Saturday, December 13, 2008

Stella's Half Flower


I made this card as a thank you to one of my neighbours. Not sure I can give it away though, it's really pretty! Is she card-worthy? I did make it to coordinate with her home decor though. I guess I can always make another one, right?  :)

So it all started when I read the Thursday "ways to use it" challenge on Splitcoast...to use just half an image. My first thought was, that's bizarre, how will half an image look? So I decided on a flower, cause it's pretty symetrical and you can imagine what the other half of the image will look like. But, the half I do work on needs to be pretty nice to stand on it's own...right?

This beautiful flower is from the set "A Year of Flowers" from Gina K. I thought the detail and layers of the image were absolutely perfect for layers and layers of petals. 
I stamped the flower three times with Memento ink onto Gina K pure luxury cardstock. I imagined the layers going from darkest on the bottom to lightest on top. So I coloured the three images with various copic colours. Don't be scared away by all the colours I used...I just kept layering and blending until I got the shades I wanted but I'm sure you could get the same effect with far fewer colours. 

Once they were coloured, I cropped the darkest flower in half for my base. Then I cut out the petals on the other two flowers and layered them, bending the petals upward for dimension and to show the colours. I offset the petals of each layer too so it didn't just look like a stack. Oh, and I painted the middle layer with Angel Wings Shimmerz, so there's a little shimmer peeking between the top petals. 

The patterned paper is Basic Grey Stella Ruby, which I layered onto SU chocolate then pierced around the edges. The three panels are attached with dimensionals to Artichoke cardstock, then onto a Kraft card base. The ribbon is SU Kraft Taffeta and the pearls are from Stamping Bella, String of Pearls. LOVE those pearls!!!

This is one of my favourite 'grown up' cards in quite some time.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

29 comments:

Leslie said...

Wow - that's stunning - perfectly matching colours Karen. "Is she worthy?"...that's funny!

Nancy said...

Gorgeous (I'm sounding like a broken record)...but it's truly stunning.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful job :)

At least if you still give the card away, you've got a photo of it!

Unknown said...

If you decide your neighbor isn't card worthy, I know someone who IS. ;-)

Dana White said...

Wow it is simply stunning

Donna Baker said...

gorgeous card!

Melanie said...

This is amazing Karen!!! thank you for sharing, I'm off to check out more of your blog! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Karen,

Finally figured out how to sign up. Will be nice to see you in my in-box!
Gorgeous card! Frame it!

LOL
Sylvie

Charlene Austin said...

I wish I was your neighbor!! This is amazing.

Becky said...

Congratulations on this cards being featured on Gina K Designs today!! I'll be back to visit often!!

Jennifer said...

WOW This card is amazing!! Absolutely beautiful!! I am so glad I stopped by Gina K. today! I will be back for more inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Love this card, it was featured on GinaK's blog this morning and I had to check out your blog. You do beautiful work, I just subscribed to it, oh my, I'm going to be spending most of my days reading the blogs I've subscribed to:) But they are all worth it!

Pat (mspfd) said...

What a stunning creation! Absolutely adore your card!!

Anonymous said...

I just found your blog today (via Gina K's spotlight) and have been captured by your work, one gorgeous card after another. I'm hooked and am now subscribed!

Beverly said...

Gorgeous card! I am envious of your coloring.. The bg paper is gorgeous!
Congrats on being featured on GinaK's blog - how fun!

wendyp said...

oh my! This is just breathtaking! I'm going to have to give this technique a try. LOVE it!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely Awesome!!!! janet in nc

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful card! Your card is sooo awesome!! I love when someone does something different!! Thank you for sharing!!

Mary said...

Your card is gorgeous and I am sure that your neighbor will love it. :)

Mary

Take care and STAY POSITIVE! Trena said...

Wow! Karen! What a kool card. Just beautiful!

Take care and STAY POSITIVE!

Anonymous said...

That flower took my breath away. I thought it was a photo at first. Wonderful job!

retiredheather said...

Saw your card on Gina`s site and I think it is absolutely gorgeous.
Hugs
Heather

Chrisd said...

This card is a awesome job. The coloring is outstanding... Your neighbor is the luckiest person!

pescbrico said...

Your card is simply outstanding!! :) Great job!

Evelyn S. said...

First...I saw the color combo. Fantastic! Then the wonderful simplicity of it all. Fantastic again! (BTW...I came here from Gina K's blog.)

Tanja said...

Gina sent me and am I glad she did! What a gorgeous card and awesome blog!

Mary said...

Wow! I saw your card on GinaK's site and I first thought the flower was a photo sticker- beautiful job!

Sharon Matherson said...

Oh my goodness! I have NEVER seen such a gorgeous stamped flower. Others have said they thought it was a sticker, a photo, a computer print-out. I probably shouldn't admit this, but at first I really thought you'd cut an actual, living flower in half! Amazing!!

Anonymous said...

This is an absolutly gorgeous card!