Saturday, February 09, 2013

Hydrangea for Susan


Hi everyone.  Today's card is to honor Susan Bridgman ... she is the Queen For the Day over at SCS ... actually, it's a weekly honor, so she will be wearing her crown for several days :)

Susan is a very talented crafter and she also leaves wonderfully, support comments for so many on SCS.  She is also a fellow Canadian ... and lives not too far from me.  I'm hoping that some day we'll be able to meet up and make cards together.

I chose this card of Susan's to CASE in her honor.  I have admired Susan's hydrangea card for a long time and today was the perfect opportunity to CASE it.  I love the dimension Susan has on her card by adding punches on top of her stamped image ... so I did the same, just changing to the colours of the CAS - Colours & Sketches challenge blog for this week (Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum).



Stamps:  Because I Care, A Word for You (SU!)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Perfect Plum (SU!)
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot, Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Hydrangea punch (Martha Stewart), white gel pen, glue, adhesives, and dimensionals



I colored the stamp with my Stampin' Write markers and stamped onto the Very Vanilla cardstock.  I used my blender pen to soften the ink colours a little.  I then punched out several small hydrangea blooms, sponged around the edges, shaped them and then glued on top of the stamped image.  I stamped a second set of leaves, cut them out and adhered them on top of my stamped image using rolled glue dots (paper tole technique) ... this gives them more dimension to balance out all the dimension from the blooms.  Once everything was dry, I added white dots to the center of each bloom with my white gel pen.


Here's a close-up of the hydrangea:


____________________


I couple of other things to share with you.  First, thanks to Mynnette of Inkspirational for picking this card as the winner for Challenge #2 of her new challenge blog.  I'm so honored!!

And also I wanted to thank all of you for taking the time to look at my blog and a special thank you to everyone that takes the time to leave comments.  I so love hearing from you!  The past six months has been a very trying time for our family with many serious and devastating health issues.  I have been absent for the past several weeks from my blog with the exception of my Design Team commitments.  I have realized that I must make it a priority for me to have some "down" time from all the stresses, and for me that is creating and posting cards, and having time to look at other crafter's blogs (which I love to do!).  So hopefully you'll see regular postings from me again soon. Thanks for all your support!



21 comments:

Stamps and Paper said...

Hello Loll....this is stunning just love how you had 3D the petals on the flower head....gorgeous card

Anne

Lisa Lara said...

Hi Lolly girl. I just love how you added the punched flowers for dimension. Wowee.

Kylie said...

Loll, this is beautiful! Perfect use of our colours this week! Thanks so much for playing along at CAS - Colours and Sketches xx

Patrice said...

Loll this is absolutely gorgeous. I really must give this a try (I have this stamp set). Love the dimension, and your colour choices make the flower very striking.

Glad you're holding up okay. Enjoy whatever 'down' time comes your way. x

Karen M said...

Stunning card Loll - I love how you have made this with all the small petals - it looks so amazing:) I hope that you are doing okay - life sure can be tough sometimes but hang in there! Crafting is such a lovely way to distract our brains from the real world sometimes and I am so thankful every day for my little crafty space! Big hugs xx

Unknown said...

Stunning is the only word that comes to mind Loll!

Karen x

Carole said...

That card is jaw dropping gorgeous Loll. I'm sorry to hear that health issues are testing your stress level, but thanks for sharing. I am always inspired and delighted with your style. I agree that crafting is such a lovely way to distract our brains and find joy. Big hugs to you...

sandie said...

wow Loll, I LOVE this, when I saw it I was struck by how detailed the flower was but the whole card so CAS. Thank you for describing how you did this-truly amazing! Thanks for joining us at CAS-Colour and Sketches

Louise van Vuren said...

Awesome! Love love love that flower, so stunning! Thanks for sharing your amazing card with us at CAS Colours and Sketches

Louise xx

Darnell said...

This card is breath-taking. Almost ethereal, Lolly, like a thousand butterflies bursting into bloom! Me, in awe.

I'm glad to hear that you are stepping back and allowing yourself to have some "me" time with DH and your card creations. It fuels you up again, actually, so you have even more energy to care for and lift up those who need you.

Thank you, too, for your comments and support to me! xxoo Dolly

Jacqueline said...

Hi Loll, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this card I really wish I had this stamp so I could CASE it, you are a clever lady - take care and thanks for joining in our challenge this week at CAS - Colours and Sketches - Jacqueline xx

Susan said...

Loll, thank you so much for honouring me as Queen for the Day with a CASE of one of my cards. And I have to say you picked one of my favourites of my own cards - one that I was especially proud of. So I'm even happier to see it CASEd!

I'm glad to hear you are recognizing the need to have down-time to cope with all the stresses of the health issues in your family - I seem to remember you telling me to do the same last year when I debated cancelling a trip!!

We really will have to meet up one day and make cards together!

karen h said...

Wow - that was a lot of work! Such a beautiful result! Thanks for joining us at CAS Colours & Sketches!

Marlou McAlees said...

stunning card :) your colouring is perfection :) x

Bonnie said...

Oh, this is so pretty with all the dimension! Congratulations on your win at Inkspirational! That is a GORGEOUS card too!

nancy littrell said...

Wow Loll...absolutely stunning! I LOVE your gorgeous dimensional flower punched hydrangea. Now that is a lot of punching and well worth it. TFS

Gramma Sarah said...

Happy Valentine's Day Loll . . . just love this card - I use the stamp quite a bit too. Please, please take care of YOURSELF! Can you direct me to your tutorial on how you shape the small flowers? My attempts are not as soft!!! Thank you for all your wonderful cards . . . you make my day when you post. Sarah

Loll said...

Hi Sarah. Happy Valentine's Day to you too!! :) Sorry, I don't have an email address to answer your question, so I'm hoping you'll check back here for my reply. I don't have a tutorial on how to shape flowers but I will give it some thought and perhaps write one up when I have some time. Basically I use a stylus set and mat (various sizes of stylus are needed depending on the size of the petals). And then I used a circular motion of gently pressing the stylus into the flower petals to shape them. Loll xx

Colleen Dietrich said...

I hear the angels singing on this one, Loll! I adore hydrangeas (as evidenced by the photo at the top of my blog) and neutrals and purple...so this really struck me. Love it!

Thank you so much for the nice comments you have left for me lately, and being a follower of mine. I truly appreciate your visits!

sandie said...

Loll, I just wanted to say that I am so pleased you got the top 3 with this card as I so loved it!

lynda said...

I don't mean to copy everyone else who has commented, but I just have to tell you how much I like your card!