Thursday 31 March 2016

Cactus Birthday

I've had the last couple off days of work with the intention of doing some stamping for fun and wouldn't you know it, I had no mojo!  Always the way!  Anyway, I managed to squeeze out one card that meets a few challenges.  I'm so happy to be playing along at The Paper Players this week.  Due to the time difference and the timings of the challenges, I only get the chance to play along when I'm not working.  I combined that challenge with the inspiration pic at Inspired by All the Little Things and Seize the Birthday.  Ironically, the Toppings option is Water and I've chosen cacti for my card :)  Fair to say, I'm not playing along with the Toppings this week!


I definitely wanted to use my Sweet Succulents set so colored up some of the images before putting my mind to how I was going to use the sketch.  After to-ing and fro-ing several times, I decided to stick with neutral panels for the background and sentiment so the succulents pop off the page.  I die-cut panels using Slate, Smoke and Fog cardstock and the Horizontal Stitched Strips dies.  The sentiment was white embossed on a stitched flag.

The cacti in the grey pot is adhered directly to the card base and the brown potted one is popped up on foam tape.  Both cacti have been painted with clear Wink of Stella for some shimmer.


And, more for my own reference, I've taken a photo of the Copic markers I used.  That way, if I want to re-create the look, at least I'll know what colors I used!



Thanks for visiting.




Products used:

Stamps:  Sweet Succulents (MFT)
Ink:  Black Licorice Hybrid, Versamark
Cardstock:  White, Smoke, Slate, Fog, Black, X-Press It
Dies:  Sweet Succulents, Horizontal Stitched Strips, Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax (MFT)
Accessories:  Copics, White EP, Wink of Stella

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Paper Players and Inspired By.

15 comments:

Linda Callahan said...

Very stylish!

Nancy Penir said...

Your cacti is coloored brilliantly! Love the neutral panels too! Lovely card design, Karren!

Claire Broadwater said...

I love this Karren! Such gorgeous coloring and the neutral palette is perfect! So happy you joined us at The Paper Players this week! XX

Marika said...

You know, I love the shades of grey! Love this!

Hannelie said...

Fantastic take on the sketch Karren!!! Thanks for joining the Paper Players!

Susanne Vargas said...

This is fabulous! Beautiful coloring and the neutral panels were a great choice! They make the cacti pop!

Rosemary said...

another gorgeous card... your coloring is perfection!

Tracey McNeely said...

Karren your cacti are coloured perfectly! I love that I can see the WOS and your blending is perfect. Great idea to photograph the Copics for a point of reference for you and for us. Thank you for sharing with us at Inspired by All the Little Things!

Jan Clothier said...

What a beautiful card! The lovely monochromatic background pops those plants right off the page!

LeAnne said...

This is awesome...your coloring is superb, as usual!!! Great little cacti, they're so cute, and your stitched panels are amazing! Thanks for playing with my sketch this week!

Joanne James - The Crafty Owl said...

I love it Karen - the cacti really do pop against the neutrals. Hope your mojo returned and you got to enjoy your well-deserved break. Thanks for joining us over at The Paper Players this week!

Sheri Gilson said...

Awesome card! Love how the cacti pops off the neutral background! Thank you so much for joining us at Inspired by All the Little Things!

Colleen said...

Stunning card, love the three stripes of grays ...the black embossed sentiment is a perfect finishing touch to ground your potted plants!! Thank you for joining us at STB!

Glenda J said...

Love this CAS design. The colours and colouring are perfect. Thanks for playing along with Seize the Birthday.

Petra Swart said...

Love, love, LOVE this, Karren!!!! A lot of elements but still wonderfully CAS!!!! Love the greys and black with the soft colouring of the cactusses!!!! Really beautiful!!!