My blog is called "Creative Smiles" because my designs are the result of incorporating mistakes. With fumble fingers that drop whatever they are holding - repeatedly, it takes a lot of giggles, smiles and creative patience during my crafting process. xx

Thursday, February 13, 2020

It's a Beautiful Day to Embrace Love - Lavinia World #20

Welcome, friends, to my humble blog.
It is my sincerest hope that you are each doing well, and that your families are enjoying good health.

Today's post includes a project "outside" my normal creative-style box, using new-to-me techniques, so I'm going to point out my boo-boo that I did not fix. Maybe you will learn from me, so you won't do the silly thing I did.



It is time for a new
Lavinia World Challenge!

Details of our Lavinia World ChallengeWinner receives
a $15 gift certificate to the Lavinia World store. Submissions can be placed either on our Lavinia World Challenge blog which has an ANYTHING GOES theme using ANY brand clear or rubber stamp - no digitals. Or you may play in our friendly Facebook Group called Anything Lavinia if using ANY Lavinia Product in your creationEither way, we enjoy seeing your artwork!

Today's story 


It's time for all creation to re-awaken to Love's own song! 
Trinity Fairy says we are to bring the Color of Caring to all the inhabitants of our precious planet!

I started by die cutting my own masks. To do this I used NON-HEATABLE-NON-EMBOSSABLE acetate sheets. These are much easier to die cut than the more durable acetate. The detailed stencil on the right is from my stash.


Sorry, I did not take photos.

My boo-boo's.

  1. Next, I applied the circle mask to my 6.75" x 4.75" white panel and put the stencil on top, distressing here and there with Antique Linen ink, and a bit more with Scattered Straw ink.
  2. Using Fairy Spells stamp, I randomly stamped with Walnut ink. HINT: Next time, I will leave more open space by stamping the background fewer times.
  3. With Walnut ink and a finger dauber, I pulled color from the center off the round mask outward. HINT: Next time, I will make the color more intense and pull it out slightly more, for more drama.
  4. Using another finger dauber and Spun Sugar Pink ink, I brought out more color from the center of the mask, in a starburst fashion, so some areas extend further out than other areas. HINT: Next time, I will make a greater fluctuation of the colored areas.
  5. After Removing the round stencil/mask, I applied the negative stencil/mask on top. Line up the circle. I placed another mask on top of that open circle. With Spun Sugar ink, I created detail on the magical "moon" and pulled Scattered Straw color INWARD toward the center of the circle.
  6. Finally I stamped the fairy with Pinecone Versafine Clair ink. Immediately, I realized my mistake. Do you see it?



I SHOULD HAVE:

Probably many of you know better than I - because my Logic works "backwards" when it comes to figuring things out. But it seems to me that once I figured out where I wanted the moon, I should have stamped the fairy FIRST, THEN applied the moon mask and carefully pulled colors around the fairy, so the moon would not show through her hair. Our should I have simply colored her white hair a darker color than the moon? What is the correct answer for remedying this design error? Thanks for your feedback.

Close up of the boo-boo:


With Pinecone Versafine Clair ink, I stamped the sentiment on vellum, and heat set with clear embossing powder. The sentiment is already distressed around the letters. Also, please notice the little stars floating to the heavens from her horn, reaching out to the universe for anyone who will listen to the Call:



The dragonfly brad was made hot with my heat tool and then dipped into a bottle of EP to change the color from hot yellow to bronze. I especially like embossing powders that contain mica powder for this technique. A Sakura Quickie Glue Pen added glitter to her wings. The edges of the card are distressed with Golden Meadow Versafine Clair ink and heat set with a champagne colored EP that has lots of light glitter colors in it.



Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you will upload at least one submission to our challenge for an opportunity to win a $15 store credit. AND IF YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION ABOVE, will you please let me know either via email or in a comment below? Thanks.





Products Used:

Challenges I would like to support please:

  1. Addicted to Stamps and More #376 Anything Goes 2/19
  2. Wednesday's Creative Inspirations Challenge (Feb 5) Anything Goes 3/4
  3. Unicorn Challenge #51 Anything Goes 2/28
  4. Classic Design Challenge #2 Anything Goes 3/1
  5. Love to Craft Challenge #43 Anything Goes 3/1
  6. Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2006 AG 2/16



Fairy Kisses,


40 comments:

Chris said...

This is so beautiful Donna, I love your magical dreamscape! Wonderful soft colours, the moon looks fantastic lighting up your pretty fairy and capturing the sparkle on her wings. The background stamping and stencilling-and the embossed edges are gorgeous too.

PS - I always stamp the focal image before masking off a moon when I play with these stamps!
Hope you're keeping well
hugs
xx

Donna Ellis said...

Thanks, Chris!
I guess it was one of those DUH moments for me, stamping the fairy after doing the background. LOL Live and Learn, right? Maybe other people won’t make the same mistake I did after seeing what happens when you do it backwards. LOL
hugs,
de

Lori m said...

LOL...OK you ladies had me looking, your scene is gorgeous as with the moon and I didn't find any mistakes, hugs, Lori m

KarinsArtScrap said...

it's gorgeous and sweet Donna

gr karin

Valentyna Komisarenko said...

Fantastic card! Thank you for sharing your card with us at ATSM!

Shona Erlenborn said...

Amazing creation! You are so hard on yourself, Donna. If you mean the the hair is lighter within the moon than out - just add a little of the Spun Sugar in the "moon" hair to make it the same. I think that is what you meant by "simply add a darker color"? Love all your glittery additions. and the vellum sentiment too. She is beautifully graceful.

Bunny said...

I don't care if you turn it upside down. It's still pretty.

The only thing I can think of is stamp the fairy. mask with liquid like Frisket, then mask the card to show only..............okay when I first started out I thought I was going to make sense. Now, I don't even know where I was going with that thought process. Egads! [Bunny]

Anne Temple said...

I think you outdid yourself! This is fabulous and I LOVE your color choices. The champagne ep is a perfect choice. I didn't even notice her hair until I looked hard. I probably would have left it alone, just like you did. Who knows, maybe light travels through all fairies hair :-)

Crafting Queen said...

Really beautiful card.

Grandma Bonnie said...

Wow, i love it all, Donna. I don't see mistakes at all, but i understand how you'd want to perfect things. As far as the hair goes i would use a bit of ink on a brush..like water coloring. If you are wanting pink behind it like the card?? I would love to watch you do a live video. I'd love to learn how you did the dragonfly, well i'd love to see the whole card done. I am more visual so a video would be awesome. :)

Sue said...

Hi Donna, That is lovely. Sue

Julie Odil said...

This is fantastic, Donna! Great use of products with the stencils, vellum, and of course, great stamps!

KraftyKoolKat said...

This is awesome Donna. I always adore your work, you are too hard on yourself.
Hugs
Cathy
xxxx

Jackie T said...

Hi Donna this is a stunning card. I love it. Those stamps are gorgeous. Take care. Hugs Jackie

KT Fit Kitty said...

It's gorgeous, Donna! I bet if you didn't mention your so-called boo-boo, no one would notice! I certainly didn't! Your fairy is so pretty with all the glitter, and your background is beautiful!

*Vicki* said...

I see no "boo boos" from my view! It's a gorgeous design and I really love how you've used the sentiment in the background! It's a very lovely and magical scene especially with the touches of glitter on her wings and along the edges too! Beautifully done! HUGS

Hazel (Didos) said...

Ah this is stunning, what a pretty card, I dont see any boo boos on it either! Love Hazelx

Donna said...

This is just gorgeous Donna. Like the color combo and how your carried the stenciling onto the moon-its fabulous. I tried to make a homemade stencil with stencil material and it was too heavy -acetate is a great idea-thanks! Also like you lovely gold embossing. And I would not change a think next time!

Leslie Miller said...

You must be the world's best second guesser, because I think this card is gorgeous just as it is. As for the fairy, I didn't notice at first, but now I see what you mean. I feel that a fairy's hair is probably magically diaphanous so it would naturally be see through. I do see the moon cutting through her body, though. When I don't get a dark enough black I'll sometimes color over it with a black Copic. I think your card is fabulous! BTW, I laughed out loud at Bunny's comment! I even went back and read it again and had another good giggle.

NanaConnie said...

I think the fairy is magnificent, error or not. The sparkle on her wings and around the edge of the card is the touch that makes this card so 'magical' !! I love the vellum for the embossed sentiment and how you created the entire scene with bunny and mushrooms and 'stars.' It's fantastic, my friend. :-D

Patti J said...

Donna, this is just delightful! I’ve looked and looked, and keep seeing new things! Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful creation with us!

Verna Angerhofer said...

This is so beautiful and as far as I can tell there is no boo-boos. I think the way it looks now has a more artistic look to it. So if it were me I would leave it just as it is. It is absolutely stunning!

cotnob said...

A gorgeous card Donna, you have created a beautiful background and your fairy is so pretty, you might have been outside of your normal comfort zone but it certainly doesn't look like it - you are so hard on yourself.
Pauline - Crafting with Cotnob
x

Beebeebabs said...

Another beautiful card - love the image and background you did a great job as always. Happy Valentine's Day my friend!!!

Donna Phelan said...

Such a pretty, glittery project! Great design (as always) Love that strip of Vellum! The details on the moon look AHmazing too!

jimlynn said...

Donna, your card is amazing and so beautiful - and no, there is not a mistake! I think it's so pretty just as is. Sensational!!!
Glad you're playing along at Pammie's Inky Pinkies too!
lynn

Dawn Phillips said...

I think it's stunning. I love the brown and pink shades you used. Love Dawn x

Sarah said...

Well, I can't see any mistakes here girl!! It really is a fantastic card with so much beautiful detail. You are too hard on yourself!! xx

R's Rue said...

Beautiful

Karen @ Misplaced Mojo said...

Oh, I don't think you want design tips from me, my friend! Any time masking is involved, you can count on me wasting my first attempt by doing it backwards! I did not notice the boo boo myself and had to look hard to see what you were bothered by. I think sometimes the nature of the stamp sets us up for this. After all, there shouldn't really be individual strands of hair showing if the image was truly in silhouette. In my opinion you had 4 choices, multiple masks, and the strands of hair would have been stark white, do what you did and allow the color to shine through, which could be taken as the moonlight on her hair, or use a colored gel pen, white or otherwise, to give her hair opacity and color, or use a paintbrush or Fantastick to fill in the details of her hair with the ink pad for a true silhouette. 99.9% of the people who look at this card will marvel at all the detail you put into it and see none of the flaws. You, my friend are the other 0.1%. I'm with Bunny... could be upside down or even backwards and its still gorgeous! But trying different stuff keeps us on our toes, doesn't it?!?

Conniecrafter said...

Oh wow I think maybe you are over guessing everything, you do such amazing work and I would say this is perfection, when I read there was boo boos I am looking this card over so good and I said there is not one thing wrong with this card, so I would say I understand wanting to go a little darker next time of changing up the order in which you do it but this is perfection to me. Oh and I love your idea for the dragonfly brad too, I have a bunch of them that were given to me that are all pastel colors and I just was wondering if I would ever use them, I love your idea here, hope I can remember, LOL!

crafty-stamper said...

Absolutely gorgeous card Donna love the silhouette stamps and layers of stamping and stencilling-must admit I didn't see any boo boos but when you make it they jump out at you but no-one else sees them
Carol x

Steph Ackerman said...

Fantastic card, love the colors, stamping and stenciling.

Nonnie's Cards and Gifts said...

Donna- this is just fabulous! The dimension with the stencils is amazing. Great work. Vicki

Mac Mable said...

Nope ...no errors that I can see and I really looked hard and even squinted my eyes! I only see a beautiful card and so very pretty. Great stamping and scene making, love the wings and extra loving the dragonfly with the embossing and shine x. Another stunning card.
Sorry to take awhile to comment Donna but I really wanted to read and re-read this post and work out your process and boo-boos but try as I may I absolutely love this card and thank you for the tons of inspiration x.

Lena said...

Oh Donna, by now you have to know that there are no mistakes when making a card - there are just creative opportunities :-) I'm sticking with quote!!! :-) Your card is beautiful. I especially love the sparkle and the sentiment stamped on the vellum ... just so soft! Love it!
Have a great day!
Hugs,
♥ Lena ~ DT
Lena’s Creations

cass said...

She looks gorgeous. Thanks for joining us at The Unicorn Challenge Blog for our "Anything Goes" challenge.

Aimeslee Winans said...

Ok, I'll play and indulge you, sweet Donna (because these are teeny weeny unnoticeable boos but I know, the perfectionist in you must be placated). I would not have changed the stamping order. You might have messed up by having to work around her. My idea would be to use a Signo white gel pen and fill in all the light/white lines of her hair in contiguous strokes top to bottom . And I bet you no one would notice that the blacks are not exactly the same depth. The white of the gel pen distracts the eye pretty well. Have a fabulous week and I hope you are feeling well. XOXOX

Arteconpapelmaderaehilos said...

WOW! Gorgeous project. Thank you for sharing in our challenge at Classic Design Challenge we really appreciate you joining in.

Maritza DT

crafty-stamper said...

Hi Donna just pooping back to say-Thank you for joining us at Unicorn
Carol DT x