Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Inspired by this weeks Retro Sketche #122-a Thank You Card

Happy Tuesday! The weather does not know what it wants to do today so it is a good time to hide in my craft room. It is hot and humid out and has sprinkled on and off most of the day. It actually was refreshing to get rained on while I was doing my interval run this morning.

Today I am going to share a card with you that I created using Retro Sketch #122 as my inspiration.


I could not wait to start this challenge because I knew exactly what I wanted to use for the background. I used the MFT's ink splash from their "Abstract Art" stamp set and distress inks to create this fun, faux watercolor patterned paper. This is the card that I created:


I stamped each dot randomly by inking the stamp up, stamping off, spritzing the stamp with water and finally stamping on the watercolor paper. While the stamped image was wet, I re-inked the stamp and then stamped the dot again. Though the process seems intricate, it was really fast and easy to do. This helped to get the watercolor look to the dots. I like that the dots are not all uniform and in some areas are overlapping and in others, there is white space.

After the dots were dry, I used an MFT Blue prints die to die cut the watercolor paper. I wrapped purple jute around the top and adhered it to a dark purple card base.

I then adhered strips of pink, green and dark purple card stock in the  middle of the card front.  Next I adhered a stamped label over it using foam adhesive.


At first I was not going to add anything else but the label looked naked. I decided to die cut and stamp flowers in the same colors as the dots using WPlus9's "Fresh Cut Florals" set. I adhered the flowers using both dot and foam adhesive.



Again, I looked at it and thought it was missing something. Am I the only one like this? I decided the card needed a bit of glitter in the centers so I dug out a couple shades of purple Stickles I owned. My last step was to adhere a few sequins.

I had a lot of fun making this card and will be using this sketch again. Coming up with ideas for the background was my favorite part.

Since I used a ton of die cuts on here, I am going to enter this into Virginia's View Die Cut Challenge #5. If you haven't checked the blog out, run. She is so talented!!


Thank you for looking!! Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!!
Nora

Supplies:



13 comments:

Virginia L. said...

Oh my goodness...Nora, the inking and colros are AMAZING! Your use of die cut sentiment is perfect for this beautiful design! Love it!!So glad that you join the fun over Virginia's View Challenge!

Marybeth said...

This is gorgeous Nora! Such beautiful stamping and I love the center of the card! Yes, a bit of glitter is always good:)

Anonymous said...

This is so pretty! I love the background you created!! :) Evie

Deepti said...

This is gorgeous, I love the bunch of flowers around the sentiment :)

Angela said...

Beautiful! I absolutely love the stamping technique!!

Cindy C. said...

Lovely take from the sketch!! And I like those pretty colours you used!!

None None said...

What a fabulous card, Nora! I especially love how you created the watercolored background. What a cool technique to use for the RS challenge!! Thank you for stopping by my blog and commenting, I really appreciated the visit. ;)

Unknown said...

Oh goodness! Love this watercolor effect and the beautiful colors you've paired together!! So very pretty

Kim Heggins said...

Wow...this is simply one gorgeous card Nora. I love your ink spots so fun and so creative. What a wonderful card.

Taunya Butler said...

This is super beautiful and I love the colors you used - like being in a garden of flowers!! There is something so appealing about this card - it beckons you in! Thank you so much for sharing it!! My day has been touched by beauty now!!

Anita in France said...

What a fabulous and fun background, Nora ... there's such a sense of energy and movement about it! The posies of blooms around the sentiment panel are a really sweet touch and yes, the glitter is perfect ... sparkle is always good! Anita :)

Diane said...

Love this watercolor effect and the beautiful colors.

Hugs Diane

Darnell said...

Fantastic handmade background paper, Nora!! You are really focused to do that! I would have been down to my second-to-last dot and then mixed up the color and it would have turned to mud ... I am beyond impressed by this card and every detail!! Hugs, Darnell