Wednesday, December 30, 2009

More Trees

Yes, I bring you more trees. At least this time I employed a different technique, and I tried to do it all SU. I FAILED, but that does not mean that I did not TRY.

These are inspired by yesterday's sunset. The sky was mostly a deep blue, but down at the horizon it was a lighter blue with pink and orange mixed in. Just lovely. Of course, I failed to capture the colors on my phone's camera while standing in the parking lot of the post office, but still, again, I tried.

So here is pass #1:

I used the direct-to-paper technique with my SU ink pads. (I actually threw away the first 4 to 5 attempts ... such is my sacrifice for my art; so I guess this is really pass #6, but I digress. ) I started with Bashful Blue and schmeared it all around the top 3/4 or so of the card stock, leaving some un-inked spots on purpose to make it look more realistic. Then I swiped Pretty In Pink and a little Going Grey near the horizon. Then I went over the top part of the card stock with Brocade Blue - pretty much my go-to blue these days. I soaked it reeeeeal good, too. Even had to change the grid paper it was such a mess. Using a scrap of printer paper to make a distinct line near the bottom of the color, I went back over everything with the Bashful Blue.

I was going to stamp the tree in Basic Gray, but then I had a horrible thought: This stamp set retires effective January 4th, and my classes are not until the following weekend. You know what this means, right? It means I cannot use this stamp in my classes! ACK! All restrictions being off, I used Memento London Fog ink instead of SU Basic Gray. I am such a rebel.

I went over the stamped trees with my white gel pen, and then, in a fit of creativity, I poked in a few stars in the clear night sky.

I liiiike! And did you notice something strange? No ribbon. None. And I am okay with that. This time.

So today one of my Tweeple suggested moonlit trees resplendent with hearts as a cool Valentine's Day card. This gave me the idea for this evening's project:


I tried to replicate the sky from last night's card, and it's close. This time, though, I added a red heart brad from my stash to one of the tree branches. Just one heart - just a touch of color. How did I get it right in the middle of the card? Before I stuck the white layer to the Basic Gray layer, I poked a hole in the white piece with my paper piercing tool, drew the silver thread (with a glitter pen) down to the hole, then I stuck the brad in. The back of the brad is totally hidden between the white and grey layers. Poke-poke with the gel pen for the stars, and Done!

So what do you think? Besides the fact that I am in a shadowy-tree rut, what ELSE do you think?

In other news, I innocently planned to hit the grocery store on the way home this evening to get the ingredients for my Spinach-Artichoke dip that I said I'd bring to dinner tomorrow night, but the voice on the radio said the most feared words in these parts: Winter Storm Watch. This translates into an "oh my god i am out of bread, milk and toilet paper and i must rush to the store and buy some or we will all surly die" frenzy for the 500,000+ residents of my fair county. And they all go to whatever store *I* choose. I just wanted canned artichoke hearts and frozen spinach, but noooooooo, I had to battle the stoopid people for a parking space. I was nearly broadsided in the parking lot by someone who just had to get home before the roads became impassable. Seriously! THERE IS NOTHING FALLING FROM THE SKY, PEOPLE!

I must divulge that I was not at a real grocery store. No, I went to Target, thinking it might be better. What did I find? There was not.one.shopping.cart.in.the.entire.store. Not even the hand-carry ones. People were running in the aisles and their carts were filled with TP and diapers. The shelves were practically barren. I was scared.

The worst part? They had no frozen spinach. NONE! ACK! I thought for about 2 seconds that maybe I could go to the real grocery store for that, but then I decided it would be a suicidal decision, so I did something I have not done in about 32 years: I bought canned spinach. I DID! Please do not share this with any of my friends, because I might be banned from ever attending another dinner ever again. I will report back on if they detected my dirty little secret or not.

Okay, that's enough for this evening. I need to go bag and tag these tree cards and add them to my etsy store. If I don't get a chance to post tomorrow, Happy 2010, everyone!

Thanks for stopping by!

4 comments:

  1. You are a hilariously wonderful writer! Oh, how I laughed! And how can one be stuck in a tree rut? Trees are one of the most beautiful creations on our planet! A moon kissed sky with a tree holding a heart..... what could be lovelier?
    Sorry about the spinach though. But my lips are sealed.

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  2. I love these trees! To me, the stars are what kick these up a notch. LOVE the single red heart brad - perfect touch!

    I could not agree more about the wingnuts who rush to the grocery store because a storm is predicted. With very rare exceptions, a storm lasts maybe a day, if that. And like you, it never fails that I need something that day, so then I worry people will think I'm one of "those people".

    (I love spinach artichoke dip. So does Steve, which is weird, because he hates vegetables.)

    Happy New Year Leslie!

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  3. LOL That's too funny. That's exactly what happens to me. I need X ingredient for planned meal and then get stuck around those freaking out. The worst is if I have to buy diapers or TP because we are low. It can be a joke!! grrr LOL

    Anyways, your cards are wonderful. I agree with the aforementioned statements- Trees are timeless, the stars kick it up a notch, and the single heart brad is a nice touch.

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  4. cezanne painted his postman like 17 times...trust me...THESE glorious, ethereal, shadowy, infinitely detailed, sonnets to the shades of blue and grey and that wintery purpley color the sky gets sometimes right before dusk...THESE are not remotely rut-based. at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    i ♥LOVE♥ them, just in case that was somehow unclear! i have run outta writing time, but trust me, having scrolled down and drooled all over the keyboard...i love ALL of them.

    (and conrad is NOT gay; no, it turns out that *richard* is a VERY convincing professional male-impersonator/amateur detective (look for our sexy spin-off show, "richelle peppernickel, bi-PI" this fall, on cbs!)) trying to dig up some dirt on gayle in order to oust her from the PTA secretaryship before the spring fete. so i guess that *WAS* her gun, afterall...?!)

    :)

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I'd love to hear what you really think! :-)

PS: I've had to disable Anonymous comments, because the spammers were killing me. If you are unable to comment, please email me your comment and I'll get it posted for you. Sorry. (stoopid spammers)