a card seems like too much of an effort for one card, but for me, it is like therapy. To just sit and get lost in my thoughts for that time is like taking a mental vacation. One that is often desperately needed around these parts ;)) 

Lastly, I know this does not fit the whole 'clean and simple' category... but it is one layer and it does have the 'optical illusion' thing, no? ;) 

So I hope my card does not digress too much from the path, and I hope you enjoyed your visit today.

I'm off to attend to some tedious housework, and hopefully I will earn some time to play with today's lessons  later.
Have a great day friends.
Tasha

Clean and simple 3 day 3

Hi there.
Today I have a card I made for day 2 of the clean and simple, online card class. My card is based on Laura Bassens card. 

 

I know it's hard to see in the picture, but I used an Impression obsession background stamp with soft stone ink. It is very light so it's hard to see in the photograph.  I loved the idea of a bold focal sentiment, and I am in love with polka dots ;)  So to change it up a bit I used the shadow stamping technique. I stamped the dots in the various colors then went back and stamped over them with white ink to create a shadow.  I also added some wink of Stella over the circles to make them pop even more. 

Now this card seems pretty simple, but let me just say it took me three attempts to get to this.   There is a real gift in knowing when to stop!  And clearly, I do not posses that gift.  So the first two times I kept filling in the white space until It was practically covered in colored polka dots.  So what has this experience taught me you might ask?  That I am more of a more is more, complicated  soul than a clean and simple one... and you know what... it is a reflection of my personality, so I'm good! ;)))   

Thanks for stopping by :)  I have another card to share for day two, if I can photograph it before the light fades, I'll post it tonight.  Otherwise... As they say in South Africa, "More is nog 'n dag",  (tomorrow is another day). 

Peace and love

Tasha :)

Clean and simple day 1

Hi again.
So I have signed up for the clean and simple 3 one layer card class.I love these classes, they are packed full of ideas. I have taken quite a few, but I never seem to get the time to play along. For this class the timing is perfect (March Break, and bad weather ;) ), but they have also changed the scheduling a bit, so videos are every other day... I  am loving that, because it gives me time to think about my design and still have time to make it, without feeling like I have already fallen behind.

So now for my card:

For this card I knew I wanted to do the rainbow strips, but I did not have the balloon dies. So I was kind of playing with a few ideas, when I came across the MFT sketch challenge and everything clicked into place.  I ended up combining Debby's and Shari's classes to make this, based on this MFT sketch.

I was planning to enter that challenge but my kids were hogging the computer yesterday and I did not get to upload it in time.  :/
Oh, well... I still like the card. Colorful! Just the way I like it :)

Thanks for stopping by, and I will be back tomorrow with another card for the clean and simple class.
Tasha :)

Virginia's View #1

Good morning.
I have a card to share with you that I made for the new challenge blog, Virginia's View, started by the lovely and every inspiring Virginia Lu (a fellow Canadian, yay! ) ;)
The first, HERE, Challenge is all about Watercolor. I love watercolor! So I knew I just had to play along.

Here's my card :

And here's the inside:

 

Now even though I do have a cheapo set of water color I used re-inkers for this because I wanted  this color combo and I like how vibrant the re-inkers are.  I colored a panel of card stock, starting with the pink at the top and the orange at the bottom and worked my way to the middle. I then die cut the butterflies from this panel.  Next I took a plain piece of white card stock and die cut the butterflies again before running through with a woodgrain impression plate to add texture.  I popped this onto the card base with foam tape. Instead of adding a sentiment to the card I decided to add it to the butterflies that I then inserted them into the negative space, leaving the wings free to fly ;) I finished it off with some enamel dots.  Now... I am desperately trying to become more 'clean and simple" in my card making, so I made sure to leave lots of white space, where I would typically try to fill the space.  I think it works but I'd love to hear other ideas/opinions. 

I've recently started finishing the insides of my cards too, even if it is just a sentiment.  I feels more complete.  For this one I LOVE the way it looks. I chose the sentiment because I thought it worked well with the butterflies and "transformation" ;)  I stamped the sentiment and watercolored over it to echo the colors on the butterflies. 

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I have inspired you to play along too.

Peace and Love.

Tasha :)

Thank you feathers

Well, I am back with another card for the Wplus 9 stretching it challenge. 

Please excuse the bad photo. It is night time here, and my condo has the WORST lighting. I will try and take another one tomorrow with daylight and edit this post.

I have been in love with this set, from the moment I saw the sneak peek.  I have tons of feather ideas pinned on Pintrest that I think would make cool cards.  Both these blue and gold feathers as well as the black feathered background are products of my 'research' ;-P
Now, let me tell you that I am not one of those speedy crafters, who slip out and whip something up. Noooo, I am one of those who take ages to get everything..... j u s t  right. 
BUT having said that, I am one of those people who work well under pressure. Since my school days, I have created some of  (what I humbly consider) my best work under pressure. 
So I decided to stretch myself by forcing myself to not think about this card.... I have a STACK of feathers on my desk already made up with different treatments.  But I am pondering the perfect way to add them to a card. So my challenge tonight was to not think... and just do!  I put a few of the ideas I had together and committed to cutting and sticking within a time limit.   I don't know that I love it... But I do kind of like it. It does not feel like 'me',  but I would check this off in the 'mission accomplished' column. ;)

And with that, I am off to bed.
Till next time. Peace and love.
Tasha :)

Wplus 9 Stretch it challenge

Hello.
Today I have a card to share that I made for the Wplus 9 Stretch it challenge. 
Here's my card :

I always dream of being able to create more clean and simple cards. I tend to make more technique involved cards, and they are usually quite busy. For this card, I tried to keep it simple. I stamped the stripes in Versa magic, sea breeze and Delicata gold ink.  I die cut the feathers and stamped them with the same blue I used for the stripes and Momento Luxe, Morocco orange (for a pop of color) I also inked up one of the feathers with the Delicata gold ink. I used a spica pen in brown to accent the spots on the feathers.
I was tempted to add layers of velum for the sentiment and more dots or sequins, but I restrained myself and simply stamped the sentiment onto the card with chocolate ink and attached the feathers with foam tape.  I adhered the panel to a plain with card base, and walked away. 

Thanks for stopping by.
Tasha :)