Reclaiming My Mojo

I can not believe it has been nearly six weeks since my last post and the summer is nearly gone. Time does not fly. On a slow day it careens past us at breakneck speed . At other times it moves so quickly it can not be seen by the naked eye. And yet it happens every day. That must explain why I look in the mirror and don't recognize the woman who looks like my mother and wonder what happened to the real me.

In the meantime I've been very busy with my garden, which always brings me great joy, and I've been trying to get back into a crafting groove. To that end I have been creating cards as well as some little embellishments. One of the recurring motifs of this summer has been the dragonfly. I have never seen so many dragonflies in my garden as I have seen this year. They are unsurpassed in number and size as evidenced by the photo of a huge dragonfly that visited me last month (Beautiful colors on the body, don't you think?). I love the look of dragonflies and in the past have purchased rubber stamps and embellishments of dragonflies to use in my crafting. This time I thought I would try my hand and creating my own little dragonflies embellishments. Using a paper punch, I punch out several dragonflies from acetate and colored the wings with Stazon solvent ink. I punched out more dragonflies from card stock, cut off the wings and colored details onto the bodies with gel pens. Then I glued the paper bodies onto the acetate dragonflies and bent the wings up at a slight angle. Voila! Little dragonflies that measure only one inch square.



I also created a card for an upcoming challenge card swap with Oriental Stamp Art Yahoo Group. The challenge was to create a card with only the colors black and turquoise. I love limited color challenges so I signed up and created the card you see below. I stamped the envelope with watermark ink and dusted it with blue-green pigment powder. The subtle sheen changes from blue to green as you move the image in the light.





In a departure from the standard A2 sized cards (4.25 x 5.5 inches) I usually make, I have begun using a smaller 3.5 x 5 inch format which lends itself very well to a quick and informal kind of note. It so happens I have a box of blank cards waiting for embellishment so when the mood strikes me, I just grab one or more and I can start crafting. The other two cards on this page were the result of these creative urges. In both cases I used items from my stash of supplies that been seldom used in the past so I'm starting to rediscover the treasures hiding in my drawers and closets.

My intention is to continue on this creative bent and get back to the level I had reached a few years ago. It was a fulfilling, joyful and magical time for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Really now, who wouldn't like a little more joy and magic in their lives? I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Ballo ergo sum

- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Respect Mother Earth card tutorial

(Note: Click on an image for a larger view)

The layout used to create the Respect Mother Earth card featured in my last blog post is a simple and versatile one that can be adapted to a multitude of occasions. The instructions below will show you how to create the card I made. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is negotiable and there's no reason why you can't change the color scheme, the image, the sentiment or anything else. The details are up to you. Use this as a jumping off point and make it your own.

Materials list:
- One A2 size card or an 8-1/2" X 5-1/2" piece of cardstock folded in half (card base)
- 2" X 5-1/4" piece of white cardstock cut with deckled edge scissors or rotary cutter on the long edges
- 2-1/4" X 5-1/4" piece of dark green cardstock
- A small piece of dark green cardstock (approx. 3" X 3")
- A small piece of medium green cardstock (approx. 3" X 3")
- 12 inch length of 1/2" wide gold-edged green ribbon
- Nestabilities Oval and Scalloped Oval dies
- Gold paint marker
- Three shades of green dye ink (light, medium, and dark)
- Gold pigment ink
- Gold or clear embossing powder
- Craft heat tool
- Gold Dragonfly brad
- Acrylic stamps as follows:
Tree: Inkadinkado Holiday Silhouettes #97289;
Flourish: Inkadinkado Flourishes #97618;
Sentiment: Stampology clear stamps Who Cares? #AL3457

Instructions:
1. Randomly stamp the tree image across the white strip of cardstock, working first with the lightest shade of green before moving on to the next shade.

2. Run the gold marker across the long edges of the white and dark green cardstock.

3. Center the white CS onto the green CS and adhere, making sure the short edges are aligned.

4. From the length of ribbon, cut it in two with one piece measuring about 6-1/2" long. Wrap and knot the shorter piece of ribbon around the longer piece of ribbon. Arrange the tails in a pleasing manner and trim them at an angle, making sure the knot is about 1/3 of the way down from one end. Adhere this ribbon to the bottom of the tree strip, tucking the ends behind and making sure the knot is approximately in the middle between the center and left edge of the card.

5. With the Flourish stamp and the darkest shade of green ink, stamp the image twice on the left side of the card front, at the top edge and the bottom edge. Center and adhere the tree panel to the card front. This will cover any gaps or overlaps in the stamping and all you see are the swirls peeking out above and below.

6. Use your sentiment stamp to determine the proper size oval die to use and cut one oval from the medium green CS. Cut the corresponding scalloped oval from the dark green cardstock.

7. Carefully stamp and emboss the sentiment in the center of the oval with gold pigment ink and embossing powder. Run gold paint marker around the edge. Center and adhere oval to the scalloped oval.

8. Determine where on the oval you want to place the dragonfly brad and punch a hole in the appropriate place. After adding the brad and spreading the "legs" apart to hold it in place, push down on it against the tabletop with your finger to get it to lie as flat as possible.

9. Adhere the sentiment oval onto the card, centering it on the ribbon and placing it on the right hand side of the card.

Your card is done! Sign it, photograph it and send it to some lucky person.

Happy crafting!

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Shimmering Dragonflies Tutorial

(Note: Click on an image for a larger view)

This card began as simply playing around with some new stamps and liquid watercolors and ended up as a deliberate attempt to reach out to a daughter struggling with the rigors of raising a rambunctious and challenging boy. You can read the background story here.

Materials:

- Dragonfly stamp: Stamp Zia,
- Stamp Zia Color Wash Jewels liquid watercolor sprays (assorted colors)
- Black Staz-On ink,
- Watercolor paper
- AquaFlo pen filled with bleach (or a small paintbrush and a small dish of bleach)
- Dark green cardstock (for mat)
- Watercolor pencils and gel pens
- Versamark embossing pen and clear embossing powder
- Base cardstock: Astrobrights Glisten pearlescent cardstock in Re-entry Red.
- Peel and stick flowers: Petaloo Fun Flowers collection
- Copper dragonfly brads
- Epoxy sentiment: Sticko Bookworks by EK Success
- Narrow sheer white ribbon layered onto slightly wider gold ribbon,
- White vellum
- Rotary cutter or fancy edge scissors
- Tape runner and/or spray adhesive
- Gold paint pen

The background was created by randomly spraying Color Wash Jewels over a large sheet of watercolor paper. Colors used were Blue Topaz (blue), Ruby (red), Emerald (Green), Citron (yellow), and Tanzanite (purple). The background was then cut down into smaller pieces suitable for background use, in this case 5" by 3.75". The edge was gilded and the background was randomly dotted with the gold paint pen.

Dragonflies were stamped onto the background with black Staz-On ink. The inside of the stamped area was then brushed with bleach to remove the color. Watercolor pencils were used to color the image as desired.

After coloring, entire image was gone over with a Versamark embossing pen and embossed with clear EP. This really makes the colors pop. When EP cooled, this process was repeated to produce a smooth, satiny finish over the image.

Cut a piece of vellum slightly longer than the width of the background and approximately three times the width of the ribbons using a rotary cutter with a fancy edge blade (I used Fiskars Victorian blade) or a scissor with a decorative edge. I did not use any specific measurements here--just judged by eye. Gild the edges with the gold paint pen.

Cut the layered ribbons to the same length as the vellum and adhere them across the center. Adhere the vellum/ribbon layer close to the bottom edge of the card as in the photo. I used spray adhesive because it is invisible under the vellum and will hold well on the watercolor paper. I have noticed that sometimes it is more difficult to get things to stick on a watercolored background.

Trim the ends of the vellum/ribbon layer flush with the edge of the background layer and mount it in the center of a piece of dark green cardstock that was cut 1/4 inch larger all around than the background layer.

Arrange the flowers as desired, choosing colors that accent those used in the dragonfly stamp. Add an epoxy greeting and a couple of dragonfly brads and your cardfront is complete.

Cut pearlescent red cardstock to 8.5" by 5.5" and fold in half to create a 5.5" by 4.25" (A2 size)card base. Center the cardfront onto the card base and you're done.

**Dragonfly Symbology
The dragonfly lets us see past the illusion, letting light in so that we can see what we need to see to make our lives better. When we've tricked ourselves into believing that the limitations of physical existence prevent us from changing and growing, dragonfly medicine teaches us to pierce our self-created illusions. The dragonfly reminds us to let our colors shine by using the light within.
** taken from The Earth Angel Connection

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva