The Little Things....

Stamps: #3019 Jolly Wreath from Magnolia-Licious; sentiment from Memory Box
Paper: Memory Box
Other: Nestabilities; gold ribbon from Michaels; Kaiser pearls; Vintage Christmas Flower Soft; Icicle Stickles; Martha Stewart branch punch and Doily border punch; charm and flowers from Bunny Zoe's Store.
Copics: Hair: E99,Y23,11.....Shirt: R89, 85; 81....Green on dress: YG99, 97, 95...Dress: E42,41, 0000...shoes: E47,44,43.


Hello! Thanks for stopping by today!! I know! I know! I haven't posted again for almost a week. My hubby got laid off from work almost 2 weeks ago and with him home my schedule for making cards and posting to the blog is all messed up. Plus, I can't have him knowing how much time I really spend on and off the computer all day! hahahaha
Although it is scary that there is no paycheck coming in, I do like having him around. And so do the kids. Normally Pat works 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. Then on Sundays he is always doing stuff around the house. He doesn't like to be idle and no one can ever accuse him of being lazy! I guess growing up on a Dairy farm does this...as all of his brothers and sisters are very hard workers. They don't know how to take a break. In fact, none of them have hobbies or side interests like golf. Pat always talks about retiring...so he can open up his own painting (walls not art!) business...LOL...oooh...the relaxation of retirement! hahahaha
So he is keeping busy around here....trust me there is plenty to do....but at least he doesn't feel so rushed. However, it is hard to enjoy it completely as it is scary not knowing when we will have a paycheck again. I am not typically a worrier. Pat is very much a worrier. I tend to believe that "every thing will work out". I have several reasons why I think this way....from believing in kharma to believing in God's plan. :) But I am starting to worry. I wish I could say we have oodles of money in the bank to pay for the bills, but we don't. And the thought of Christmas....YIKES. I don't want to tell Pat that even I am worried, otherwise that might push him over the edge. I really thought that he wouldn't actually get laid off and that if he did he had enough contacts and resources that he would be working again after a couple of days. Unfortunately, things are not panning out that way. *sigh* I am sorry to vent it all here....many times I feel that blogging about stuff is like therapy...an impartial/unaffected 3rd party. I also know that in this economy we are not the only ones.

Anyhoooooooooo, I took lots of pictures of this card to share with you. Although I chit chat a lot on here, I don't share many details about my cards....why? Because I don't feel that I am doing anything so special that I need to explain it. LOL! I think my cards are fine. I can cut a straight edge and can color in the lines! It took me about 3+ hours to make this one card. And I looked at it and thought: WHY?!! Why does such a simple looking card take me so long?! Then I thought of all the "Little Things" that are not difficult...just time consuming. So I thought I would share some of these things with you. If this is the stuff you want me to post more often let me know...because I feel that I may just be boring you these details.

My first dilemma was choosing which Tilda to use! I received my So Jolly stamps from Magnolia-licious and they are seriously, ALL SO STINKIN' ADORABLE that I couldn't decide on which one to start with! Diana still has some in stock...for the moment!! So head on over to get yours! Diana usually gets them out to you lickety split!

I always, always, ALWAYS choose my paper first. I color my images to match the paper I want to use. This way I don't spend an hour coloring an image to my satisfaction and then not have the paper to coordinate with it. I could have colored this image with a true RED and true Green...but honestly, most of my Christmas papers that I have do not have true red or true green in them. I have a lot of burgundy and olive. Or non traditional colors like pink, teal and orange.

Next is the coloring: I usually have to color 2 images...I will get half way through the 1st one and mess up some how. I also keep an extra image or 2 handy to try things out on. Which set of reds will achieve the look I want? I can't always tell just by looking at my Copic chart. How do I achieve the light, barely there beige that I have in my head? And quite honestly, one of the hardest things for me when coloring faces is the CHEEKS! Not rosey enough or too red! So I do them and hope for the best. Then I might go over them with My E000 to lighten them up...then it dries and they look too light. So I go back and add a little more R11...then a little R20....ACK! Too red now! go back and do E000 over the face...Now she looks ghostly. Add some E00...More R20 for the cheeks...oh darn!!! by now her cheeks have expanded to her whole face! My coloring is not a science! LOL! Sometimes I literally say to myself: Kerry, put down the markers and walk away. Soooo I go get a drink or something and come back and look at the image with fresh eyes. Coloring a Tilda or Edwin can take me an hour or more. I enjoy it. And I usually like the end result, so that is why I don't mind putting this time into it. Plus, someone's coloring is probably the 1st thing I notice when I look at a card.
Something else that I consider after I use my die to cut around the image....Do I want to leave a mostly white background behind Tilda or sponge or color....if I don't want to leave the white...what look am I going for? This determines the color of ink I use to to sponge. Much of the time I choose brown...it is a safe color for me! LOL! Not on this card, but often, I will go around the edge of the cardstock around the image with my 2 way glue pen, then dip it into glitter....just have the slightest sparkle around the image.

Assembling the card. I don't adhere anything down until I am sure...and even them, I am usually trying to pull something apart. I use an ATG gun and that adhesive is TACKY...once paper is adhere to paper....usually that's it! No changing your mind! LOL! I try to decide what part of the pattern on the paper do I want peeking out and what can be under the main image.
I hem and I haw....about what embellishments to use....where to put them...not having the right color ribbon. Wishing my charm was gold or brass toned instead of silver because I want to use gold ribbon and I usually don't like to mix silver and gold. Should I use the wreath charm or the stocking? What about the Christmas tree charm...But she's holding a wreath...why not use the wreath? I don't want to over do it on the wreaths...the stocking looks cute...Man! I wish it wasn't silver! Then flowers are always a big deal...do I have ones that coordinate with my paper? Do I really want to start "fluffing it up" with a bunch of flowers? Where will I put them if I do? Does this take away from the image? With this card I decided NOT to put any on the from of the card because I knew I was going to add Flower Soft to thee wreath and thought that maybe having all that FS on the wreath and a bunch of flowers would just be a bit too much. Again, I don't always think that More is More. It can be distracting.
To get the bow and ribbon to look and lay nicely I do them separately. I wrap a piece of flat ribbon around the card stock and adhere it with the ATG in the back. No tying or knots yet. Then with a separate piece of ribbon I tie my bow. Before adhering it with a glue dot, I take a piece of thread and tie it around the flat ribbon that is already on the card so that it is slightly puckered and it gives it the look that it was made with all one piece of ribbon. if I didn't do this, the flat ribbon in the back would be wider than the knot of the bow. Does this make sense? Also before placing the bow on, I tie a piece of clear thread onto the charm and adhere the thread with a glue dot behind the bow. This way it looks like it was tied up with the bow. I do not put any adhesive behind the actual charm...it swings freely.

Flower Soft and/or Stickles. I assemble and adhere the entire card (inside and out) before I add the Flower Soft and Stickles. Why ? Because these things need to dry and if I am working with the card still I will mess up the FS or stickles. And plenty of time I have added my stickles and then decided that I need to "fix" something else or add something else...and end up smearing the stickles! All over my image and my hands. Flower is interesting stuff. it can get a bit "flat" or spotty....so I layer it over itself sometimes. Because the wreath had little ins and outs and not a strait edge I actually squirted the glue down then used a small paint brush to spread into the smaller spots. then smooshed my FS on. I let it dry for a few minutes then squirted more glue right on top of the stuff that was already there. (the glue dries clear.) Then smooshed on another layer. You must let the first layer dry a bit first!! otherwise it will slide around.
Because I had a thick layer of flower soft Tilda's hands looked lost. I mean if she were holding the wreath her hands would be over the wreath...not sunk down into it. so I stamped another image...colored the hands only and cut them out. Then I pop-dotted them over the original image.
Finally, I used a small paintbrush to apply stickles. I squirted the stickles onto a scrap piece of paper, then picked it up with a paint brush to the wings. I did this because I only wanted a thin layer on the wings AND because I wanted to make sure to get into the little tiny spots. To do her "halo" I just squirted it directly one, but did use the paint brush to move it around a little to have an even coat...so it wasn't bumpy. Then I thought it would look pretty to add some stickles to the flowers that are keeping the easel part up. So again with the brush and scrap paper I applied a thin coat to the edges of the petals and the leaves/ branches.

So that's why such a simple looking card can take me so long! You can click on any picture to see it larger.

I know I have to announce a winner for my blog candy....I forgot that yesterday was the 1st. I have to run now as tying this post has taken me forever....so I will it announce the winner later today!

Have a Fantabulous Wednesday!