Welcome to Wednesday at The Classic Card!
The snow we had was a great excuse to put life on "pause" and relax for a few days, wasn't it? I enjoyed a break from the usual go-go-go and I hope you did too. I even read a couple of books and did more cooking than I really cared to do. Since we tend to go out for dinner a couple of times a week, I had forgotten what a chore cooking every night can be. I know--- I'm spoiled! Actually I was very grateful that we had plenty of food in the house and that our power didn't go out. That was a huge blessing. But now that the snow is gone, I'm "back in the saddle again," working on several classes for your stamping edification and enjoyment. No complaints here... it's what I love to do. I spent the whole afternoon yesterday in the stamp room, dreaming up projects for my latest series of classes-- Tools of the Trade. The first class will be on Sunday, Feb. 23rd at 1:30 at my house and the focus will be on the Simply Scored Scoring Tool (page 178 of the annual catalog). I know that many of my customers purchased this, but I'm pretty sure that many are using it for scoring card stock down the center to create a nice fold for a card. There are so many great projects you can make with this great tool and I'll be showing 3 of them at the class.
Today's card was one that I had planned to do at the watercolor class on March 1st, but I've changed my mind and we'll be doing a different technique instead. I still love this card and I especially love the sentiment, so thought I'd share it with you today. Take a look...
I started with a piece of Watercolor paper (page 156 of the annual catalog). Using an aqua-painter I washed some Soft Sky ink onto the paper with plenty of water. Then toward the bottom of the paper, I painted on some Soft Suede ink to ground the tree, from the Look Up to Father single stamp on page 37 of the Occasions catalog. Before adhering the stamp to the wood block, I very carefully cut off the sentiment. I can use the sentiment on a clear block if I want. I stamped the tree image on top of my color-washed panel with Staz-On Jet Black ink, then colored it with Always Artichoke ink and my aqua-painter. I used Soft Suede ink for the tree trunk and branches.
The sentiment "Life doesn't have to be perfect to be wonderful" is such a great thought. And you know what... cards don't have to be perfect to be wonderful either! And that's a very good thing because most of my cards aren't perfect. I'll be working along and everything will be great and then suddenly it all goes south because I've stamped something crooked. I'm willing to bet that you've experienced the same thing more than once. When things go wrong, this is a great thought to keep in mind. I'm very grateful for my wonderful, but not perfect, life! That sentiment can be found in the new Perfect Pennants Stamp set on page 27 of the Occasions catalog.
I thought the focal panel needed a little something to set it apart from the Soft Sky background, so I cut a mat from Early Espresso and tore the bottom of it for a rough-textured look. I wrapped the panel with some linen thread, which adds more texture. I ran the Soft Sky panel through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder, then sponged the edges with Early Espresso. After that, I decided enough was enough and declared this card finally finished. This would make a great card for a man for almost any occasion. And of course, with the sentiment that comes with the tree, it would be just perfect for Father's Day.
That wraps it up for today, stampers! Thanks for coming by for a visit and be sure to come back on Friday when I'll have another card for you! May the rest of your week coast along smoothly to Friday and the long President's Day weekend!
Susan
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