Healing Myself through Art

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It happened again. My husband brought home a bug and infected everyone in the house. He got over it in a few days. I, on the other hand, have been feeling lousy for a week. Although I'm grateful that I have no coughing, little sneezing and no fever, the lethargy I am experiencing is awful. Normally I am an energetic person with a hundred and one things to do and a hundred more that I want to do. When I'm feeling this dragged out and blecchh, I do only those things  that comfort me and for me that's art.

 I completed these two cards this week. The pink and black card is for a Black and One Color swap and will go to one of my fellow Oriental Stamp Art members who lives in Australia. The layout is simple and clean and contains many of the elements I love most - high contrast, silhouettes and just a touch of bling.

The blue monochromatic treescape was made as a thank you card for our upstate neighbor who has been like a godfather to us, helping us out with just about anything we needed with the house we have purchased up the road from him. The bare trees remind me of the mountains that surround us in upstate New York. In my last post, I posted a photo of the first area snowfall as seen from the deck of our home and served as the inspiration for the card. It is a one layer card created with masking and sponging techniques as well and multiple stamping to create the forest. Again, it is simple in its layout but conveys a sense of serenity and calm. It also is suitable for a man, something that I struggle with most times because I love using more feminine touches.

These two cards, along with massive amounts of chicken soup and rest, have been my medicine. No doctor visit, no prescriptions and no co-pay. Can't beat that.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Making The Time To Play

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As I mentioned in my last post, I was under the weather and feeling really bad but started feeling a bit better once I made the effort to be a little creative. I decided to take some more of the same medicine and made another card and, by george, it worked again! There were a few scraps and things lying around on my craft table leftover from a recent OSA Crane Swap I entered. After staring at them for what seemed like an eternity, I ran with a simple idea and created this card. It's really very simple compared to the anniversary card I made last week. Strong, contrasting colors and simple clean lines are what this card is about.

The first thing that draws the eye is the ornate border element on the left, cut with Spellbinders Persian Accents die set. Some of the open spaces in the motif were accented with red card stock creating a bold color statement. The left edge of the design was also built up with the edge of the black card stock leftover from cutting the border design. I simply cut a very thin strip from this waste paper, matched its cut edge to the border motif and left a narrow space between them. A narrow strip of red card stock highlights the open spaces in the design as well as the narrow gap. The red accents in the rest of the design were created by punching red circles and red tear drops with a hand held punch and gluing them behind the openings. This was the fussiest part of creating this card yet it was the part I enjoyed most. The crane and verse stamps came from the Birds of the Orient 2014 clear stamp set from Mark's Finest Papers and Stamps.

To accomplish the text in different colors, I inked the stamp in Versafine Onyx Black ink, wiped off the ink from the word I wanted to highlight with a cotton swab, then colored the word with a Dee Gruenig brush marker and stamped. Please note: although the verse is seen in two parts on this card, it is actually one stamp. I masked out the part I didn't want to stamp, inked it up, removed the mask and stamped. In this way I was able to get double duty out of one stamp.

Guess I'll have to keep taking doses of creativity to stay healthy. I can do that. :)


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Staying on the Good Foot

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I've been trying hard to keep up with the weekly Card Layout Challenges sponsored by the Oriental Stamp Arts Yahoo Group I belong to but the demands of my job are leaving me with little time and energy for fun things like crafting. I did  manage to complete challenges #171 (top) and #172 (bottom). As always, my style is simple and clean. With images that represent the Asian cultures I believe this is the best approach. I love the simple elegance of Asian motifs so I tend to keep the elements somewhat spare to allow the natural beauty to be seen.

OSA Challenge #17

Challenge #171 required the use of three squares of different sizes to be placed slightly off center with an embellishment of some sort across the top of the card. As I suspected, most participants in the challenge either used three squares of differently patterned paper or stamped three different images on each square. I chose to keep it simple, using a small yellow-green polka dot pattern paper and sponging a slightly darker shade of green ink around the edges of the three squares before arranging them. Then I stamped one image over the three squares. Of course the image did not stamp cleanly, leaving little gaps where the papers overlapped, so I filled in the gaps with a black marker. The swirled background and bamboo branches along the left edge were all stamped with various shades of green. In spite of the multiple patterns on the paper, the overall composition looks light and airy due to its pale monochomatic scheme.

OSA Challenge #172

For the layout in Challenge #172, I turned it on its side and used it in a portrait orientation instead of the original landscape orientation. Again the use of colors is minimal -- black, creamy white and a vintage beige. The background is a piece of pattern  paper that looks like an old Chinese newspaper. The layout required a panel with a verse or sentiment and an embellishment that was anything BUT paper. I chose narrow satin ribbons in black and creamy white and knotted them together in a simple yet interesting way to really play up the contrast of the ribbons against the background and against each other. The kanji symbols in the text box are actually three small stamps that I placed side by side, held together tightly and stamped them all at the same time. I sponged Distress Ink (color - Old paper) which perfectly matched the look of the background around the edges of the white panel and also around the background panel for a subtle effect. The wispy little branch stamp was embossed with superfine embossing powder to make the color really vibrant and contrast strongly against the patterned background. In spite of the strong contrasts, nothing in this layout is overpowering. Everything seems to be working together in perfect balance and harmony.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Bold Contrast, Geometric Lines and a Dash of Asian Flavor

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As I mentioned in my last post, I have been making Asian-influenced cards for Mother's Day and I promised to give the details on how I created the card on this page. Here's the scoop:

Materials:
1. White A2 sized card (4.25" by 5.5" folded);
2. 1 sheet glossy black cardstock;
3. 1 pc Asian motif patterned paper measuring 4.25" x 5.5";
4. 1 pc gold paper measuring 3.5" x 4.75";
5. 1 pc Asian motif patterned paper measuring at least 4" x 5" (for one oval);
6. 1 pc white cardstock measuring at least 4" x 5" (for one oval);
7. 1 set EvoTemplates Ovals;
8. Stamp images of your choice. I used an iris stamp and a butterfly stamp;
9. VersaMark embossing pen;
10. Clear embossing powder;
11. Heat gun;
12. Pale dye ink to coordinate with your paper (I used Whisper Designer Ink in Tulip Yellow);
13. Ruler and a sharp craft knife;
14. Markers or your choice of coloring medium;
15. Clear spray sealer (I used Krylon Clear Finish);
16. Adhesive of your choice (I use 3M 77 spray adhesive but a strong double stick tape or quality glue stick should do the trick.)

The following items are optional:
- Two dragonfly brads or embellishments of your choice;
- Versamark ink pad
- Aztec Gold PearlEx pigment powder
- Repositionable tape

Directions:
1. Place the 4.25" x 5.5" of patterned paper on the face of the white card. Glue in place, trim if necessary and set aside for now.

2. Cut a 3.75" x 5" piece of glossy black cardstock. Set aside.

3. Cut a 3.5" x 4.75" piece of gold paper. Set aside.

4. Using the fifth largest oval (from smallest to largest) in the EvoTemplates set, cut out two from black glossy CS, one from white CS and one from the patterned paper. (FYI - this oval measures 3.5" x 4.5").

5. Measure and cut three inches from the end of the two black ovals and the one patterned oval. Remove and discard the smaller ends.

6. Measure and cut 2.5 inches from the end of the white CS oval. Remove and discard the smaller ends.

7. Stamp your images on the cut white oval and color in your choice of medium. (I used Prismacolor permanent markers because they will not bleed in the next step.)

8. Go over your stamped image with a Versamark embossing pen. (If you used a coloring medium that is not permanent and colorfast, spray first with clear sealer and allow to dry before using the Versamark pen.) Emboss using clear embossing powder and the heat gun. I find this really makes the colors pop.

9. Lightly sponge over the exposed white cardstock with the pale dye ink, being careful not to cover the white completely. You just want a hint of color.

10. Optional Step: Lightly sponge on Versamark ink over the yellow ink then very lightly dust with gold PearlEx powder to give it a faint shimmer.

11. Using a clean paper towel or rag, carefully wipe off the embossed areas to remove any excess ink and/or PearlEx. Spray with clear sealer.

12. Now to assemble the concentric oval sandwich. Things can get a little tricky here. First align the flat edges of the stamped white cardstock and one of the black ovals. The black should extend about a half inch beyond the white. Glue them together.

13. Align these two pieces with the edge of the cut piece of gold paper but do not glue down. (Optional Step: Use a small piece of repositionable tape at the flat edge to hold them in place while you arrange the other two pieces.)

14. Slide the other two pieces underneath the first two and arrange as in the photo being sure to alternate the papers to create the contrasting effect. They should all extend out from each other approximately a half inch. You can fiddle with this a bit if you prefer.

15. When you've got these last pieces placed where you want them, hold them in place and remove the black and white layer. Make a pencil mark along the flat edge of the patterned layer. Remove it and do the same with the last black layer. Now that you have marked their positions, you can adhere them into place in the proper order, starting with the black oval on the right and working your way back to the left. Turn it over and check to see that the ovals lie within the edges of the gold paper. If not, carefully trim the edges.

16. Center this "sandwich" on top of the previously cut 3.75" x 5" piece of glossy black cardstock and glue.

17. Optional Step: If you want to add embellishments, this is the time. I added two copper dragonfly brads, angling them for visual interest. By adding them at this point, the prongs do not show in the finished piece.

18. Center and glue the assembled pieces on the card with the patterned front that you set aside at the very beginning.

That's it. You're done. Step back and admire your creation.

Some ideas:
- Although I prefer the bold contrast that black offers, this design would work well with a coordinated palette of colors for a subtler contrast.

- If you substitute glossy white cardstock for matte cardstock, after you have completed embossing your image you can ink or brayer the background in the style of Michelle Zindorf. Check out her blog if you're not familiar with the work of this fabulous artist.

- I don't use Nestabilities dies so I'm unfamiliar with the sizes available but I imagine that those could be used to cut the ovals (either simple edge or scalloped). The size of the base rectangles may have to be adjusted to fit those ovals.

- With some further adjustments, this design could be used to create a "booklet" type card with each oval opening as an individual page. Just imagine flipping each oval and revealing a line of Haiku on each page

Did you like this project? Then show me what you've got. Email me at gypsiwoman55@yahoo.com with your creation and your work could be featured on my blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Ballo ergo sum,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva