Stippled Roses

Hello friends.  We're in the middle of a string of rainy days again.  So what can you do when it's raining?  Stamp, of course!  The card I'm sharing today was actually made three days ago, but I just wasn't happy with it.  I've been looking at it since then trying to figure out what I don't like about it.  After making three different changes on the card, I think it's worthy to share with you.  Do you ever get that way?  The card just isn't right, but you're just not sure what you don't like about it.  Change this, add that, and change some more!  I'm thinking I should have just ripped the whole thing apart and started over.  Give me a comment on what you think of the final card, so I know if it finally hit the mark or needs a complete do-over. 

My plan was to use the colors and textures in the Softly Stippled DSP that is one of the Sale-a-bration items.  I really hope you were able to get this Designer Paper - it's gorgeous!  The fabric-looking piece of DSP on this card is from that paper pack and is in the Pebbled Path color.  The card base is Pebbled Path cardstock measuring 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  The layer on this is Lost Lagoon that measures 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  I wanted just a tiny bit of the Pebbled Path to show behind this.

The Softly Stippled DSP piece measures 3 5/8" x 4 7/8".  I started larger and kept trimming down an eighth of an inch at a time to get the size I liked.  I wanted the Lost Lagoon to be a bolder frame around this and really show up.

Next, the Stippled Roses were stamped with Pebbled Path ink onto Basic White cardstock.  I wanted to see how this worked with the colors instead of the Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  This would be a little softer looking.

For coloring the roses, I used Stampin' Blends to play around with the colors.  The first layer on the roses was Pool Party Light.  Then I layered on shading of Pool Party Dark and then Lost Lagoon Light to darken some of the shadows. 

The leaves were colored in with Wild Wheat Light, then shaded with the Wild Wheat Dark.  To add extra deep shadows in places, Lost Lagoon Dark was added sparingly.  The leaves still looked too flat, so the Color Lifter was used in some areas to create highlights.  This really does a wonderful job of giving you an even lighter color when it is lightly stroked on just where a highlight is wanted.  When everything was colored to my liking, the roses were die-cut with the coordinating Stippled Roses dies.

I've been using a lot of Get Well type cards lately.  So that's what this one was going to be.  The sentiment comes from the So Sincere stamp set.  It is stamped on Basic White using Pebbled Path ink.  Then it is fussy cut with Paper Snips to get the shape.

When I laid the roses and sentiment on the card base, it looked quite unfinished.  It needed some extra greenery to fill out the design some.  At first, I only cut two of the leafy spray die that is part of the Stippled Roses dies using Wild Wheat cardstock.  The stem was cut apart into four sections to scatter the smaller pieces around the design.  I thought this would work well with all the Wild Wheat leaves that were already part of the design.  For this version of the card, you can see a couple of the leafy sprays were cut in Lost Lagoon also.  And some of the little flowers in the set were cut from Pool Party cardstock.

The roses are attached with Dimensionals, but all the leafy pieces have adhesive on the stems and are tucked in around the roses.  The little flowers have their centers colored with Pool Party Dark Blends just to give it a little color.  They are attached with a Mini Glue Dot holding each one.  The sentiment is tucked near the bottom of the card and is attached with Mini Dimensionals.

For this card, I used the gold color sequins from the Neutrals Adhesive-backed Sequins.  I think they blend nicely with the Wild Wheat tones on the card.

The inside of the card has a layer of Lost Lagoon that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  On top of this is a layer of Basic White that measures 5" x 3 3/4".  The sentiment is another one from the So Sincere stamp set.  It's stamped with Lost Lagoon ink.  In the bottom right corner, the extra Wild Wheat leafy spray that was die-cut has been attached to carry the design inside the card.

 

Just wanted to give you a peek at the way the card was put together originally.  No matter how I fussed with it, I just wasn't happy with it.  Let me give you a run-down of the changes I made.

- The leafy stems are all from Wild Wheat cardstock.  This just gave the card too much of this color.

- The gems used really didn't enhance the card.  I thought the Pool Party color would balance the card better, but it didn't work.  They were switched out for the gold sequins.

- The sentiment was stamped with Lost Lagoon ink.  It was too light and got lost on the design.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  Did this card give you ideas on layout and color balance?  Just because a card is finished doesn't mean "the card is finished"!  You can always dismantle sections and remake into a design you're happier with when it really is finished!

Only two more days for Sale-a-bration deals!  But don't worry.  There will be some new Online Exclusives coming out a little later in March.  So much good stuff looking forward.  Keep checking in to see what's new and what I'm creating with it!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

sharoncarr50@gmail.com