Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Appreciate What Is

Let's dive right in, shall we?

Get it? Dive right in? Sorry.

Today's card uses an old (discontinued) Hero Arts shadow stamp for the watery backdrop. If you don't have the shadow stamp, you could get a similar look by making a rectangle with post-it notes and sponging. I sponged Ancient Page inks in various shades of blue directly onto the stamp, starting with the lightest color, then the medium shade, then the darkest.

The plant is actually a Posh Impressions pussy willow but I think it looks nice as kelp. It is stamped in an even darker shade of blue (indigo), as is the sentiment (Hero Arts).

The whole card was intended to be a single layer of white cardstock, but I stamped the rectangle slightly crooked. The frame really does help the card, though, so it was a fortuitous mistake.

The sea horse was punched out of tempting turquoise that had been lightly sponged with Ancient Page ink. The gemstone eye was colored with a sharpie since I didn't have a small enough gem in turquoise.

Last week, I told you I reorganized my SU cardstock by rainbow colors rather than the old color families. One thing that showed me is that I have an obscene amount of colored cardstock. That realization, combined with the success of this card, convinced me to make a bunch of colored-base cards. I'm mainly doing this to thin out the stash, not as a major shift in my cardmaking philosophy.

Don't worry. I'm still loving white OLCs. They're my favorites, forever and always. One's coming up tomorrow. I promise.

Supplies
stamps: Posh Impressions, Hero Arts
ink: Ancient Page
paper: PTI white; SU tempting turquoise, night of navy
accessories: sponge, sea horse punch (Martha Stewart), dimensional, sharpie, gemstone

26 comments:

  1. Major shift or not, I'm so glad you branched out with this card. It's so beautiful! And the hint that we don't have to have the shadow stamp to do this is great. This card is still CAS, but with a twist. I just love it. And the CS and ink colors are perfect! Lovely diversion from your regular cards, Susan!

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  2. love your card....love the colour....
    sometimes I think diversion is refreshing!!

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  3. Stunning!!! You've done a wonderful job with this. I have many of those Hero Arts shadow stamps and sadly, used them very little.

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  4. This card is beautiful. I love the look. I must pull out my shadow stamps. Haven't used them in years!

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  5. I'm not sure what OLC is but I love your card! It gives me a peace feeling I'm so much in need today! So thanks!

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  6. Love the card, I think the blue rectangle is definitely my favourite part.

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  7. Absolutely wonderful! Very striking layers. I love it.

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  8. This diversion is quite fun. Who but you would have thought to use pussy willow for kelp? matter-of-factly, just last night I was looking for an under-the-sea stamp of a wider-leafed plant I thought was kelp.

    Thanks

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  9. This is SO beautiful! I love how understated it is. That little seahorse is just perfect.

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  10. Beautiful -- really like the blues with white and touch of black.

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  11. Beautifully done - I like branching out once in a while! I like when you do it too! Hugs, Harriet

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  12. This card is absolutely gorgeous!!!! I'm in love!

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  13. OMG! I love this card. The shadow effect is lovely backdrop. I love how beautiful simplicity can be. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. This is calm, serene, and so pretty. I don't think it would have ever crossed my mind to buy a seahorse stamp, but obviously you have the perfect use for it!

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  15. Oops, I mean seahorse _punch_ of course...

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  16. Even though you made a turquoise card base you still managed to keep a lot of white space on this card. I like how you offset the image. That pussy willow does look good as kelp. Great sentiment.

    I organized my cardstock that way and I find I use a lot more of it because I can see what I have and can compare colors (hmm... do I want saffron or banana...) to get just the look I'm going for.

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  17. I love this card. It made me smile.

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  18. Fabulous, as always. And a very nice change from your usual - which is still my favorite.

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  19. W*O*W!!
    beautiful card.
    love everything about it!
    marty ferraro

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  20. WOW if I thought my crooked stamping would end up with such a brilliant card I would do it all the time LOL
    But I also need your amazing talent so I will just have to settle for CASing your wonderful work.
    I love this card even with the bright base card to me it appears very soothing (I can feel the rocking of the waves already!!!)... great sentiment too.
    TFS

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  21. I love this so much i did a similar one with a frog... thanks

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  22. WOWza! I'm lovin' this one, girl! I know I always seem to be saying this, but when I grow up, I want to stamp like you! Thanx for being a constant source of inspiration!

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  23. I love the little sponged window of water, but then that it not surprising as that technique is right up my alley. The colours are lovely.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!