Saturday, June 2, 2018

A Little Something Extra

Who doesn't love a Before/After post?

In playing with a new set from Altenew (see below for my Mother's Day order), I made a very simple card (you know, the kind I like!). But it was too simple. It needed a little something extra.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:



Isn't this sweet? I adore this two-stamp branch and blossoms from Altenew's Wildflower Garden set. But those blossoms look so flat.




I pulled out my Prismacolor Pencils and added a little shading. First, I added a bit of dark purple pencil to each blossom, and then I rubbed over it with a blender pencil to smooth it out and blend it into the lighter ink color. I tinkered with the shading until I was satisfied. It makes a world of difference!

Here are the AFTER pictures:





Often, a little something extra takes blah to beautiful!


And for those who are interested in such things, here's my Mother's Day bounty.



I'm wondering if I'll regret all those sequins. Do they stay glued to cards when sent through the mail? Inquiring minds, and all that.

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Altenew Wildflower Garden
ink: Hero Arts passion flower; Archival leaf green and black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Prismacolor pencil, blender pencil, MISTI

7 comments:

  1. The difference the shading makes is amazing! I'll need to keep that in mind for stepping up a simple card that seems just a little too flat. That happens to me a little more often than I'd like.

    Your haul looks fun! Mama Elephant's "Occasional Labels" has been on my wish list ever since it came out, so I'm eager to see what you do with it, as well as what you do with the wildflower dies. I adore all the cards you've made with your PTI and Stampin' Up wildflower silhouette stamps, and it'll be interesting to see how you put the dies to work.

    It's good to see you back, by the way. I'm praying that the upcoming month treats you more gently than the previous did.

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  2. Susan, The shading really adds to the card. I have used Zots Bling size to adhere sequins with good success. Looking forward you use flower dies. They make great silhouettes. Sylvia D.

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  3. Your sympathy card is quite nice, especially after you did the extra shading. It is simple and carries the message well.
    for adhering sequins and all matter of tiny things, my go-to is Glossy Accents. Mine is old and I have had it a long time but it works perfectly. I think there is another product that is a newer version of this and equally effective called Dimensional Magic. Both dry super hard and I have had great success with sequins and other (even the ones that come with adhesive backing -- use it addionally) bling. I do not like to think of the card being undressed when it arrives at its destination!

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  4. I've always wondered the same thing about sequins! And when I saw that picture, the first thought I had was "I don't ever remember seeing Susan use sequins".

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  5. Susan + sequins = surprise!! Your visual triangles are about to get more visual - Love! Ranger Multi Medium Matt is a strong medium also and doesn't dry shiny, so you don't 'see' it. That touch of colored pencil definitely brought that card up a notch.
    Lu C

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  6. Actually I like both cards, but sure appreciate how you showed us the enhanced one. Thanks for the lesson!

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  7. The small amount of shading has a big impact! Thanks for showing both versions.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!