Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Black + White + 1 color) + Color Throwdown #530 + Fab Friday #157
I will admit that black and white with a color is a recurring color combo in many online challenges - and not a personal favorite. I just love working with colour, so while black and white is classic, I find it a little constraining. Today, though, I found inspiration quickly for the Color Throwdown combo. I had recently noticed that the image of the otter pair from the Christmas Like No Otter stamp set looked like it could fit perfectly into a heart and I had left the stamp set on my desk to see if I could make something based on that idea. Because I could color the two otters in grey, it was easy to build on my idea using the suggested color combo.
For the background, I was eager to test out my new Cosmic Shimmer Luna Paste. My local store had the full color range. They were all beautiful, but because they were a try, I went for the Monnlight Pearl and figured I could try dying it with reinkers to create my own variety of colours. Here, I started with the paste as is and I found a Hero Arts stencil called Waves that was perfect for my floating otters. Let me tell you - that paste is GORGEOUS! It's different from any other texture pastes I've used so far. It does not contain glitter and it's not a smooth metallic paste either. It looks like it contains micro foil flakes. The result has an amazing texture and shine. Love at first use!
For my main image, I stamped the otters and colored them with Copic markers. I then tried another new item I wanted to try: the Molotow masking fluid round tip marker. Last month, I had tested out the Nuvo masking fluid and I was not pleased with the application I got from the bottle's tip. As I talked about in THIS post, the fluid was runny and really hard to keep within the line. For that reason, I decided to give the Molotow marker (which I had seen at my local store before) a try. It was my first use and I'm really happy with the application. I got a nice, even coat and the felt tip allowed me great control over where the fluid was going. No bubbles, no running and great coverage. In this instance, I rubbed Distress Oxide ink around the image using the Blending Brushes from Picket Fence Studios. I also stamped the waves from the same stamp set in the same color ink. I used my adhesive remover and it lifted the resin right up, with no residue left and very quickly.
I wanted to add a French sentiment so I went looking for options. I thought for sure I could find something about being a great pair, but didn't have anything with that word. (It surprises me that after building quite a collection over 15 years, there are still some obvious sentiments that I don't have.) So I filtered my sentiment spreadsheet based on the the love theme and I found "I smile because of you" in a stamp set from last year's Stampin' Up! catalogue. I liked the sentiment, font and size, so I stamped it on a white heart and I sponged some grey ink around the edges to soften them up. Did the same to the edges of the grey scalloped heart.
Since the sketch I was basing my design on had a few more hearts, I die-cut a smaller scalloped heart out of black cardstock and added a striped heart in the middle. When I was looking at sentiment options, I had taken the XOXOXO Border die out. I realized I could snip it apart and use only XOXO in the smaller heart. I like how that detail turned out!
Then I started assembling. I cut my stenciled panel to size, added a black stitched frame around the card and decided to sprinkle some clear sequins and confetti to fill in the blanks a bit. Tiny clearn hearts were added around the otters because they look like water droplets.
Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Like No Otter (Lawn Fawn); Amour et tendresse (Love & affection - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Going Grey, Whisper White, Berry Burst
Ink: Berry Burst, Smoky Slate Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Accessories: Moonlight Pearl Luna Paste (Cosmic Shimmer); Blender Brush (Picket Fence Studios);
Waves Stencil (Hero Arts); Crystal Clear Hearts (Essentials by Ellen); Assorted Moonshine Sequins (Simon Says Stamp);
Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix (Pretty Pink Posh); Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope, Sponge Daubers,
Sassy & Sweet Framelits, Glitter Enamel Dots (Stampin' Up!); Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables, Lacy Heart Stackables,
Stitched Rectangle Frames Dies, XOXOXO Border Die (Lawn Fawn); Markers (Copic)
What a great take on our b/w + 1 color theme this week! Love your design!!! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! /Karin
Posted by: Karin | February 20, 2019 at 00:38
What a cute image! Great background too! Thanks for joining us at Fab Friday, hope to see you again soon!
Posted by: Amy Koenders | February 20, 2019 at 09:35
Absolutely adorable - I love these little guys holding hands, and what a great way to handle the color challenge! Love that fun background paper, too! Thanks so much for playing at Fab Friday!
Posted by: Heather H | February 20, 2019 at 11:12
So cute! I love snuggly otters and they look fantastic on this metallic card! Very fun card. Thanks for sharing at Fab Friday!
Posted by: Amanda Mertz | February 28, 2019 at 15:50