Monday 28 April 2014

Snippet Card - Live Every Moment - and the view from my craft room window - the sycamore and the magpie

Morning All

On Saturday afternoon I got out my little box of images, which had been all but forgotten since we moved here. It's a treasure trove of printed/stamped but not yet coloured  images ... mainly digital images that were printed out at the time they were acquired, some pre-printed that came free with various craft magazines, and just a few that were the product of test stamping sessions. I sorted through them and to while a way an hour or two I got out my collection of ProMarkers and spent a productive hour or two just colouring ... bliss!
I'm ashamed to say that this Black-Eyed Susan Corner - a Floppy Latte digi - is a NBUS (never before used stuff) from 2012! As you can see, I've exercised a bit of 'artistic' licence with the colours - the real thing is a much brighter, in-your-face, shade of yellow and I favour something a bit more subtle. I used a combination of marshy greens, pale golden yellows and poppy red ProMarkers to colour the image.
The sentiment is from an IndigoBlu set that came free with this month's Simply Cards & Papercraft stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black it fitted perfectly in the space around the corner image. Note: I did find that, as this was a clear stamp, I had to give it a gentle rub with an emery board to stop the ink from puddling ... fine if that's the effect you like but not if a more pristine image is what is wanted!

To mat and layer the image I picked out coordinating colours from Docrafts Papermania Textured Card and then adhered it to a black card base. Bonus was that I was able to use the red card leftover from one of the Rudolph Day cards posted a few days ago.

For the decoration the butterflies were punched (a Woodware punch) from the tiniest snippets of the red card - nothing goes in the bin unless I've exhausted all possibilities :)



Finally, two colours of Stickles, Xmas Red and Platinum, and a couple of Crystal Stickers red gems were used to add a bit of bling.

After all that I'm hoping there's enough bling in this submission to satisfy Mrs A's Butterflies Challenge #6 - Glamorous Butterflies

I'm also nipping over to Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 122 ... I always enjoy scrolling through Di's round up for the week because she does a great job of the showcase and it never fails to amaze me how ingenious crafters can be when it comes to using up even the tiniest leftover scrap from their snippet collection.

It's a dull day here, looks like rain, and the temperature outside had plummeted too so I won't be doing much pottering in the garden today. However, I'm not down because this is the view from the craft room window.
The sycamore in flower ... apologies for the the badly focused photo, it was shot through the window. I know a lot of folk consider sycamores nothing but thugs because of the way they seed so freely but this one just makes me smile. And if I am really lucky the magpie will come and sit on one of the nearby branches.
This photo was taken earlier in the spring, again through the window. He's surprisingly nervous so I had to sneak up on him to get this shot. I think, because he can see right down the full length of the garden from here, the sycamore is his favourite perch .

That's it for today, thanks for visiting - I hope you enjoyed reading it and, it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, any comment is greatly appreciated :)

I'll wish you a good day and leave you to keep crafting.

Materials used: base - square black card; cardstock - Docrafts Papermania textured in red, cream and green; stamps - Black Eyed Susan Corner from Floppy Latte printed on to Neenah Solar cardstock, sentiment from IndigoBlu's Exclusive Stamp Collection - free with this month's Simply Cards & Papercraft; ProMarkers - greens, yellows and reds; punch - Woodware small butterfly; Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad; Stickles Xmas Red and Platinum; Crystal Stickers red gems

12 comments:

Di said...

Really beautiful card Elizabeth! I like that you coloured the flowers so softly then added the pop of red.

Hugs, Di xx

Krisha said...

Beautiful card, love the more subdue colors.

Marie-Louise said...

Great card Elizabeth and beautifully coloured.

scrappymo! said...

Love the way you coloured the flowers. It does give a more subtle feel than the true "in your face" colours!
The sentiment is perfect with this corner image.

Your magpie photo is great. Hope you see him lots this summer (in your sycamore tree).

Mrs A. said...

Love the colour combinations you have gone for on the flower spray.
The splash of red it just perfect finish and yes your butterflies are glamorous. what a dirfference a few months makes to the tree. We have sycamores on the parkland right by our side fence and I do curse the flying helicopters landing in my garden and seeding themselves how ever vigilant I m at picking them up. We have magpies too but they are certainly not shy of nicking the food from the other birds.
Thank you for fluttering by the butterfly trail. Hugs Mrs A. (butterfly challenge).

Sandra H said...

Oh my goodness Elizabeth your card is truly so beautiful and so elegantly presented........fab tree and magpie too l do like to see both take care xx

Jackie said...

A wonderful card and beautiful photographs Elizabeth :o)
Jackie xx

Carole Pollard said...

What a stunning card the image is gorgeous and I love your colour scheme its perfect. The sentiment is great I get that magazine but have not had much chance to do much this last week but thanks for the tip re puddling. I've enjoyed your photos and what a lovely view to have from your craft room Enjoy your week love and Happy Crafting Hugs Carole x

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

What a beautiful card! I love the red! Your photos are gorgeous as well! Thanks for the visit!!!

Bonnie said...

What a beautiful garden on your card and out your window! I'd never seen a magpie before! I've read about them in books. He's a very handsome fella!

Sarn said...

Gorgeous card with a lovely sentiment Elizabeth.

Great shot of the magpie too!

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Jean said...

A really lovely card Elizabeth, I love those little red butterflies and the beautiful flowers. Great sentiment too.
Lovely photo of the magpie and tree from your window.
Jean x