Fall Birthday

One of the card techniques I truly admire is a multi-layer clean card. It's the kind of card you may see Kay Miller execute with perfection, but my own attempts are a lot less grand. I'm not sure what it is, really, but I feel like my tries end up either too busy or not busy enough - the sweet spot of just right is so elusive!

Skills don't get good by just wishing we could do them - we get better with practice. So, I decided to throw caution to the wind and practice some layered cards. Since we're finally in the season of autumn, I thought I'd do an autumn birthday card.

I used My Favorite Things' Fall Folliage stamp (now retired) as it had some lovely leaves, acorns and branches that I could just stamp. I didn't want to focus on coloring, just color itself. 

 I started with the bright warm orange-yellow, using WPlus9's Wild Mango ink. I stamped a couple of leaves, then moved onto Simon Says Stamp's Khaki ink. For the acorn and dark branch, I used Lawn Fawn's Walnut ink - I loved the crisp edges and the even coverage. Lastly, I added a touch of red with WPlus9's Gala Red ink.

Once everything was stamped and dry, I fussy-cut the leaves and layered them together in a bundle. I adhered some with regular adhesive and used foam tape for other parts. I added the whole piece onto a rounded top die-cut, then layered it over another die-cut. Lastly, I used Gina K.'s Sweet Corn cardstock as my card base.

I added a simple sentiment on top and embellished with a few pearls and enamel dots.
Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Cheri Love

 My Favorite Things - BB Mon Chéri, Papertrey Ink - Wet Paint Cuts (die)

One of my early childhood memories was drawing a fox pupped on construction paper. It was one of those accidental moments of greatness, as the fox turned out amazing and was featured prominently on the classroom wall. Yet, when I tried to draw that same fox again at home, I just couldn't do it. I think I remember trying a good dozen times without success.

If I think really hard, I can think of a dozen other occasions where those great awesome pieces came accidentally. And they're met with both frustration and joy. Making that great something is an incredible motivation and a nod from the universe that I can do this creative endeavor I'm trying. But it's also frustrating because I can't replicate it effortlessly.

That idea of being great effortlessly has been on my mind a lot lately. Watching videos of artists and crafters creating makes it seem like that's how they do it - effortlessly. All the details come together, all the techniques seem simple and even the mistakes turn into something charming. It seems effortless until you stop and think about how long it took to get there...

For every perfect drawing, that artist has a sketchbook filled with sketches and details that didn't work. For every perfect card video, that crafter has another 5 that didn't make the cut. Those achievements aren't because the individual got lucky - they spent work on developing their skills. And it's that practice work that ensures their greatness.

So, I don't want effortless anymore. I don't want accidental greatness. I want skills born out of work and practice, and all the big and little things learned along the way.

Like today's card... Another attempt at the mystifying clustered layer style I've seen on Pintrest. It still seems impossible to me, and I need heck of a lot more practice... But I'll get there in time.

Thanks for reading,
~Elle~

Super Secret Stamp Club: Lavender

In my crafty closet, I have a box. I call it my lost treasures box, and it has a little bit of everything in it - from die-cuts to embellishments, paper scraps and more. Many things find their way into my lost treasures box, so it's a beautifully, magically, very messy treasure box. This box is where I put things I've found on my floor, things I decided not to use on a card and things I couldn't resist sneaking into my cart in the crafty aisles of department stores.

Why do I mention this box? Because this is where I found all the embellishments for my card. And because they were in my messy box, I can't link to the products. Hopefully that's alright... Now onto the card!

Today's card uses the 2nd stamp in TGF's Super Secret Stamp Club -- the very lovely Lavender. Like Sage, she is an adorable girl with a cute skull bow. After stamping Lavender onto some white cardstock, I used my brand new Prismacolor pencils to color her in. I then carefully fussy-cut her out, leaving a small white border.

Since Lavender has a bit of Gothic feel to her, I decided to make the card base from black cardstock. I created a standard A2 card base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I then pulled out my Bigshot and diecut a piece of Gorjuss patterned paper with MFT's Blueprints 13. I cut out a smaller purple panel with MFT's Blueprints 5.

I used a couple of distress inks around the edges of the purple panel to help it stand out a bit better. I adhered the blue panel to the card base with my standard adhesive, then adhered the purple panel with foam squares. I adhered Lavender to the right side of the purple panel with my standard adhesive.

Lastly, I grabbed a bunch of goodies from my lost treasures box and adhered them to the card.

Also, o-m-gosh! This card was featured on the TGF spot blogpost. I'm beyond thrilled and thankful!! :D

Supplies:
The Greeting Farm - Lavender (Secret Stamp Club) stamp
My Favorite Things Hybrid Ink in Black Licorice
Prismacolor Premier softcore colored pencils
Simon Says Stamp Cardstock in black
Neenah Solar White in 80#lbs
DoCrafts Gorjuss patterned paper 6x6
My Favorite Things Die Namics Blueprints 13 and Blueprints 5
Bigshot
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive runner
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares

Marie Antoinette

It's Saturday, and that means another digi day! Today's card features the gorgeous Marie Antoinette stamp from AuroraWings Etsy shop.

I started by printing out the stamp onto some Copic X-Press it paper. The stamp's site had a glimpse at a possible way to color Marie, so I used it as an example and chose soft pinks, light blonde hair and some blues for contrast.

As always, I started with the skin, then moved onto the clothing and hair. Since there was so much detail in her outfit and hair, I kept the coloring fairly simple - switching between different colors and using very simple shading.

After she was colored in, I carefully cut around her with scissors, leaving a small white border.

As the stamp was very elaborate, I chose to keep the rest of the card extremely simple. I cut a piece of pink cardstock to a standard A2 size (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). While I had my trimmer out, I also cut a piece of patterned paper to 4 by 5 1/4". I adhered the paper to the card with my standard adhesive, then added Marie with foam squares.

I added a couple of flowers to the upper left corner. Lastly, I scattered a whole bunch of pearls around the card.

Supplies:
Marie-Antoinette digital stamp by AuroraWings
Copic X-Press It Blending Cardstock
My Favorite Things Heavyweight cardstock in Pink Lemonade
Glitz Designs Hello Friend 6x6 paper pad
Tombow Dot Adhesive Runner (pink)
Melissa Frances White Pearls
Prima Flowers flowers
Sakura Gellyroll White Gel Pen
Copics: Skin (E00, E11, E13, E15, R20, 0), Hair (E81, E42, E53, E33), Dress (B000, B00, BG01, B02, B41, B45, RV11, R85, R29, R59, 0), Cupcakes (Y13, YR14, B00, B41), Other Decorations (BG11, R22, R35, BV11, BV13, BV25, Y11, G24, YG63)