Friday 28 October 2011

Autumnal Beauty...

Hello again everyone!!  :)

Well, I can't quite believe I have made it back three times in one week, but here I am with the card I made over the weekend for my step-mum's birthday, which was inspired by several challenges including the sketch and theme at Sugar Nellie :) I've used one of their gorgeous stamps which I got a couple of months ago with my step-mum's card in mind, as she's very interested in historical things and especially Tudor and Stuart times...  well, I only needed a little excuse as I didn't have any of the lovely Leanne Ellis stamps and they're so gorgeous and stylish... took me ages to decide which one I'd get, though!!  :)


I started out with the sketch and the CAS theme in mind but somewhere along the line the CAS part kind of got away from me a little!!lol And don't ask me what happened with the colours as this was totally not the colour-scheme I had in mind when I started – think regal blues and purples with maybe a dash of teal… hmmm, not quite how it came out then!!  ;)


{{  Please excuse the poor photo... it's virtually impossible to get a decent shot of something so shimmery and this doesn't do the gorgeous colours of the paints justice at all as it did look better irl!! :S  }}

I heat embossed the lovely image with the gold sparkly powder (made myself to by mixing gold powder with fine gold glitter – works a treat and you have total control over the amount of sparkle you want!! :) ) and then coloured her with my Twinkling H2O and Cosmic Shimmer watercolours as I thought the beautiful, rich colours and shimmer would suit the opulence of the image and embossing :) I added some shading with a dark brown H2O, too, which is something I've not tried before with watercolours but I like it :)


I die-cut some flowers, then spritzed them with a Mini Mister filled with the water from the pot I used to rinse my brushes whilst painting the image... I've done this before and have a little mister of pearly sparkles from a Wedding image I painted a month or so ago on my desk, too- there's just so much lovely mica left in the bottom of the pot that it seems wrong to waste it!!lol After that was dry- and I'd nearly burnt a hole in the sheet of paper I had them on with my heat tool as I was being impatient!! Ooops- just glad I didn't set the smoke alarm off!!lol- I overstamped a scroll onto them with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo DIs and inked the edges.  Then I added some Antique Linen Distress Stickles – I LOVE this stuff!! :) – to the edges of the card and flowers, just smeared on with my finger!!  ;D


The greeting is a Cat's Life Press stamp and it is sooo gorgeous- simple but interesting, if you know what I mean?! ;) - and is also embossed :)

Then the CAS bit started unraveling as it just didn't seem to look right with just the couple of pale swirls I'd planned to stamp as foliage coming from behind the flower... too plain for the luxurious image, I think!! So, I went a bit mad with the swirls and then inked the edges, too!! :) Personally, I think it is still CAS as there's no matting and layering and minimal embellishment but I know some of the stricter CAS-loving ladies out there will say the lack of white space means it doesn't pass muster... good job the theme's optional then!!lol


The List:

  • 6" Sq. cream card blank
  • Gorgeous image 'If Only' by Leanne Ellis from Sugar Nellie
  • Versamark ink pad, gold sparkle embossing powder and heat tool
  • Twinkling H2O and Cosmic Shimmer watercolour paints
  • Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die
  • Homemade shimmer mist
  • Viva Decor swirl stamps
  • Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
  • Antique Linen Distress Stickles
  • Gold flat-backed pearls


I'd like to enter this in the following challenges: The Sugar Bowl - sketch by Maria Therese and optional theme of CAS (which I may or may not have followed, depending on your viewpoint!! ;) ) :) ; Sarah Hurley - Misting :) ; OSCC - No DPs :) ; Bows & Berries- Colour Challenge (I have yellow/gold, orange, brown and a touch of green) :) ; Charisma Cardz - Anything Goes :)

So, it kind of took on a life of its own but I really enjoyed getting off my beaten track and making such an unusually coloured and different card :) I'd love to know what you think as I'm often unsure about things when they are so far from my norm!! :) I also made some little earrings to go with it so will try to share those soon-ish... but here's a sneaky peek for you...  :)


Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last cards- I'm still struggling with leaving comments because of energy levels and some pain in my hands again (thank goodness my Speech Recognition software has decided to behave or I'd not have got this done!! :) ) but I am still checking out your posts from my phone (which also makes it harder to comment as a lot of blogs seem to crash the internet on it :S) and am very grateful for all the fab inspiration you share!! :) 




13 comments:

Sandra H said...

Hi Rachel, your card is so pretty l love the image and the background its truly amazing:) Sandra H

Rachael T said...

Beautiful card Rachael! Love the rich colours! Im not a big fan of gold because sometimes I think it can look harsh and garish but this is just gorgeous!
Fantastic swirl background too!
Rach :) xxx

sparklingblackrose said...

Gorgeous honey, you put us all to shame! *Big cuddles* its a very beautiful and unusual card, I love it :-) Elaine-xxx-

Carole of Brum said...

Ah Rachel this is stunning, you are really coming up with some inspired ideas. I'd say it was CAS cos I think there's a diff between that and LIM, but it's probably very subjective! The word 'opulent' came to mind as I was looking at your card, the rich reds and lovely gold are very luxurious and it's a great look. You must use again! Oh and i had to go and look up Leanne Ellis - those stamps are now on my wish list, I only wish they were digis cos I cant spare the room for rubber but will have make an exception. Thanks for showing, I really enjoyed this post! gorgeous earrings too, I love that you are accessorising your cards, hehee. Take care petal. Carole

sparklingblackrose said...

Aww I am back on my comment rounds! I love this honey, its stunning! Thank you for joining us at Sarah Hurley Challenges :-) Elaine DT -xxx-

Wendy said...

Absolutely gorgeous Rachel..enjoy the weekend.
Wendy xx

xxxtglxxx said...

Wow! Beautiful card and stunning image and flower! :)

Thanks so much for playing along at Charisma Cardz this week,

hugs

xxalisonxx

Annette said...

Sorry I'm so late popping by honey. This is such a lovely card, I just love embossing, it gives such a great effect. Love it. Thank you for joining us at One Stop Craft Challenge this week, and don't forget to stop by today for our new challenge.
Annette
xx

coops said...

wow this is so beautiful rachel.stunning image and sparkle :D

xx coops xx

Shell said...

Wow Rachel, this is truly gorjuss, thanks for joining us at Charisma Cardz this week.
Shell xx

ladyjanet_56 said...

This is a very pretty thank you card for playing along with us at B&B. Janet

Jessica said...

Great card - love the vintage feel to it. Thanks for joining the Misting Challenge with Sarah Hurley. Jxx

Robin said...

This is gorgeous Rachel! Love the gold embossing with these colours! Thanks for playing with Bows and Berries Colour Challenge!!
Robin

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