Stampin! with Jaydee

Hi Everyone.

Happy Tuesday,

I have just a couple more classes to take before I have to take the final for my Altenew Educator Certification Program.  I passed level 1 and level 2 and am now working on level 3.  One of the classes that I elected to take was Muse.  What a great class.  I think this was my favorite class so far.  I often have brain freezes when it comes to layout and colors and Carissa does an amazing job of explaining how to find inspiration in so many areas.  Not only does she talk about it - but she walks through her process, too.  If you find it hard to find inspiration, I can highly recommend this calls. 

In the class, Carissa also provides inspiration photos on the Pinterest board that she created especially for the class.  I was so inspired by the photos that I ended up making two cards instead of the required 1.

Let's start with the first inspiration photo:

I love the idea of the gold dipped feathers and remembered that I had an old PTI set that would work well for this.  That was my starting point.  I also noticed the texture of the background.  Although very subtle, there is some texture in the folds and creases and I wanted to capture that.

I began by stamping and die-cutting three feathers from the set and then I dipped the ends of each one into my Versamark pad and then covered them with superfine embossing powder.   I also added the "dot" details from one of the stamps onto the feathers - trying to replicate the feel of the gold chunky finish to the gold dipping. 

For my background, I used some Altenew woodgrain paper that is a wonderful beigy-pink and I thought that echoed the color of the background.  I added a gold embossed sentiment.

Here's my closeup of the feathers:

Here's the full card:

Of course, I needed to complete the inside.  This card is going to a friend who is going through a hard time right now and her attitude is so inspirational and this sentiment was perfect for the card.

I hope you can see the inspiration photo reflected in my finished card.  I'll be back tomorrow with the second card that I made for the class.  It's VERY different :-)

On personal note:

Lou and I got back on Sunday for a week in the Carolinas.  We had a wonderfully relaxing few days - it was like a long date!  As Lou travels so much, we don't often get to spend dedicated quality time together and the mountains sure were a good place to do it.  Asheville is a wonderful town with some of the most amazingly beautiful scenery in the surrounding area.  There was something about being 4000 feet above sea level and smelling the pure forest air. 

We also had a couple of really good dinners and then went south to spend a couple of days in Aiken, South Carolina.  Very different - but such a cool little place.  We stayed in a hotel built in the 1890s and it has that wonderful southern charm feel.

Consequently, I didn't get any time in my craft room for the last week, so made up for that yesterday!  It was also a good place to be as it was 98 degrees.   So, I kept in the cool of my craft room and stayed out of the heat.

I'l be back tomorrow with my other card - and some photos.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

card recipe:

• Stamps:  Feather Finery - PTI.  Sentiment:  Thinking of you - Altenew
• Embossing Powder:  Superfine gold - Altenew