Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Summer Sunshine - Pals July Blog Hop


It's time for some fun in the sun with the Pals!  Glad you could join us for the Pals Summer Sunshine Blog Hop! You've probably hopped over from Angie Blake at AngiesMusings ,  I'm stop number 4 on the Pals Hop and I'm glad you hopped in!  I'll help you "hop along" from blog to blog where you'll find great ideas for summer themed projects from the Stampin' Pretty Pals!  Should you hop off course, simply click on any of the links in the Pals Hop Line-up below and you'll be back on track

When I started thinking about a card for this Summer Sunshine Blog Hop, I thought I should have a design that used a great deal of yellow coloring (summer sunshine).  This post will describe the process of thinking about the project, creating the project and then posting the final version of the project.  For me, the original idea is usually not the final product.
The first card was created using Stampin’ Up!’s new Hostess set called “Summer Afternoon”.  Both the image and the sentiment are from this set.  Here it is:

Now this card was made using the yellow DSP from SU Polka Dot Parade, going along with my plan.  I “painted” the design with my Aqua Painter and used SU Old Olive for the blades of grass and the leaves in the flower pot.  The flower pot was colored with SU Cajun Craze.  The swing was colored with SU Soft Suede.  I was not happy with this card because instead of a blue bird, I decided the bird should have been yellow.  So I started over.
Old Olive is my favorite color so I ended up with a similar card, only in green.  I went a little heavier on the grass color this time and used a sponge dauber to color the grass.  Same colors on everything else this time, INCLUDING THE BIRD!   I totally forgot to change the bird to yellow!  Now my card had no yellow at all!  I did, however, have fun threading the button with a sliver of old olive card stock.
One more try.  This time, I decided that if I consistently colored the bird blue, maybe yellow was not the color I wanted to emphasize after all.  Maybe that color should be blue.  So I switched to SU Pool Party card stock, used a sheet from SU Comfort Café DSP and colored the bicycle blue, still using an image and sentiment from the Summer Afternoon Hostess stamp set.   I used a few strands of SU linen thread and I did color the daisies and the wicker basket yellow!  I was finally happy with this card.

The final design for this blog was not at all what I started out with, as often happens with me.  The fun in this whole process is allowing the colors and images take you on an exciting journey to the final product, which, for me, is usually a mystery until the very end.
Now hop along for more inspiring ideas from Marian Kay at All Aboard the Crafting Train, stop number 5 on the Pals Summer Sunshine Blog Hop!  Thanks for "hopping" by!
  1. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
  2. Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping
  3. Angie Blake at AngiesMusings
  4. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
  5. Marian Kay at All Aboard the Crafting Train
  6. Susan Lankford at Stamp and Scrap With Susan
  7. Shannon Jaramillo at ezpeasycards
  8. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
  9. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
  10. Maggie Mata at Maggie Made Cards
  11. Angela Curry at Kindred Stampers
  12. Jen Takacs at Stamped in Full
  13. Kimberly Deacon at Delightful Stampin
  14. Nicole Watt at Impressions By Nicole
  15. Mikki Sarkisyan at Mikki's Creative Corner
  16. Nicole Picadura at Scraps & Stamps
  17. Nina Dee at Deesigns by Nina Dee
  18. Kim Luithle at Kims Stampin Stuff
  19. Lori Martin at The Rejoicing PaperCrafter
  20. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
  21. Maxine Conrad at Stamp to the Max
  22. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog
  23. Kim Czenszak at Live Love Stamp

16 comments:

  1. Diane, your process is so much like mine! A mystery to the end...

    You should have been pleased with the final card... it is lovely! Well done!

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  2. These are all so pretty! Each one brings summertime memories!

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  3. wow . . . i'm in awe of your water coloring skills! love the touch of polka dot parade dsp! hugs, m

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  4. Beautiful colors!!! Lovely cards!

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  5. Diane, fantastic cards and colors!! Love how you told the story as well.

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  6. These are beautiful. I passed right over this stamp set - I will have to reconsider now that I've seen your lovely creations.

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  7. I love your cards and your description of the creative process. Mine is very similar. I'm never quite sure where I'm going to end up but the journey is sooo worth it! Love them!

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  8. After seeing your cards; I want that stamp set!! The swing is the exact replica of the one at our lake cabin. The color combination is awesome; nice work!

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  9. Beautiful! Love them all ... mMy FAV is the green one ... one of my favorite colors and your coloring is so soft, I can smell the grass ;-)

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  10. Great cards! The yellow pops on the first one! Susan
    PS...Love the name of your blog!

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  11. The Summer Fun stamp set is going to the top of my list. Totally loved your cards and your color techniques. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  12. Oh, so glad to see this stamp set used--I just got mine in. Your watercoloring is superb--and I love ALL the cards!

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  13. Fabulous watercoloring Diane. Love this technique:)

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  14. I enjoyed hearing about your creative process. I think yellow and green too when it comes to summer colors. Great watercoloring

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  15. I love the sweet green polka dotted swing card! Your second try turned out simply adorable! Thank you for sharing with a new curious crafting follower!

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