Hello and welcome to Inspiration in Action and my Tuesday blog feature, Takin' It To the Top! Each week (well, most week's) I do three cards with the same basic layout, colors and Stamp sets and I show you how you can take your artwork from basic to beyond. It's truly amazing what a few extra layers, ink, texture and embellishments can do. So, with that said, let's Take it to the Top!
Here's the first, basic card. I've used a color scheme of Real Red, Only Orange, Glorious Green and Whisper White. I don't often use colors from the Bold Brights Color family and it's even rarer to use more than one color from that color family. But I think, because this winter keeps dragging on and has been so full of dreary days, that I am so ready for spring I'm jumping at the chance to use color ... and lots of it!
I do love the look of Only Orange and Real Red together and the Glorious Green seems like a great choice for an accent color.
I love this single stem poppy flower from the Bloomin' Beautiful stamp set. I've colored this one with inks and Blender Pens and love the way you can blend from one color to another with this technique. I used a bit of 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain ribbon and the Curly Label Punch and Curly Label Die (with the Big Shot and the Movers & Shapers Die). The sentiment is from the Sale-a-Bration set, Whimsical Words and was stamped with Black Stazon Ink.
Okay, let's take it up a notch ...
Here is the second, more intermediate version of today's card.
As you can see, I've added an additional layer to the cardbase, adding in some Glorious Green.
I've changed out the ribbon to 5/8" Satin in Real Red.
I added some light sponging with Real Red ink around the perimeter of the stamped floral piece.
And that's it ... a few simple changes can make quite a difference, don't you agree?
Alright, let's take it up another step ...
Here's the final version.
Look at the texture that I added using the Big Shot and the Finial Press Impressions Folder? And then to bring it out even more, I did some light sponging around the edges.
I added another two layers with the definition piece added behind the floral layers.
I framed the floral image using the Scallop Trim Border and Corner Punches. See my tutorial HERE for how to easily cut squares and rectangles using these two punches together.
And look what I did to the flower? After watercoloring it, as I did for the first two cards, I painted over it with Champaign Mist Shimmer Paint and a small paint brush. It gives it a lovely luster and shimmer in real life (you might be able to see it better by clicking on the photo to enlarge it).
So there you go. Three cards -- all using the same basic layout and materials, but adding a little bit each time to Take it to the Top!
So, how are you going to change your stamping this week to step-things-up a bit?
I can't wait to see!
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