Pages

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Amazing Chemistry

Hi Everybody!

Today I stepped way outside of my comfort zone in several ways. This card was inspired by a card made by Julie Altermann. Here is a link to the card & video that inspired me. Let's get right into the card, shall we?

There are many firsts in this card for me.
  • First time using kraft cardstock for coloring.
  • First time using colored pencils for coloring an image.
  • First time (and maybe my last) doing complicated masking.
  • First time using my Brother ScanNCut 2 that I got for Christmas. (I spent time learning the software, watching video's, and practiced a little.)
I'm kind of a geek so this adorable stamp set from Paper Smooches called Great Chemistry is right up my alley. The crazy scientist is suppose to hold one of many props. I choose the mouse which he obviously has experimented on and fallen head over beakers for it. LOL

I created this for the Paper Smooches January Color Challenge so I was limited in the color I could make the mouse. I'm not really digging the way he turned out. Partly because of the dull green color and partly because I needed to differentiate him from the hand more but when I went to outline him I accidently grabbed my Sakura Black Glaze Pen and started with the tail. As soon as I saw it I almost trashed the card. But I am trying to embrace imperfection so I soldiered on.

The border was created using two stamps. A heart (not included in the set) and a molecule chain. I used my MISTI to accurately stamp it all the way around and then cut slightly inside with my Brother ScanNCut 2 cutting machine. I have owned a Silhouette for years and will still use it for many things. But I have to say this ScanNCut 2 is incredible. 

The rest of the card is one layer except the matting around the outside in white then red which is hard to see in the photo with the red background. That means I had to mask. No big deal right? Just stamp what's in the foreground first, mask and move to the next layer. Well what do you do when the foreground and the background stamp are the exact same thing like in the hand surrounding the mouse? I eventually figured it out and of course in hindsight I took a very complicated route. But that just means I learned something new right?

I colored the image using Faber Castell Polychromos colored pencils. Added some highlights with my white gel pen and embellished with Stickles in Christmas Red. I added some tiny clear bubbles from Papertrey Ink (currently unavailable) and then topped some of the items with glossy accents including the scientists eyes. Which I love how they turned out. I also added some sparkle by using my Sakura Stardust pen to create little dots.

I hope you enjoyed the card today. It was fun trying new things.

Here are the links to products used. I have linked to multiple sources in some cases and affiliates are marked with an *.


4 comments:

  1. I studies chem at university so I love geeky science themed stamps and cards. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alexandra. Thanks for stopping by. Always nice to meet a fellow geek.

      Delete
  2. There are so many things I love about this card, especially the border and the "spillage" of the beaker, his red bowtie, and his glove. Did you color the background with colored pencils? It is just adorable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jean! The background is plain kraft cardstock. Everything on top of it I did. This is the first card I've made using colored pencils. I have to admit, the control you get is pretty great. But it won't change my love for all things watercolored. Talk to you soon.

      Delete