Well, the big cat just determined he was done with my lap – at least for a little while – so I can actually DO a blog post tonight! Leo is a lap hog – he stretches across my lap from one arm of the recliner to the other. And stretches luxuriously and yawns (he yawns quite cute-ly – with the end of his tongue all curled up!) and turns half upside down – all across my lap. And he does NOT think that it’s a good idea for me to set my computer on him whilst he’s doing all this. So….cat -yes. Computer – No. Until he’s done with me. It’s what we do.
My card tonight is inspired by a picture I saw on Pinterest. Not of a card, but….
When I saw this photo, it just spoke to me. About a 1000 years ago, in a galaxy far far away, I spent some time in the panhandle of Oklahoma. Quite a while, actually – another business trip (yes, you’ve figured out my secret – I get ALL the great garden spots for my business trips….). And it was in a pretty isolated little town (Super Walmart came while I was there and the whole town turned out. It was BIG!). So, I tried to find things to do (at that time, I didn’t do stamping, so I didn’t have a room full of crafty things to do) and on one of my little trips, I ended up at a preserve of some sort – no clue what it was called any more. Wide open spaces. Buffalo roaming. Longhorns playing. Bunnies frolicking. Prairie Dogs barking. It was big and, in its own way, beautiful. A prairie preserved. Anyway, I got a bee in my bonnet that it would be really cool to be there at night when there was a full moon. So, one weekend, I dilly’d and dallied about until it was finally dark and the moon had risen over the prairie. I wasn’t alone – other folks apparently shared my bee. It was spectacular. I don’t even remember the time of year now, but it wasn’t too hot or too cold. It was just beautiful. The light of the moon was….ethereal. If it wasn’t too crystal-chaneling woo-woo….I’d say I could hear the creak of the wagons and the rustle of the wheels rolling thru the prairie grasses. Truly one of the coolest experiences of my life.
Well – that picture took me back to that night. And I wanted to re-create it on a card. So I tried. Take a look-see:
My Lovely as a Tree forest (I don’t have a rabbit stamp!) at moonrise. In my mind, this is more a high Rocky Mountain full moon. Perhaps in the fall of the year. it just seems to me to be a high-altitude moon – without so much “crap” between us and it. So – it’s more white-ish than yellow-ish. That’s my story and I’m sticking’ to it! And is the excuse I’m using for not having used Very Vanilla instead of Whisper White! 😉
I started with a panel of Whisper White and ran a piece of move-able tape across it to mask the top from the bottom. Then, I sponged the heck out of the bottom portion with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. I got it just as black as I could get it, and then pulled the tape.
For the moon, I cut a 3 1/4″ circle out of a piece of card stock (this was the next-to-largest circle in my Circles Collection Framelits) and used some more of the move-able tape to secure it to the Whisper White panel so it wouldn’t move around. Then, I sponged all around the circle, first with the same Tuxedo Black sponge, then with Slate Gray, and finally with Elegant Eggplant. I let it get a little lighter down around where the moon touches the horizon.
I really just kept kind of playing with it until it looked right. I wanted it to be purple-black. And it is. With that done (and I hit it with my heat tool for a few seconds to get it drier quicker), I replaced the circle with the cut out part, laying it with the hole over where my moon was going to be. I used my Slate Gray and a sponge dauber to make the man in the moon. It’s maybe more the amoeba in the moon but, hey! It’s art (and I make no claim to artistic-nss) – not a photo! I still think it evokes the moon. Then I sponged over that gray with my Craft Whisper White ink, to soften the edges and give just a little texture – the card stock was just too smooth!
Once it dried – and remember, the Whisper White Craft ink takes a minute to dry – I stamped across the moon with the pine tree image from Lovely as a Tree in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. I stamped them each twice – using my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to ensure the second stamp was very very close – not exactly, just very very close – to the first stamp. The small bit of offset gives a more realistic look to the trees.
Then, using some grasses from the Wetlands set and some more from the Sheltering Tree set, I stamped across the horizon in Black. I also re-sponged the black when I was done, to remove the slight images of the grass in the black “ground”. Didn’t want to see it!
That finished the “painting”. I added the first star I see tonight – using two stars from the Metallics Sequin Assortment, and a Rhinestone Basic Jewel. I adhered all of it to the card front with Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue.
The sentiment is cut from a piece of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, using a die from the Hello You Thinlits die set. I sponged it lightly with Elegant Eggplant and then stuck it on with Liquid Glue. To finish it all off, I SNAIL’d the card front to a Basic Black mat, and then popped it on my Night of Navy card base with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
The inside is a piece of Whisper White, edges sponged with Elegant Eggplant, and the tiny pine bough from Lovely as a Tree stamped in the corners in Tuxedo Black.
The sentiment, from Lots of Joy, is in Elegant Eggplant (and thank goodness for my Many Marvelous Markers – cause I had to do a little touch up with the matching marker!). I SNAILd that piece to a Basic Black mat and then to the card base.
Et Voila! My rendition of an Oklahoma prairie moon bathing a bunny in moonlight….turned into a Colorado Rocky Mountain high moon over a lovely forest. I hope that you like the card as much as I liked the picture! 🙂
See below for all the card cuts and products used in this card.
There’s still time to get in on the Blog Candy #1 give-away – only today, though! Get after it folks! And Candy #2 runs thru Saturday. And – Christmas is coming, folks…..Blog Candy Christmas, that is. The final package I have is all about Christmas. Tune in – it’s coming soon to finish off my 100th Blog-post-iversary week!
Check out the Holiday Catalog shares section down below. I’ve given you a tool that I think you might find useful…..
Thanks for stopping by – see you tomorrow!
TTFN
Mary
WEEKLY DEALS FOR 4 Aug – 10 Aug 15!! Click here to see the Weekly Deals from Stampin’ Up! in my online store. The Weekly Deals are only while supplies last and only available at these great prices through 10 Aug!
Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog
2015 Holiday Shares are Open!
Shares are a great way to get a little bit of all the new Designer Papers, Ribbons and Embellishments to use in your holiday masterpieces! Go to the 2015 Holiday Catalog Shares page and see what could be coming your way! I’ll order early on 1 Sept, with expedited shipping, and get everything back out just as quick as I can!
Here’s something I think you might can use for when you order and get your shares. You know that everything in SU! coordinates. I also use that knowledge to help me when I’m stocking up on card stock and ink. It helps me to know what DSP’s I have and what they all coordinate with. And, being a bit of a cheap-skate, I like to know which colors of things will give me the most bang for my buck – what couple of colors should I buy that will coordinate with the most paper?
So, I built you a table that shows you exactly that for the papers in the 2015 Holiday Catalog. You can get it here!
Stampin’ Up! Items Eligible For Sales Tax Holidays!
Did you know that some items in the Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog are classified as school supplies and qualify for the no-sales-tax benefit? The states typically define school supplies as “any items normally used by students in a standard classroom for educational purposes.” Eleven states participate in the annual Sales tax Holiday in July/Aug: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Stampin’ Up! has created a spreadsheet listing the exemptions per the state statute based on item description and price. This spreadsheet lists the applicable items from the 2015-2016 annual catalog. Please take a look for your states dates – and pay close attention to that. All orders have to be submitted in the system within each date range for your state – no exceptions – per state statute.
Let me know if you have any questions, be sure to download the spreadsheet to see the specific items that are available tax free!!
Paper Pumpkin – the fun comes right to your door! Give it a try today!
Offer Dates: July 23-September 10, 2015
The Fine Print:
- For new subscribers only.
- Available for month-to-month subscriptions, not prepaid subscriptions.
- 50% Discount is applied to one kit per month for the first two months of a new subscription.
- After the first two months, the price for each month’s kit will go to the regular price: $19.95.
- Go to http://www.PaperPumpkin.com to join
- Enter the Promo Code: HALFOFF
- New subscribers must join by Thursday, September 10, 2015; 11:50 PM (MT).
STAMPIN’ UP PRODUCTS USED IN TODAY’S PROJECT:
Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog
Card Cuts Used in Today’s Project:
Night of Navy Card Stock: 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ (Card Base – Scored and folded at 4 1/4″)
Whisper White Card Stock: 4″ x 5 1/4″ (card front and inner liner)
Basic Black Card Stock: 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ (front mat and inner liner mat)
Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper: “Noel”
If you need any stamping supplies, I’d be very happy to be your Demonstrator. Just click on the Order Stampin’ Up! Online Now button on the right side of the screen to go directly to my online store or drop me an email if you have any questions. Happy Stamping!
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BACKORDER LIST AS OF 5 Aug 15
7 August
113475: Big Shot Standard Cutting Pads
138273: Cutie Pie Thinlits Dies
138286: Boho Chic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
138288: Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
138377: Cottage Greetings Card Kit (third shipment)
14 August
138296: Washi Label Punch
17 August
104181: 12″ x 12″ Craft Keepers (supply item)
138378: Tin of Cards Project Kit (third shipment)
18 August
138395: Expressions Natural Elements (second shipment)
28 August
112983: Customer Order Forms (50)
135294: Variety Pack 1 12″ x 12″ Project Life Photo Pocket Pages
Date to be Determined
138700: Best Thoughts Clear Stamp Set (hostess)
140406: Watercolor Wishes Card Kit
Card Stampin' With Clara
Inky Bee Stampers
KarensCardCorner
Stamp with Amy K
Stampin With Shirley G
Tarabeth Stamps
TL's Bright Spot
Wild Wing Creations
What a beautiful card Mary! I love the color scheme and the moon looks so real. And thanks so much for the color matrix for the Holiday Catalog DSP, that’s an awesome tool! 🙂
You’re welcome – and thank you! That picture’d been calling me to try to make a card out of it for a while now. 🙂
Rocky mountain-esque moon all right! Beautiful!
Definitely a mountain moon, not a prairie moon! Thanks!
Holy Buckets of Beauty! What a beautiful moon rise! It’s so cool that you can look at a picture and create a card from it! Well done!!!
Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Thanks so much, Lynn! I can’t do it with very many of them – this one was pretty easy to re-create. 😉
Wow, Mary…….you did a great job recreating your inspiration photo! Thanks for sharing all the details. Makes my fingers itch to try it!
Go for it, Kathy! If you make the original photo bigger on your computer, it’ll give you some ideas for where to sponge the gray in the moon. Have fun with it! 🙂