Saturday, June 25, 2011

PTI blog hop - June edition!

image via pinterest
So, this month's inspiration was a bit different... no "themed challenge"... but instead, this awesome photo.  You know I'm all about the eye-candy - I've been wasting so much time on pinterest, party blogs, etc... all for the eye candy :)  And usually it's pretty easy for me to pick apart a color-scheme, or element of a picture and translate it to my paper-crafting... but this one?  Yikes.  I sat on it for many moons and had no idea what I could do with it.  

I tried out different ideas - swiping ink spots across the page to make those soft stripes... embossing a dragonfly stamp to mimic the shiny hook... princess-y images... but, somewhere in the space between the picture in my mind and the reality on the page...  Uh-uh.  

The reason why it wasn't working?  Well, maybe my ambition was too far ahead of my skills on some of the techniques I was trying out... but I'd like to think it's because I wasn't sticking to my own style.  This picture isn't one I would have picked out.  Too many colors, too many elements... and I was trying to make it all work so literally.  When I stepped back a bit...


BAM!  how d'you like me now??

Ha.  Ok, I know it's not the best card ever or anything, but compared to my previous attempts, pretty darned good...

This is what I took from the inspiration photo:

- the stripes on the wall.  I mimicked the stripes by grabbing some SU "presto patterns" paper and sponging different ink colors on the various strips of paper.  It looks like emboss-resist when you do that - so cool!
- the wood-cubbies... I took a strip of white paper, stamped on it with PTI's woodgrain images and then used distress inks to grunge it up.  I then die-cut 3 alphablocks and stamped them with botanical silhouettes.  (I know it's not princess-y or anything, but I still felt like the florals worked with the whimsical nature of the inspiration photo...)
- the bling of the hooks.  I added the gem above the greeting (from think big favorites, I only inked up the "celebrate" in "celebrate today").



I also added some black stitching around, and inked up the sentiment in black - I was drawn to the bits of darker string hanging from the skirts, and the shadowing inside the cubbies.  I felt like it grounded the image...

And there you have it!  I hope you liked my take on the photo - I'm itching with excitement to check out other interpretations!

Have a wonderful day.

38 comments:

  1. You did a fantastic job- very pretty!

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  2. I love the stitching and the colours - it's very sweet

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  3. What a fantastic interpretation of the picture? Love love your card, Elena. Love the multicolor background and the stitching is cute.

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  5. I'm totally literal, so I can hear you on the must re-create exactly issue, but I think you've done a great job, emboss resist is a great technique for this photo.

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  6. Wonderful card Elena! Your sponged colors and layout with the flowers along the bottom look fantastic!

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  7. BAM! REALLY great! LOVE the stitching and the wood grain and the pattern and the three flower squares! WOW!

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  8. I'm a fan of the layers - it's cool how they are all separate and yet joined together.

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  9. Beautiful card, Elena! I love the look of the woodgrain-stamped accent piece.

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  10. You nailed it, I'd say. A bit genius that you didn't pop the rhinestone centered above "celebrate" which would have been predictable. Mimics the organized chaos of the original image. Sweet. :)

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  11. This is gorgeous Elena!! I love the sponging of the co ours onto the patterned pape, so soft and delicate! Really like this card!!

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  12. you were right on! love how this turned out

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  13. Fabulous job! Loved walking through the process with you. Love the result!!

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  14. This is a beautiful card. You did a great job of putting your own spin on the inspiration photo.

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  15. love the softness of the colors you used.

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  16. Great card!
    Love how the colors blended together...
    and how you were able to pick up all the little elements from the photo!

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  17. Great job. Love the embossed look you created with the PP.

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  18. Love this! It is beautiful! Thanks for your comments on my blog, I love white embossing too. Great minds think alike!

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  19. I like how the flowers in the "Celebration" actually look a bit like fireworks- goes with the celebratory theme, which is cool. The layers are beautiful and remind me of when the sky is colourful like that. Good job Elena!

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  20. Elena this is lovely. I really like the addition of the flower strip near the bottom :)

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  21. BEAUTIFUL!!!
    Love the gradient coloring - so nice!!!

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  22. Very Talented!! LOVE IT!

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  23. Beautiful! Sometimes, all it takes is remembering what "our" style is before we can finish a card properly and be happy with it. You have every right to be pleased with this one - it's a beauty.

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  24. I love it! Sooo pretty! Gorgeous papers there and the rainbow you made is truly lovely!!
    Hugs, Wendy

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  25. Oh so beautiful! Love that touch of wood grain to give the feel of the cubbies!

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  26. Beautiful! You really nailed the inspiration photo! I love the soft little dandelion puffs.

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  27. Fantastic job on the challenge! The sponging looks so soft and pretty.

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  28. Pretty card. Like how you matched up the design with each color strip.

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  29. Beautiful! Love your background!

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  30. Beautiful background, the embossing is fabulous! Such an elegant and detailed design!

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  31. I think you did a beautiful job! I really like the background.

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