Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Hydrangea Hope

Hello!  Welcome back!  Today I would like to share a card with you that started out with very different intentions.  By that, I mean I intended to do something along the "Fran-tage" line as in the rose card from the previous post.  However, as I started putting my card together, I decided to make it a little more spring-like and a lot cleaner than the shabby chic feel I was originally intending.  I stamped my Stampendous! Cling Jumbo Hydrangea stamp on Neenah Classic Crest with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored my image with Copics G0000, G00, B41, V0000, V01, YG61, YG63, and YG67.  Here's how it turned out:


I was pleased with my results and then I started my hunt for paper.  Ordinarily I pick out my papers first and then color.  I'm really not sure why I didn't do that this time but I really couldn't find any papers in my stash that were worthy of such a beautiful image.  (Actually, I couldn't find any that matched!)  That meant having to go to Enchanted Cottage on my lunch break to see what I could find.  Well, I found three papers that I thought would make a lovely combination so I bought them and as soon as I got home from work, I hit my stamp room determined to make another "Fran-tage" beauty.  The more I looked at the pink patterned paper from Creative Imaginations, the more I wanted to use the touching "Hope" message printed there.  I'm a cancer survivor so this is something near and dear to my heart.  I cut out my image and started playing around with the paper but I just couldn't get it configured in a manner I felt was right for "Fran-tage."  I had cut my base to be a 6" square from Bazzill.  I cut my bottom layer of patterned paper from Creative Imaginations in a 5 3/4" square.  I cut two strips of the green Karen Foster patterned paper about an inch wide and I then edged each strip with a Martha Stewart punch.  From my Creative Imaginations "Hope" paper I cut my middle panel to fit the word across the bottom section.  I adhered the punched strips to each side of the top layer and centered both top and bottom layers on my base.  In order to add some texture to my image, I added some of the new fresh green and lavender crushed glass glitters from Stampendous!  I used glossy accents to hold my glitter on and as soon as it was dry enough, I pop-dotted my image onto the card.  I added a little sheer pink ribbon with a pearl as an accent.  I chose the pearl because even with something as small as a grain of sand irritating the oyster, something as beautiful as a pearl can grow.  There are many things in life that irritate us but we can still radiate beauty from within if we choose to.  I would like to think that because of my cancer, I'm now able to see more of the beauty in life around me.  I still tend to rush through my days sometimes but I'm far more aware of my surroundings and of how blessed I am with God's grace to still be here.  So, without further ado, here's my card.  I hope (no pun intended) that you like it.



As I said in the beginning, this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I colored my image but I'm really pleased with the way it all came together.  I'm entering my card in the Stampendous! texture challenge for this month on their blog and if you haven't play along, you should!  Well, folks, that's it for today.  I hope to see you back soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,
Lea

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely stunning Lea! The border punch, glitter, ribbon, colors, coloring (of course!) go beautifully with each other.

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  2. Wow...Gorgeous card! Love everything about it!

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  3. This is just stunning, Lea! Love every single textured bit of it. A fantastic job. Thanks so much for entering it in our challenge!

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  4. Gorgeous coloring, thanks for the inspiration!

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