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Friday, July 06, 2012

Red, White & Blue

I'ts another glorious day here on the Westcoast.  Sun is shining and it's warm with a nice breeze.  Perfect day for being outside ... so why am I in my art studio??!!  I didn't have any time in the studio yesterday, and I just HAD to be here today.  :)

When I saw the challenge from SCS today - Free for All (F4A124 - Wood you like a challenge? ... include wood on your card), I immediately decided to make another window and flower box card, using my recent purchase of balsa wood.  I really struggled with this card.  Not sure why ... just sometimes things take a while to come together.  This card, for some strange reason, took me 2 1/2 hours to make ... not that cards don't take me that long or longer sometimes ... but I've made these window cards before, so it should have gone a lot faster.  I blame the curtains.  I do not sew!! ... but  I had to hand-stitch this ribbon so that the ends wouldn't fray ... and then do a gathering stitch (good thing I still remember my grade eight sewing class - the only year I took any instruction on sewing).  Then I fiddled and faddled with the curtains and the flowers for ages.  In the end, it looks pretty much the way it had an hour earlier when I first attached everything.  This card is also for the Color Throwdown Challenge (CTD199 - Tempting Turquoise, Crumb Cake, Real Red, Night of Navy) ... hopefully no one will notice I subbed Baja Breeze for the Tempting Turquoise ... and the window and box were Crumb Cake colored before I sponged them with white ...  :)


"Red, White and Blue"



Stamps:  Wish You Were Here (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Night of Navy, Baja Breeze striped DP, Certainly Celery, Real Red (SU!)
Ink:  Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Big Shot; Poppy Stamps dies (window, window box, wildflower patch), Leafy Branch die (C.C. Designs), 1" stitched Baja Breeze ribbon, crystal effects, mat, stylus, scoring tool, stamp-a-ma-jig, glue, adhesives, and dimensionals



Die-cut the window and box from balsa wood and then sponged with Whisper White ink.  Stamped the table and lamp onto the striped DP and then covered the lamp base with crystal effects.  Sewed the ends of the ribbon (to stop fraying) and then used a gathering stitch to gather the pleats.  Attached the curtain "topper" to the top inside fo the window.

Attached pieces of branches to the window box.  Die-cut the flowers in red, cut off the heads, shaped them with my stylus on a foam mat and glued them to the branches.

Used my Scor-Pal to add scoring every 1/2" on the Night of Navy card front ... to represent siding (sorry, doesn't show well in the photo).  Mounted all the pieces together, adding dimensionals between the striped DP and window frame.


8 comments:

  1. I'd say it was worth every minute you put into it! What a beautiful window scene! The white window really pops on the dark blue and your curtain and lamp in the window make it so warm and cozy!

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  2. This is beautiful. It's like your at a Laura Ashley design for a Bed & Breakfast Inn. xo, Marian

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  3. Awesome! love all the details! love it Loll!

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  4. This is so cute! I would never have thought of siding. What a great idea.

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  5. OMG! Love how this turned out. I like the dimension the balsa wood brings to the window. I'm not a sewer myself so I use that dandy No-Fray liquid product to keep the ends of my ribbons my fraying. Also touching a lit lighter or match to the end of the ribbons melts them (but you wouldn't use the flame with sheer ribbon).

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    1. Thanks for the tips ... I'll have to look into getting some of the no-fray liquid!! ... sounds much easier than sewing! :)

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  6. Fabulous! Love your gathered ribbon curtain topper inside the window! Thanks for joining us for this week's Color Throwdown.

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  7. Loll, you may have struggled, but the end result was certainly worth it...this is beautiful! So glad you were able to play along with us at Color Throwdown!

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