Guest Designer spot - Inkspirational Card Challenges

The sneak peek...

Good morning all and thank you so much for visiting my blog today. As you will see from the post title, today I am the Guest Designer over at Inkspirational Card Challenges.

As always, I was completely surprised to be announced as a top 3 winner with the card I made for my little Boy's 3rd Birthday as seen below, but even more shocked when I was chosen from the three to act as Guest Designer. I am honoured to be asked to do this, but I always find it rather daunting too. I always feel you have to create something truly spectacular to show yourself worthy of the opportunity.

When I was told the theme - blue with cream or white….I did initially panic at just how broad this theme was. However, I took a deep breath, got out my sketch book and began thinking of ideas to explore. Carol who is one of the designers at Inkspirational Card Challenges is a huge fan of shaker cards. This is something I have always wanted to try (I use a lot of sequins, crystals and pearls on my cards and so this was right up my street) and so I knew this was the way forward.

I thought back to the reason my 3rd Birthday card was chosen as the winner and it was due to the personality and emotion that shone through from it. I knew I had to put this same passion in to the card I was about to design and make.

As some of you will know, we lost my Grandad quite suddenly a few months back. He was a great watercolorist and I was honoured to become the proud owner of all of his painting equipment. I knew this card had to contain some form of water colouring. His wife (my Gran) is in a nursing home with Dementia. It is her birthday in August and I decided that it seemed very appropriate that the card should be for her. My Gran was a HUGE fan of butterflies. Everything had to have them on it - jewellery, scarves, ornaments etc. One of my favourite stamps is the butterfly from Visible Image and so I decided that this would have to feature too.

When I watched a tutorial for shaker cards, it was a square shaped shaker that was created. I never like to directly copy something I have seen and so I decided instead to create a hand drawn (very rough) butterfly shape. I used blue glitter card to add a touch of sparkle to the card. For the base of the shaker, I decided to use a technique I had learned on the Watercolour for Card Makers class which involves stamping and image, covering with masking fluid and then water colouring over the top. Once you remove the masking fluid, you are left with a completely unpainted stamped image. I stamped the large butterfly from Visible Image in Memento Paris Dusk and then used a few varying shades of blue paint for the water colouring. Once dried I added some white watercolour paint splatters and then peeled off the masking fluid. I wanted to give the butterfly some sparkle too and so I painted over it with a fine layer of  a water and pearl coloured perfect pearls mixture. This really gives a very subtle 'glisten' to the butterfly which is what I was aiming to achieve. Once dried, I added some blue and white sequins  and stars and then attached my shaker butterfly layer.  I already knew that I wanted to make this a double layered shaker and so I stamped, painted with perfect pearls and cut out the smaller butterfly from Visible Image. I added this to the top of the shaker and put dark blue pearls down the centre of the wings.

I had a gorgeous 'butterfly' sayings stamp in a set my Husband bought me for my Christmas by Personal Impressions that reads 'Birthday Wishes and Butterfly Kisses.' This seemed so appropriate for this card. I stamped this under the shaker in Paris Dusk and added a few accents by way of a hand drawn/cut heart made of white glitter card and a few blue crystals. Viola! Card finished. This card is SO what my Gran would have loved in days gone by. I say that because her memory has been completely taken over by the dementia and she doesn't remember the loves she once had. Her other great love was shoes….and lots of them! She had at least two big trunks full of high heels. I on the other hand, have just a wardrobe filled with shoes and handbags….I wonder who I take after???!!!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my ramblings and like the card. Any comments as always are so very much appreciated.

Laura xx