Inspire Me Monday: The Flower Bomb (that nearly bombed!)

 

WELCOME BACK FRIENDS! I'm here today with a project that almost didn't happen. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Yet somehow I'm here with a card that turned out just fine. 

OK - so first let me tell you the card. It features a detail from the Flower Bomb Digital Stamp with a sentiment from In Praise of Sunflowers (now retired). 

So right about now I would be telling you about the coloring video I created for you. Or I would be if the camera hadn't shifted the exposure so that all you could see was - well, nothing! So no process photos, no witty commentary on what I did, and no opportunity to dazzle you with my technique. Instead, here's the list of markers I used. 

Next problem -- the layout I had in mind just didn't work. The papers that I had selected didn't enhance the colored image and the whole thing just looked over engineered. Sometimes the card you see in your mind's eye is much better than reality. The original image that I colored was actually a bit bigger so I trimmed it down a bit and set off to create a simpler card design.

However, that involved trying to select a new set of design papers. I could have gone with a white background except that I used X-Press It paper for the image and it has a gray tinge that looks odd against really white paper. None (and I do mean none) of my solid card stock coordinated with the marker colors I used. The B60s are hard to match with cardstock so I thought it would be easier to coordinate greens and pinks for the background. 

I created a lovely stenciled background using a pale pink cardstock, a brocade stencil, and texture paste. But apparently there was a bit of black ink somewhere on the stencil that transferred into a portion of the paste so that area of the design was now dark gray. No worries! I applied white embossing powder and heat set it after the texture paste was fully dry. 

And voila! A beautiful background that STILL didn't work with my colored image. Back to the drawing board. Or more accurately, at this point, it was late in the evening so I just went to bed!

The next morning, now refreshed and renewed, I announced that I was going to my studio and would not emerge until I had a completed card. My loving husband decided to bring me a light breakfast for sustenance - an English muffin with strawberry jam. Breakfast also included a beverage which turned out to be sangria because my husband -- who doesn't drink -- thinks you can use it as a substitute when you're out of orange juice. And while I didn't drink the sangria, the ensuing laughter seemed to break my design block and a card finally emerged.

Notice that I found a purplish-blue paper for the background! And while it's not the card design that I started with, I think that it's now even better. Sometimes you just have to jump through ALL the hoops to get to where you need to be in the end.

Don't forget! If you are new to digital images, we've got you covered. Check out this DIGITAL TUTORIAL by Julie Koerber with creative tips for working with our digital images as well as this step-by-step tutorial by the Bloom Brigade’s Allison Cope for working with digital images using GIMP, a free downloadable photo-editing program. And I have a YouTube video showing show I use Microsoft Word to print out digital images.

Thanks for joining me today! Be sure you check out my Power Poppy coloring videos on YouTube.

Nancy