June 2016 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

I'm going to confess right off the get-go here that today's project for the June 2016 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop was a struggle for me in some ways.  As always, Nichole gave us a very interesting and thought provoking inspiration image. I originally tried to use the In Bloom Stamp Set for this project but I just wasn't happy with it.  I'm a little disappointed that I didn't come up with a new original design.  But this was a case of "don't fix it if it isn't broken".

Here's the image I'm talking about. Nichole talked about how much she loves this image; the colors, the layers, the movement and the softness of the colors. While my card doesn't mimic the shapes seen in the inspiration image, my personal feeling is that we have all of these elements in one of the newer stamp sets released at Papertrey Ink. I'm talking about Tulip Time, my all-time favorite stamp set so far.  I like lots of others but this set is totally swoon worthy and I haven't ever said that about another stamp set.

I don't know if it is even possible to have a stamp set anywhere that I like more although I hope Betsy Veldman continues to create others in this style.  It does take a little bit of effort since it is five layers just for the flowers plus any of the little extras you want to add in here like the butterflies, the sequins, the banner and the ombre effect of the die cut.  To me, these things portray that movement, the beautiful colors, and the softness that Nichole loved in the inspiration piece. The card front has been misted with shimmer spritz to help give that soft, gorgeous glow and the butterflies were given a touch of Wink of Stella before a 2nd layer was added to some of the elements with the help of embossing powder and Irresistibles.  I hope it's evident that I put a ton of thought into this and into all the little details. Even the basic card design is Betsy Veldman's from the latest release. Let's get on with the details!

I started by cutting the Noted: Scalloped A2 card base from Stampers Select White card stock. Using my MISTI, I positioned the first layer of the Tulip Time Stamps for the flowers onto the front half of the card base.  Since I have the Medium sized MISTI, the card base did fit with no problem.  I tried to do the first layer of color using Aqua Mist but I ended up using a pigment ink that I already had on hand for that layer.  It is a long discontinued color from Brilliance Archival Ink called Pearlized Jade. I actually stuck my finger directly onto the ink pad thinking it would be bone dry after all these years and when I saw the color, I decided I had to use it.  I hadn't really used this ink before and I have to say, I loved the fact that when you stamp with it, what you see is what you get. Dye Inks dry back a lot and settle into the paper and soften as they get completely dry.  Not so with Pigment Inks.

I know that in real life there are no tulips this color but that is one of the great things about art.  It doesn't have to imitate life "exactly" and is open to interpretation.  The 2nd layer of color for the blooms is done using Hawaiian Shores and the 3rd layer is Tropical Teal.  The leaves were stamped using Vintage Jadeite and New Leaf inks all from Papertrey Ink.

For the butterflies, I mounted those on small 1-inch acrylic blocks and stamped them by hand in the Jade as well.  I gave them a quick tap with Clear Wink of Stella.  The larger of the butterflies has a layer included in the stamp set so I stamped the second layer in Versamark and then I used a Versapen to create the 2nd layer for the smaller butterfly like the stamp in the set.  After that I sprinkled them with WOW! Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Powder and heat set it. This is an iridescent embossing powder that shimmers similar to Judikins Iridescent Sparkle.  I'm putting in a couple of extra pictures so that hopefully you can see the extra touches I added.

The banner is cut from Stampers Select White using the Paper Clippings: Happy Birthday Details die set.  I attached it with 4 foam squares done the center and two thin foam squares on each end.  "Grace" is from the new Inspired: Grace Die also by Betsy Veldman.  I love this font with it's classic and elegant style. Using a mini ink blending tool and the pearly Jade ink, I just kind of laid my finger across the top third or so of the die cut to give it that Ombre look and then went around the outside edge of the card front as well.  I attached the word die to the banner with Multi Medium Matte.  To finish up my card I scattered a few Darice Iridescent Crystal Sequins in the 5 mm and 8 mm size, attaching them with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. Even though the Multi Medium dries clear with a matte finish, it bugs me when the glue squeezes through the little hole in the center so I put a very tiny amount of Shimmer Irresistible Pico Embellisher on the inside of each sequin and set it aside to dry.  This is totally unnecessary but it makes me feel better.

Once I was sure that all the ink was dry, I spritzed the card front with Tsukineko Sparkling Sheer Shimmer Spritz, which is my favorite.  I use a gold spritz once in a while, but this one is my "go to" because it works with any color.  It's not that great on dark colored paper, but I don't use dark colors too often so I work it out. You can easily see it on my card although not so much in my photos. *Ü*

Be sure to stop over at the Papertrey Ink June 2016 Blog Hop to see everyone's interpretations of the inspiration piece.

I'll also be entering this over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for the "Add some Shimmer" challenge.  Thanks for stopping by today and I truly enjoy and treasure each and every comment you leave for me.  Have a great weekend everyone!