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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Vintage Mother Bird with Nest - Friends with Flair 6-19


"Do you see that kitten chasing so prettily her own tail?  If you could look wih her eyes, you might see her surrounded with hundreds of figures performing complex dramas, with tragic and comic issues, long conversations, many characters, many ups and downs of fate."
                                                                                     --------Ralph Waldo Emerson



Hi, Friends....

I am here today with my Unity Friends with Flair project.  I felt the urge to make a fancy card this time, so I played around with some fun products and used dies to make pretty things for this summery nature-inspired card.

I love heat embossing of all kinds...in fact I am crazy about heat embossing.  It is my favorite technique.  I did an emboss resist for the lovely bird/nest image from Unity - Love, using Versamark Ink and clear embossing powder on a scrap of patterned paper.  I love the effect of the pattern showing through the embossed image!!

I also heat embossed using my clear Ranger - Ultra-Thick Embossing Enamel.  Oh, my goodness....I LOVE this stuff!!  This makes a gooey globby glossy gob of goop on everything it touches.  Just my kind of thing!!  lol....  :)  To me, this turns projects into instant mixed media because the large particle size is not really used to emboss in the traditional sense.  It is like a medium of its own.  

I used it on my green background by Versamarking through a thrift store stencil and layering the UTEE on.  When it liquefies upon heating, you can gently push it around with the air flow from your heat gun.  It adds some super-duper shine and texture, too.  And.....(this is important if you craft the way I do!)....if I accidentally touch it before it is all the way set and leave a fingerprint, I can zap it again with my heat gun and it remelts and fixes itself!!  Hooray!!!  :)  What is not to love about this wonderful product???? 

However, what I was really excited about doing with my UTEE was coating my die-cut flower with it.  I cut several different scraps of patterned paper with my Spellbinders - Heartfelt Creations - Majestic Blooms die set.  I did some texture stamping with a Unity grab bag leaf stamp and Antique Linen Distress Ink.  Then I Versamarked the three pieces and heat embossed with UTEE to get a glossy rain-washed or dewy effect.  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!  You can see it in the photo below.  While it was still warm and pliable I could shape the petals, too.  How fab is that???!!!! 




 
I will mention one other special technique I used.  My butterfly was a little too bright and too green for the other colors on the card, so I toned it down and defined the veins in the wings with Distress Ink in Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass, and Crushed Olive.  Then I brushed on some Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder in Mint to give it that iridescent shimmer that real butterflies have.  The inks were still a bit damp, so it set the powder without additional misting.  Love this pretty sheen!!!




Other products used include:
Spellbinders - Lace Doily Motifs die set
Sizzix - Fancy Labels Dies
Want 2 Scrap - Adhesive Pearls
Misc. scraps from my stash (K&Co. and DCWV)


The effect I was hoping to achieve with this card was of a birdnest hidden away in a leafy arbor.  I love how the tendrils of my swirly Memory Box - Gwyneth Flourish die cuts spring up when I use a light-weight cardstock.  The 3-D effect makes this look even more like the nest is in a secret place.  Sweet!

That's all for this card.  It was fun letting my alchemist alter-ego out while I was playing with the different products I used.  I hope you like the results of my experimenting.  :)  

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1.  Unity Friends with Flair Link Up
2.  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Favorite Product or Technique (Heat Embossing)
3.  Wow! Embossing Powder June Challenge - Summer
4.  Blog Quick Quotes Friday Challenge #52 - Use Handmade Flowers
5.  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Don't Cut, Just Paste  (I used UTEE for a thick texture product similar to paste.)
6.  Butterfly Spot Challenge - F is for Flowers
7.  Pixie's Snippets Playground Week 181-182 - Use snippets  (All die cuts were made from scraps.  Hooray!!)
8.  Unruly Paper Arts - June Art Quest 2 - The Great Outdoors

30 comments:

  1. Hello Janis and welcome to my Butterfly challenge. I don't just like this card I LOVE this card. The colours you have used are downright gorgeous together and as for the Ultra Extra thick embossing enamel then lead me to the Alter! It's a match made in heaven. Thankyou for fluttering by my #33. hugs Mrs A.

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  2. Wow, what a unique and dreamy creation! Love all the textures and elements you put in so beautifully!!! Love it:)

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  3. A beautiful card Janis, a lovely design with gorgeous colours...........wonderful techniques used to created the elements and textures!!

    hugs
    Heather xx
    Thanks so much for joining us with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

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  4. I think your secret birdnest works well. Great colours. Hugz

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  5. You can see all the love you put into this card.
    Paula D

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  6. Beautiful creation, Janis! I love heat embossing, too. I love your bird on patterned paper - looks perfect.

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  7. Beautiful card!
    Love the embossing resist technique!

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  8. LOVE this card! It's filled with so many pretty details! Great color and design!

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  9. Lovely card--I like all the embossing you did.

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  10. Love the emboss effect, awesome card!

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  11. beautiful card... lovely colors you have chosen.. beautiful die cuts and flower..

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  12. Love the embossing it adds great texture to the card!

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  13. Love your beautiful creation. The colors and textures are fabulous. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. :)

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  14. Pretty! Lots of great texture and great use of die cuts.
    Shanna :)

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  15. This is so gorgeous and I just love the colors!!!

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  16. So many gorgeous layers and details! Wonderful!

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  17. You really have worked hard and had fun making this card and it shows. Thanks for playing along at Butterfly Challenge. It's great to have you. Glenda

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  18. Thanks for sharing your beautiful FWF card.
    Crafty hugs,
    Dawn
    DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot

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  19. Hi Janis! This is so wonderfully tactile and really, really beautiful too! I love it!

    Hugs

    Di xx

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  20. Whew!! I read through your description of all the different techniques and products you used...TWICE, and still probably missed half of it! So many great experiments with embossing powder, inks, die cut and layered embellishments. This is gorgeous with all the shine and texture. Your toned-down but iridescent butterfly is my favorite part! Love it when you alter a pre-made item to fit your own design! I tend to let those purchased embellishments sit in my stash because they aren't quite the right color or shape, but now I have no excuse!'

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  21. fantastic card! I just love to use ultra thick for some texture too! thanks for sharing with us at Quick Quotes this month!

    Alicia

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  22. This is gorgeous! Thanks for joining us at Quick Quotes!

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  23. Beautiful texture and colors, Thanks for joining us at Unruly PaperArts RAQ this month.

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  24. Gorgeous card with so much texture and interest! I love the embossing and all of the extra touches you added. Thank you so much for joining in the fun at Quick Quotes for our June challenge.

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THANK YOU so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Your kind words encourage me so very much!!!

Have a lovely day!
<3
Janis