Skip to main content

Color Match Monday: Daydreams

 Hello, and welcome to another Color Match Monday!

I so enjoyed the dreamy colors I used last week, but honestly, and this might sound weird, I have been missing pink in my life. Weird, right? Anyhow, I was determined to find one of @colorstoriesbystacia's color combos that would give me a heavy dose of pink. 

I stumbled upon this photo by @jordanfmcqueen via @rareform in Stacia's Color Stories, and even though I'm not much of a tropical beach lover, I couldn't resist the pinky-peachy-purpley colors. Admittedly, I did have a little trouble matching up a couple of the colors to the paper and DMC floss I have on hand, but I got as close as possible. (And I have a list of DMC colors to shop for!)

Stitching:

For the background, I die cut an A2 panel of Gina K Powder Blue card stock, using the Spellbinders Circular Stitch Background. This color could have been a little more purpley-blue, but it is what it is. 
Using the DMC colors noted in the photo, I stitched 3-4 circles with each of the remaining five lighter colors. I tried to not have any colors be directly next to a matching color. That doesn't always work out, but this time I got lucky and it did! I always use two strands of floss. I know some card makers use more than two strands, but I find the results are a bit bulky and looser with more than two strands. 

And a Lesson Learned...

When the circles were all stitched, I adhered the blue panel down to an A2 white card base. And here's where I learned a lesson...

We'll have to back up a pinch for this to make sense.

Normally, when I start a new thread, I just hold the end of that thread in place until I am finished stitching, and then I tie the beginning and ending threads together in a double knot, trim the ends, and stick them down with liquid glue. This way, I know they are secure. 

I may or may not have thread trust issues. 

However, unbeknownst to me, this technique was the culprit that was creating excessive bulk and making me very frustrated when my panel would not adhere tightly to the card base. 
Well, if I had just listened to the expert (You know who I mean.), I could have saved myself a lot of frustration. 
I have no idea what made me try something different this time, but I did. Instead of tying knots and gluing my thread ends, I simply put a tiny piece of clear tape on the ends. The difference is mind-blowing! The panel is fairly tight to the card base, which never happens when I knot and glue. Now, who knows if the tape will stick for the long run, but it looks great at the moment!

Layering Up:

I love stitching dies, but other than changing up the colors, the design itself can get a bit static. That's where the idea for the black & blue circles came from. 
My original idea was to cut additional circles from the design out of black, and then stitch those with one of the thread colors. Believe me, I tried! My closest circle die is just a bit too small for the job. I destroyed a fair amount of paper trying to cut a circle that left enough of a border beyond the stitching holes. It just wasn't meant to be. 
Instead, I cut a 1" and two 1/2" circles from Hero Arts Pitch Black cardstock and cut slightly smaller circles cut from Gina K Powder Blue cardstock. I used the same Spellbinders stitching die to texture the blue circles. 

To attach the blue and black circles, I stitched a French knot at the center, using three strands of black DMC thread. I stacked up additional black die cuts to add dimension to the circles and positioned them in a triangle just as I would normally do with embellishments. 

Finishing Touches:

For the sentiment, I foiled a sentiment from the Spellbinders More Sentiments set, using Spellbinders Opaque Black foil. This was my first time using this particular foil, and it is gorgeous! It's so much more classy than glossy black foil. 
I die cut the sentiment with a fishtail banner die from my stash. I cut a couple extras of these and stacked them behind the foiled one for added dimension.

The Result:

It's not perfect. Remember that purpley-blue paper and all the DMC thread on my shopping list? But I do really love the pops of black on the lighter background. And I did get a good dose of pink. And you just can't beat that. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Tammy




Comments

  1. Tammy, I love how this all came about. From the photo with colors, to having your AHA moment, to your extra detail with the black circles. Beautiful card!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Angela, thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate you!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Polychromatic || AECP

Hello, I'm back today, sharing a few cards I made as homework for Nina-Marie Trapani's Altenew Academy class called Polychromatic.  To be honest, I didn't quite know what to expect from this class. First of all, I've never heard the word   polychromatic . I understand the roots:   poly,  meaning   many ;   chrom , meaning color ; and the suffix   -ic , which creates an adjective. But doesn't that pretty much mean   rainbow , as in  use all the colors?  Well, yes, but... The purpose behind this class is to help you use all the colors with confidence. In some cases, I met the target, but in others, I fell short. Stay tuned for those failures... Lesson 1: White with Pops of Color I was pretty excited about this lesson because the title alone suggests cards that will be unpretentiously clean and simple, and that's just my style.  For this card, I chose the Altenew Beach Towel Stripes stencil , which is one of my favorite stencils. ...

Back to School 2023

Hey, long time, no see!  It was bound to happen. It seems, no matter how many years I teach, back to school always kicks my butt. It was probably a bit more brutal this year because, for whatever reason, I holed up in my craft room this summer and refused to leave until the first required work day. Why? Because I just want to make cards. The woes of the employed.  But here I am, and ready for a big, big share!  For the past few years, I have recognized the teachers and staff in my building with cards and tiny gifts whenever possible -- first day of school, holidays, birthdays, teacher appreciation week, and other seasonal celebrations. This year was no exception! I made cards and cookies, gift tags, and card sets aplenty!  Just wait til I show you!  DIY Stencils: I am pretty excited about these cards because I actually used  my brand new Silhouette Cameo 4! I was inspired by these oversized fruit cards Jennifer McGuire and her sidekick Lila made. Oh man, I...

With a Twist || AECP

Every once in a while, a card emerges from my craft room that makes me say, THIS is me. THIS is my style. It's silly, really, since I am in charge in my own crafty space. Why should I ever make a card that's not  my style? Indeed, that is the question.  Such ponderings... Today was one of those good crafty days. I've just completed Therese Calvird's Altenew Academy class called With a Twist, and I'm excited to share three of my homework cards that are just my style!  Lesson 1: Stamps With a Twist The general idea in this first lesson is to use stamps in a way other than their intended use. For example, when using layering stamps, you might not use all the layers to build a complete image. This can give your design a modern or abstract feel. Plus, it just gives you more ways to use your products!  In a perfect world, I would have used layering florals with an outline image, but in the real world, I do not even own such a thing. So, I improvised with  Altenew's It...