Dahlia Up Close

How about something totally different?

Come on now, admit it. Even if you are a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, you have one or two other craft products lying around that you use from time to time! Let's face it–we are crafty individuals or we would never have got involved with Stampin' Up! in the first place!

I have soooooooooooooo many crafting tools and media that sometimes I have to take a break from crafting with Stampin' Up! to play with my other stuff! Or, I combine it with Stampin' Up! to get the best of BOTH worlds like I have done with this card!

Today's card is one I created for my brother and his wife for their anniversary. It is CASEd from a card by Jenny Lee Yamasaki.

I started by stamping the Dahlia Up Close stamp from The Ton on watercolor paper using Versamark using my MISTI after first using my Embossing Buddy. I then heat embossed it with Rose Gold Embossing Powder.

Next, I gathered together a few of my Color Burst colors in blue: Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Indigo and Turquoise. I tapped a little of each powder in a watercolor palette I had and then wet a #4 watercolor brush and dipped into the Cerulean Powder and changed it to liquid watercolor.

I painted this over most of the flower and then, painting spots of each of the other colors, I added strategically to the image until I was pleased with the result. Sometimes, I used a paper towel to blot up some of the watercolor to make it paler. When I was finished, I heat set the image.

The next step is where I made a mistake but due to using my MISTI I was able to rectify it. After watercoloring and then drying my image, the watercolor paper was severely warped. I wanted to get it as flat as possible before adding it to my card front. To do this, I placed it face down on a piece of copy paper with another piece of copy paper on top and then an old pillowcase. I then proceeded to iron until the watercolor paper was flat.

I did end up with a flat paper, however, the ironing reheated my embossing and transferred it to the copy paper leaving behind a white outline where the embossing had been! Now this is actually a technique in itself and can be used to good effect but for this image I WANTED the Rose Gold embossing in place!

So, I went back to my MISTI and after using my Embossing Buddy, I re-inked the image with Versamark and heat embossed it AGAIN! Luckily, my stamp had remained in place in my MISTI and I was able to re-stamp the image. I was very careful to warm up the heat tool for awhile before doing the embossing to minimize warping.

Next, I cut a Pacific Point card front 4.75 x 6. I trimmed my painted matte to fit the card front but leave about a 3/4" strip of card front on the left side. I placed a strip of Burnished Rose Gold Foil Tape down the card front and then trimmed off the excess.

On a strip of vellum I stamped the sentiment from the Falling For You stamp set using Versamark and heat embossed it with the same Rose Gold embossing powder. I folded the strip around the edges of the painted matte and then taped the ends to the back. The matte was then adhered to the card front using Fast Fuse. To add a little more zing, several sequins were adhered to the card front using liquid adhesive.

A watercolor matte was cut for inside the card and the matching sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on it. I then used sponges to ink the edges in both Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point. The matte was then adhered with Fast Fuse to complete the card.

Delighted is how I feel about how this card turned out! I have never "painted" with the Color Bursts before so it was a learning experience but one that ended well for me! I can't wait to give this to my brother and his wife to see their reaction!

I hope you have enjoyed my deviation from projects made strictly with Stampin' Up! materials! I think that we can only become more creative by exploring all brands of media and by appreciating the resulting art forms.

Thank you for visiting today!