Life is A Canvas

I know we all watch technique videos - at least all of the stampers I know personally do.  This weekend I watched a technique video  with Ken Oliver using his Color Burst products.  And I watched another video about using a "word" with interesting fonts to create a background.  After that my mind began to whirl!  Does that ever happen to you?  I had company tonight for dinner so I couldn't act on what my mind was twirling around.   But after they left I tidied up and then went to work on my what my mind was creating.

I chose to use a Technique Junkies Palenttini stamp Life is a Canvas -  http://techniquejunkies.com/life-is-a-canvas/  .   I stamped in the middle of the card front and at an angle.    I learned long ago that when you want to be sure that no one tell if something is stamped perfectly straight or not, it is best to stamp it at an angle.  It helps to fool the eye and it adds visual interest to the card.  So the entire background of the front panel is stamped with this stamp.   So I chose one of the stencils from A Colorful Life -  http://techniquejunkies.com/a-colorful-life-stencils/.  I taped it down on scrap paper so it wouldn't move.  I then spritzed it with four different colors of Color Burst over the stencil. Then I spritzed it all with water.  Because the Color Burst was also on top of the stencil I didn't want to waste that beautiful color!  So I laid another piece of white card stock on top of the stencil and covered it with a paper towel.  So I now have a second piece of card stock to do something with.  I carefully peeled back the stencil and there was an interesting colorful Chevron pattern over the words of the stamp.  I thought it was cool!

I felt this needed a focal image in top of this background , but what?  I felt it needed to be sort of whimsical but what stamp to use?  So I just started looking at the collection of  individual stamps I have. I came across this giraffe  called Stand Tall - http://techniquejunkies.com/stand-tall/ . I chose not to use the words on the stamp. I cut them off with a clean cut so I can insert them again on an acrylic block so I can use them when I want to do so. I first inked up the stamp with Versamark, then I tapped the stamp with colors here and there until all of the giraffes with inked up with a variety of colors - the colors are similar to what I used from the Color Burst through the stencil. Then because there was Versamark underneath the dye based ink  I could cover it clear embossing powder and heat set -- so I did!   I loved seeing the vivid colors really "pop" with the heat embossing.  The giraffe focal image is popped up with foam tape.

Layers, a ribbon, and a tag embellishment finish the card. I hope you were challenged to do something new to you today.  So Have a great day and get inky!

Judy Jackson