The little things that make me happy here on Bliss Road~~Emily Keaton

Friday, October 22, 2010

Autumn Snowman

So, I have an SCS friend whose birthday is coming up at the beginning of November. I know she loves snowmen so I wanted to make her a snowman birthday card. But because her birthday is smackdab in the middle of autumn, I couldn't bring myself to make a card that is too winter-y (or worse, Christmas-y). The new Color Throwdown colors for this week are dusty durango, perfect plum, and so saffron, so I thought I'd give them a whirl for a snowman card. Here is the result of my big experiment! It's certainly not something you see everyday.
Having no actual dusty durango or perfect plum, I had to substitute colors, but I think these are reasonably close. I stamped the snowman in burnt umber and colored him using a blender pen with Stampin' Pastels and SU inks. The sky and snow are sponged in with some strategic masking. My original thought was to stamp two snow people (and make one a woman) and have them hold a little birthday banner strung between them, but the sketch didn't really allow for two. So that's when I thought of making a little message flag instead. I'm sure you can see that my flag pole is a colored party toothpick!

I just received my very first Smooch (Gold Lame) from Mark's Finest Papers. I wasn't sure how best to use it, so I tried it out for the first time by "gilding" the edges of some of my shapes. I still have to get used to applying it evenly (try really hard not to look at the gloppy boo-boo at the bottom of the oval--HEY, I said don't look!), but I like the overall result. Next time it should go more smoothly. Fingers crossed! Then I need to look into other Smooch applications.

Here are the challenges that went into the making of this card:
Well, thanks for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss!! Have a super weekend. :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Snowman Country, Mark's Finest Papers Owl Be Here (flourish), SU Lots of Thoughts (sentiment)
Paper: SU so saffron CS, SU tangerine tango CS, DCWV textured CS, MFP natural CS, DCWV Indian Summer Stack DP
Ink: Palette burnt umber & violette, SU so saffron, Versamark
Accessories: CM oval cutting system, sponge, Gold Lame Smooch (from Mark's Finest Papers), Stampin' Pastels, blender pen, dimensionals, toothpick, American Crafts felt flowers, brads
Techniques: sponging

17 comments:

Mona Pendleton said...

Super cute card Emily! Love the soft water color accents on that darling snowman!

Carol Hurlock said...

Emily this snowman is just adorable for a Birthday card. I love the colors and you creative little Birthday sign. Just fabulous.

Bear Hugs,
Carol :O}

ChristineCreations said...

You know you wouldn't *think* snowman with these colors but WOW you really made it work Emily! Fantastic!

Colleen Dietrich said...

What a cute autumn snowman! I'm sure in parts of the world, there are definitely snowmen being built in fall! I like your strategic masking and sponging for sky and ground, the party toothpick banner, and the gloppy boo-boo (oh, you know I HAD to look!!).

Kookzi will love it!

Eva said...

This is just so adorable...love the inside, too....I bet your friend will LOVE it, too!

Kimba's Kreations said...

This is such a pretty card!!!

Kristy Smith said...

This card is adorable! I absolutely love the colors! What a great idea to use a snowman with fun colors for a birthday card! I love it!

Dawn B. said...

Emily this is terrific.. I love the colors you chose..She is going to treasure this. I think the party tooth pick is perfect.. Great job.

Stacy Morgan said...

Very sweet Emily. I like the gold edging... I didn't look too close. hee hee I am sure she will love it.

Tammy Hershberger said...

Adorable card! I love how you managed to use these colors for a wintery card! Thanks for joining us for the Throwdown!

Laura Pryor said...

Hey there! This is a great card! Not easy to pull off a wintery design with fal colors but you totally did it! Thanks for playing along at the COlor Throwdown Challenge!

Meg said...

Tee-hee, fun card, Emily, and definitely not the usual "snowman" colors!

I didn't see any glob of gold smooch on the bottom..I did see a wonderful "distressed vintage gold frame" look on the oval, though. :)

Laura Pryor said...

Hey Emily! I already left you a comment, but I was going through some of the entries at the Color Throwdown again this morning and I just noticed that you're from Mass!!!! ME TOO!!!! I almost NEVER see stampers from Massachusetts! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one! Ha!

Anita said...

Very cute Emily. I love the colors and the inside is so pretty too.

Benzi said...

I just knew I had commented on this card and several others...guess I saw them on SCS. I am playing catch up with comments today and tonight. It does not pay to get behind. I love your card with the cute toothpick/flag message.
Oh, I had to look and then didn't see a boo-boo. LOL

Pam said...

Love your card! The colors are gorgeous!

Kathy said...

Your friend is going to love this! Love the colors and composition :)