This weekend my focus was to catch up on swaps, design projects for upcoming classes (lots of big events coming my way) and do a little stamping from ideas stored in my head. In fact, here is one of those ideas. This card uses the beautiful Baroque background stamp. I ordered this because I thought it had lots of possibilities with it's bold design.
The first thing that came to mind was using it several times to replicate velvet wallpaper. You know, the wallpaper that one finds in an old Victorian home. The problem is how do I get those bold images to look and feel like velvet? Hum. Flocking is an option; unfortunately I don't have black, nor do I have the patience to look for it online much less wait for it to come in. Looks like my velvet card idea is out! Sooooooooo, I decided to simply stamp with a Black Staz-on dye pad onto Pumpkin cardstock and again on a peice of acetate. The acetate is raised with dimensionals in select spots (obviously under the solid black images).
I went back and forth as to whether or not to add more to this. A mini bow would look great (if it was velvet). Nope...covered to much of the bold images I wanted to show off. So, I settled for simple black brads.
Oddly, the Staz-on made gaps on the acetate where the ink did not cover; so I took a watercolor brush and a bottle of Staz-on reinker and simply filled the gaps.
Here's the final result. What do you think?
In between making cards and swaps I decided to take a little break and water the glorious garden I spent 4 weeks in Spring preparing. Well, it WAS glorious, before the heat of July and August arrived. This is the 2nd year we tried a vegetable/fruit garden. Can you guess what this was supposed to be?
It's a cantelope! Yep, that's what it is. I cropped part of the photo where the fruit looked bad (yes...it looks WORSE than this).
Leaves were falling everywhere with Fall approaching. As I watered one garden in the back yard a twig fell on top of my shoulder. I kept watering figuring the movement of my arm with the hose would make it fall, but no. I turned around to brush it off myself to find it wasn't a branch at all!!! It was THIS..........
ACK!
I ran around shaking my shirt and screaming. The dog was completely confused! This thing would NOT shake loose. It's feet were stuck to my shirt and it would not budge. Finally I finger plucked him off from underneath my shirt (becuase I was NOT touching it). He plopped loose and fell at the tree base.
Yuck! That's when I decided to get back to my stamping room. I'd rather deal with rubber locust than the real thing.
2 comments:
First, thanks for the chuckle. I think my reaction to the locust would have been the same as yours! Yuk!
Loved the card, though -- it is pretty online, I bet it is even better IRL!
Pat
http://www.patstamps.blogspot.com
My three year old granddaughter would consider you lucky to have seen this cicada up close and personal. She would also tell you,"Iss won't hurt you, iss only cicada bug. That is a katydid, if you don't know." She will then tell you, "Those little fellers are what makes the pretty music at night when it is hot!"
We go out at night, each armed with our flashlight, to hunt them down! Not to hurt them, but to watch them climb up something (usually a tree) and then break out of their shells. After they break out of their shells they climb onto the back of the shell and hold on tight!
She would also tell you that they have to hurry to get out of their shells and get their wings opened all the way so they will dry. If they don't get them opened and spread out before they start drying they won't be able to fly and will die.
I will gladly send you some of her collection of the empty brown shells that she plucks from the trees. She keeps them in a little container - we have had some for over 2 years - and she shows them to anyone who will take the time to listen to her.
We have also found 2 that are full grown (like the one in your picture) but have died. I believe they are so hard to find because birds and such eat them. Sorry for the science lesson - I just couldn't resist. None the less, she has to keep her collection at our house since Mommy won't let her bring them home.
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