Tuesday, October 4, 2011

A Princess and her Horse

Good morning to you all! I hope you've all been having a fantastic week. :)

I've got another card to share with you featuring one of the newest exclusive stamps at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. This is "Princess" by Syliva Zet for SCACD. Sylvia has designed a fantastic collection of stamps perfect for so many different occasions. The papers I used on my card are from the My Mind's Eye "Blink of an Eye" 6x6 pad. The image was matted on layers cut with my Circle and Lacey Circle Spellbinders. A Viva Decor pen was used to make the little pearls around the image. Have you ever gotten your hands a new crafty toy and gone a little overboard with it?? lol  Well, that's kind of what happened here. (blushing, hehe) I was so excited when my most recent order from SCACD arrived on my doorstep, and one of the products I couldn't wait to get my paws on was the Elegant Scrollwork die from Memory Box. This die cuts out the most beautifully delicate scrolls, and I love anything dainty and elegant. :)  So I pulled out my Cuttlebug and got cutting...and cutting...and cutting, lol. Then I used my Cutterbee scissors to cut apart the scrolls so I could tuck in little portions around the Spellbinders Lacey Circle layer....and that's where I got carried away. hehe (I even removed a couple of pieces!) I can say that I LOVE this die, and I plan to add more of the Memory Box dies to my die-cutting arsenal...Susana has a wonderful selection of the Memory Box dies HERE. Just a word of warning though, these recently FLEW off the shelves! Susana has restocked them but if you see one (or several!) that you "need", my advice is to grab them and throw them in your cart quickly!! (there's a snowflake that I have my eyes on right now!!)


"Princess" was stamped on Neenah cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and coloured with Copic markers. How many of you were horse-crazy as children? I was. :)  I loved horses. I collected figurines, I read books about horses (Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley were two favourite authors from my younger years), I bought magazines, hung posters, followed show jumping on tv and my sketchbooks were FULL of horse drawings. This continued through high school...I'm sure my art teacher was sick of all my equine themed projects! I eventually started taking riding lessons and even worked at a barn as a teenager. Unfortunately, my horrible allergies make it hard for me to be around horses...and to be honest, I really don't have the time right now to make them a part of my life. But this stamps is kind of nostalgic for me as one of my favourite "toys" as a very young girl was my rocking horse...well, it was the kind suspended on springs, so I guess it wasn't really a rocking horse. It was my companion on so many adventures that only children can dream up. :)  I even used to pull out buckets of water and sponges to bathe my faithful steed...much to my mother's annoyance, lol. So this stamp brought back some wonderful memories for me.  After colouring with my markers, I added some additional shading with Conte Crayons and a paper blending stump.


Skin: E000, E00, E11, R20  Hair: E50, Y23, E31, E33, E37  Dress: BG70, BG72, BG75, C5  Cape: YR02, YR04, YR07, R05, R46, R59, C5   Horse: W00, W1, W3, W5, W7, W9  Saddle: Y23, E53, E57  Reins:  Rockers:

You can find the entire collection of Slyvia Zet for SCACD stamps at SCACD and at Quixotic Paperie if you reside in the UK.

Make sure to check in at SCACD frequently for all your crafty needs. Susana is always adding fantastic new products to the store.
I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for your visit. :)

PS: This is for one of my readers, Victoria. :)  On my recent post "Veritas", you had asked how I cut out all the small details on my stamped images. First of all, patience is important! lol  Well, that and a very sharp pair of detail scissors...I would be lost without my Cutterbee scissors. I also keep a sharp craft knife on hand. These two tools are sufficient for cutting out most stamped images. However, the new Syliva Zet for SCACD stamps include a lot of beautiful little curly-cues and tendrils that are next to impossible to cut out. (and yes, I did actually try! lol) My solution: I cheated. lol  I stamped the image on my design paper before adhering the the cut out coloured image. That way, I didn't have to worry about fussing with those teeny tiny little details...I just snipped them off. Then, all I had to do was adhere the finished image right over top and voila...all those fabulous little tendrils and details can still be included on your final project. :) (and yes, I did the same thing for today's card!)

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: SCACD's "Princess"
Ink: Memento, Copics,
Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, MME
Embellishments: Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White
Tools: Spellbinders, Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork die

9 comments:

Jane said...

Wow Melanie this is fabulous! And I have to agree that Memory Box die is great - mine is up on my magnetic board as I type.
Hugs
Jane

Danni said...

Another truly gorgeous work of art!! Fabulous!

Unknown said...

Wow! This is incredible!!! Beautiful, beautiful card and the coloring is out of this world!

Chrissy said...

Melanie, this is just gorgeous...your colouring is superb, and a beautiful image, papers, and design....gorgeous.

Luv CHRISSYxx

Dana said...

Melanie this is stunning! I adore how you colored her horse!!

Rufus said...

Love this, including all the scrolly bits! I've got that die on my want list! Love this stamp, and the way you've colored it. All in all, one super card!
R/

Kelly Schelske said...

Absolutely gorgeous Melanie!

Mary Lou said...

Hi Melanie~~Specatacular work and thanks for tips on detail~~Good thinking :)
Love

Marilyn said...

Your work is truly a feast for the eyes...divine coloring skills! I especially love the way you high lighted, and shadowed, the features of her face! Genius!!