Peace. Home. Laughter. Happiness. Friendship. Holidays. Family. Lights. Spirit. This card is for a very good friend. Recent hopping took me from Delaney Gates' blog to Bonnie Marcus' Collection, Where Fashion Meets Paper. I loved the Hanukkah Candles party invitations--the image and the words were absolutely perfect for my friend who lives and breathes family, peace and her Jewish values. I case'd the image concept and turned again to Adobe Illustrator, my Wacom tablet and pen and lots of learning time! I think my menorah has a 'yoga' influence and I hope this is okay. I also changed the order of the words to suit my friend.
The family portrait is once again tucked into a pocket behind the focal image. The card itself is simple. I embossed the top part of the white panel with cuttlebug Swiss dots; embossed two lines below the dots using my Scor Pal; and used nesties to achieve clean, embossed edges on the menorah image and black mat. The blue is a patterned paper from my old stash; I was looking for the right blue, but coincidentally, the reverse side has white dots on blue.
Stamps: warmest wishes, Hero Arts
Ink: SU basic black, copics for flames
Paper: Xerox 110lb cardstock, SU basic black, SU whisper white textured, unknown blue
Other: square Nestabilities dies, swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder, Stickles, Scor Pal, computer, Adobe Illustrator, Wacom tablet and pen
Inspired by someone on Splitcoast and eager to try out copics, I created this design version. (The orginal used SU's Garden Whimsy stamp set and if you've seen this creation, please help me find the link.) You'll see variations of this layout in the next pictures--a central square image that holds a family photo for 2008. We had family photos taken before Henri's transplant and I wanted to include a photo but still have a hand-crafted design. I also used square nestabilities and embossed with my cuttlebug 'Spots and Dots' embossing folder.
Using the same general layout without the 8 small squares in the background, I case'd one of Nichole Heady's designs (Just Because). I love her use of the Scor Pal to create an embossed grid background! The rounded corners are hers too. What's new? I turned the image into a pocket for my family portrait again and printed a sentiment in chocolate on white cardstock, which I mounted on the photo mat. This is my quick, go-to design when I run out of time making over 50 Christmas cards. No stamping; just beautiful paper.
Again, same general layout here, but I used my D'Vine Swirl cuttlebug embossing folder to emboss the top part of the background in SU pacific point. I love StampingBella bellas and spotted a swirly scene on their website. I wanted something a little different--fatter trees and more swirls!--so I created my own similar winter scene using Adobe Illustrator, my Wacom tablet and pen, and a lot of learning time! I printed my image on 110lb Xerox cardstock--I'm sure this doesn't compare to PaperTrey's white or other coveted papers--but it worked with my copics to colour the trees and the shadows. I then used Michelle Zindorf's technique (check out any of her amazing tutorials), covering the trees, swirls and snow with VersaMarker then heat embossing in clear. I sponged close to the embossed image and out to the edge, then gradually further out from the image with soft sky, baja breeze, pacific point, not quite navy and possibly night of navy. The snow and trees are highlighted with Stickles.
Recently I kept a blog (henri.typepad.com) of a more serious nature--following my son's illness, treatment and bone marrow transplant this summer. All creativity was put on hold, except I found that keeping the blog was a little like digital scrapbooking and so it filled a need. Now that we're home and Henri is recovering and doing amazingly well, I have some time to stamp and be creative. Christmas is coming and I've managed to make some cards for the 'card worthy.' I laughed when I first heard this term--card worthy--and smiled at how true the sentiment seemed. I create cards and often just keep them for myself. People taking my classes at two local scrapbooking and stamping stores often said after creating a beautiful card or scrapbook page, "this is just too nice to give away." So, as a title for my blog, "card worthy" might be silly...but I like it. I hope you think my designs and ideas are worthy of your time.
Nancy
Peace. Home. Laughter. Happiness. Friendship. Holidays. Family. Lights. Spirit. This card is for a very good friend. Recent hopping took me from Delaney Gates' blog to Bonnie Marcus' Collection, Where Fashion Meets Paper. I loved the Hanukkah Candles party invitations--the image and the words were absolutely perfect for my friend who lives and breathes family, peace and her Jewish values. I case'd the image concept and turned again to Adobe Illustrator, my Wacom tablet and pen and lots of learning time! I think my menorah has a 'yoga' influence and I hope this is okay. I also changed the order of the words to suit my friend.
