Saturday, August 16, 2014

Using Some New Stuff

Yesterday I decided to play with some of the yet-to-be-used stuff that's languishing in The Abyss (that area at the foot of my desk, and the surrounding floor, that collects all the stuff I haven't used so I can't put it away). It's getting tougher to move in there, so it had to be done.

First, I grabbed my Art Impressions Girlfriends stamp set and I made this:


By now you know I don't like to color, so I thought I'd paper piece the ladies' clothing. This turned into a WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!? moment, or should I say several hours. Not that it would have taken me less time to color them, but at least with paper piecing I can cover up mistakes or change my mind.

See those hands? Yeah, problems. I ended up piecing the clothing with the hands intact, then stamping, coloring and fussy-cutting the hands separately.  It was actually easier, and the hands have some dimension now. Also, the shirts don't fit perfectly into the space above the slacks, so I called it "their camisoles are showing". They be stylin'.

Two rare tools used here: A Wink of Luna silver brush marker for the earrings, and an ultra-fine-point Sharpie to color their upper lips a very bright red.

The sentiment proved to be a problem. Since I'm generally opposed to making other than an A2-size card, it just didn't fit anywhere to my liking. I was going to put it under their feet, but it didn't feel right. There 's another more-square sentiment in the set, but I really wanted to use this one, so I stamped it on vellum with Memento Luxe black ink and clear-embossed it. This way you can still see the image and handsome paper piecing.

The colors of their clothing were chosen based on the current (current, I know!) Nacho Average Challenge colors:


I used paper from the Echo Park Simple Life 6x6 pad for the green and orange-red, and Basic Grey PB&J for the navy.

ETA: Wheee! I won Top Nacho with this card!



For my second card, I followed the now-expired City Crafter Challenge to use a house on a project. I immediately thought of my cache of wood veneer houses, and I made this:


Just because a challenge is expired doesn't mean I can't use it; it's still a good challenge, especially if it gives me an idea to use up some stash!

I used the colors from the now-expired Color Throwdown challenge:


I used Hero Arts Tide Pool ink for the Bermuda Bay, Copic R08 for the Real Red, and Copic N2 for the Smoky Slate. I like the color combination, a lot! I colored the houses with the Copics, and used the Tide Pool ink to sponge in the sky and grass. So what if I have a green sky?! It's ART!  (Thank you, Lydia, for helping me to justify my color choices.)

I put the white panel onto a piece of Hero Arts Mixed Pool layering papers, and attached it off-center to a white card base. The sentiment from Clearly Besotted was stamped in Hero Arts Charcoal.

I kinda like how this one came out.  :)

I'm headed back in to work on some more challenges. I'll be back to share if anything turns out to be blog-worthy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used:

For the Girlfriends card: Basic Grey PB&J 6x6 paper pack, red ultra-fine-tip Sharpie, I listed the ZIG 2-way glue pen, but I used my SU 2-way glue pen since it was closer and works just as well -- I have both), and the following:





For the Houses card: Wood veneer houses from my stash, A*Muse Studio cloud dies, and the following:







11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, I can't imagine the work involved in making that first card but it turned out so well, it was worth every minute/hour! Your veneer houses are great, too. Note to self: "I must get that red Copic marker!"

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  2. Good grief! That’s a lot of fussy cutting, but you prevailed! The Art Impressions stamps are fun. Well done!

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  3. Fussy cutting hands?? No, thank you. You did a fabulous job and I like the camisoles showing - they do be stylin'. That is a fun stamp set.

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  4. Awh, yes, I just bought that AI GF stamp, and was playing with it Friday.

    When I paper piece, people) I usually start by stamping it all on a flesh colored paper and adding the clothes, sometimes the hair too. Those little fingers are a bugger to cut around.

    I really like the way your card turned out.

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  5. Wow! That is some impressive fussy cutting! Great use of the colors, and a fantastic card! Thanks for joining us at Nacho Average Challenges.

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  6. This is so funny!! I love the image and sentiment! Your card is beautiful!! Thanks for playing along with the Nachos this week!

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  7. Super cute card Leslie! Love the paper piecing, great job! Thanks so much for joining us at Nacho Average Challenges, hope you will join us again.

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  8. Fantastic paperpiecing. I'd rater color than fussy cut!

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  9. Wow. It's amazing what we go through to make 1 card! The end result was so worth it. Great job!

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  10. Their paper-pieced outfits look fabulous! And I love that sentiment, that's hilarious :) Thanks for playing along in the Nachos color challenge this week!

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  11. I personally think your paper piecing looks awesome and it is a TERRIFIC card!!! I like the house car too, but the first card is Leslie-awesome :)

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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)