Floral Symphony in Gold

It feels like spring. Warmer temperatures, the smell of new mulch, birds chirping in the early morning, bulbs nudging their way out of the earth .... I love the rebirth and renewal of the season. I had a brief respite from deadlines these last couple of days, and used the opportunity to take a break from stamping. I know it's only been two days since my last post, but seriously, it feels like two weeks. Normally, even if I'm not posting, I'm still busy making things. This time, I I took a break and rejuvenated by doing some other things that feed my soul but I don't make time for as much as I should. Like playing the piano for one. I have a beautiful baby grand piano in my living room that is little more than a piece of furniture these days. My Rachmaninoff ended up a cacophony of crashing bass notes thanks to my curious toddler's wandering fingers, and my Chopin (yes, I love the romantics) was ousted by "I Scream for Ice Cream" thanks to my five-year-old. But that's okay. I played, and it felt good.

On to today's card ... Lots of aspects of this card are out of my norm, but I like the final result. The card was really built around the Que Sera Sera designer papers by K&Co. I picked up an 8x8 pack at Michael's quite a few weeks ago, and until now have had zero luck working with them. They're beautiful papers, don't get me wrong - I just haven't been able to make them work. Last week, I saw my blog friend Gretchen use one of the patterns on this beautiful card she made, and I was determined to get the pack back out and beat it into submission. The whole gold thing came about from the gold cord. I had fussed with some wide olive ribbon for a while before giving up and changing to something more narrow. A lot more narrow. Once the gold cord was on there, I decided to try heat embossing the image in gold, Jerri Kay-style. Then I couldn't get stopped. Gold embossed edges on the different panels, gold brads, flattened gold bead caps (jewelry making supply) on the buttons. I hope it doesn't look overdone or gaudy. You know, your own eyes start to play tricks on you after a while! The floral image is from Verve's new Floral Symphony, and the sentiment is from Fluttering By, also by Verve.

The layout is Jen del Muro's awesome Sketch For You To Try this week. Stop by her blog, i{heart}2stamp to see the sketch, Jen's sample, and guest designer Jenn Dierks's sample. Then show some love to the other SFYTT sisters: Amy Rohl, Carole Burrage, Kelly Lunceford, and Susan Liles. When you're ready to play along, go back to i{heart}2stamp and use Mr. Linky to add yourself to the list of participants. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: SFYTT.

I also made this for today's Inspiration Challenge on SCS, which was to choose anything from Fitz and Floyd. I like to shop while looking for inspiration and hit the jackpot with the Bellacara collection. I've been thinking lately how nice it would be to get some new dinnerware, and this is SOOOOO me! My kitchen, breakfast room, and dining room are all done in these exact colors. I'll have to tuck this info away for "someday," and in the meantime be satisfied with making a card.

Last (sorry I'm chatty today), if you haven't been keeping up with the daily happenings at Our Daily Bread Designs, stop by the ODBD blog and catch up. Each day, a few members of the design team are posting projects and tutorials, plus there's new blog candy every day. It's all part of the one-year anniversary celebration. On stage today are Jane Wetzel and Judy Rozema. The show continues tomorrow and Monday, then on Tuesday, we will be doing a blog hop to showcase a most amazing pair of anniversary stamp sets. I can't wait for you to see what Kelley has put together to commemorate her first year in business!




Stamps: Floral Symphony and Fluttering By (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Ruby Red; K&Co Que Sera Sera dp
Ink: Encore Gold Metallic, SU Tangerine Tango
Accessories: Darice bead caps; SU Ruby Red buttons, brads, gold cord; Spellbinders Labels 1 Nestabilities and tag die; BossKut Vintage Tag die, #0834; Mark Richards bling; sparkly gold embossing powder (unknown); Copic markers (YR16, E09, YG95, G99); Martha Stewart border punch; Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder; foam adhesive