Cute Chemist

Inspiration: As You See It #209

My answer to the question "My go-to die or punch that I use the most often is..." is going to be very unoriginal, but it's my rectangle dies. Ironically, rectangles are the very last shapes I ever purchased when I started investing in dies. I remember thinking that I would make those easily with my paper cutter so I didn't see the point. (Try eyeballing a perfect circle though...). Once the stitched shapes became popular the rectangles then became more appealing to me. Now, I almost can't forego using them now because my card base looks so naked to me if there's around the frame!

That left possibilities wide open for what to make for the challenge so I ended up going for one of my Stamping Bella stamps. First, because most of their images are pretty big and will fill up most of a card on their own and second, because I was itching to play with my new Faber-Castell watercolor pencils some more. Aside from a small practice piece, this is the first full image I'm coloring with them. I am amazed at the results. I like that the sharp ends of the pencil allow to add color in small nooks and crannies, which was especially useful for this image, as there's a lot of little details (those chicks are pretty small). I used a combination of Aqua Painter brushes of three different sizes and even a blending pen for the smallest areas. The image still seemed a little bare once I had colored everything so I decided to add a yellow halo around her and it made a huge difference to make the card feel more complete. I was also impressed at how much cardstock I managed to cover by simply adding a line around the image and dragging the pigment out.

For the sentiment, I wanted something in French but I wasn't sure what I could use to tie the sentiment to the image. As I was going through stamp sets, I remembered something issued last year that said "If you didn't exist, we'd have to invent you." How perfect! The size was also working, and I used a piece of patterned paper to make a banner, embossing the sentiment in navy powder on it. To make the banner, I used my triple banner punch, which is probably my current most-used punch. Which is funny because this is yet another punch that I initially thought was not necessary as I can definitely do my own cut with scissors. This clearly illustrates that over the years, you build up your craft tool arsenal and then you start going more and more into specifics. When you start, you invest in things that will give you the widest array of uses and over time, either you become more lazy or you now have build up on the basics enough to move on to tools that will only accomplish one thing, but accomplish it well. That banner punch has definitely already paid for itself.

I don't know if the Envelope Punch Board counts, but if it does, it's another of my most-used punches and I pulled it out here to make a matching envelope. That wasn't really planned based on the challenge, though - I was just down to a few scraps of paper and the yellow polka dot paper was still big enough to make an A2 envelope out of, so I decided to go for it. (Patterned paper is my personal weakness, and my stack of it is growing scarily tall, so you might see a lot more handmade envelopes in the future to try and make a dent in the stash!)

As one last bit of embellishment, I added Bright Glitter Sprinkles from Doodlebug around the sentiment and dabbed some Bottle Green and Rhubarb Crumble Crystal Drops bubbling out of the beakers. My crystal drops are not as easy to control as they were when I purchased them. One blogger I follow mentioned that they thicken over time and that you can add a few drops of distilled water to them to dilute them back to their initial consistency. I did just that, we'll see if the next application goes more smoothly. I like the green bubbles better, I think I added too many pink ones... I also added Glossy Accents to the glasses and the beakers for good measure.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tiny Townie Sage Loves Science (Stamping Bella); Amour et affection (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Summer Starfruit (Stampin' Up!); Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Patterned Papers: Jubilee (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn; VersaMark
Accessories: Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils (Faber-Castell); Glossy Accents (Ranger);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush, Rhubarb Crumble and Green Bottle Crystal Drops (Nuvo);
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, Triple Banner Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Bright Glitter Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

 

Comments

[Karen Brown]

I have Sage the Scientist too and just love that stamp! You did a great job with your cute card. :-)

[LeAnne]

This is adorable! The coloring reminds me of a Mary Engelbreit creation! Very cute and seasonal! I love my rectangle dies too...I thought I would never need them either, but they are quite handy! I love all my dies actually! Thanks for sharing this with us at AYSI this week!!

[Amy Jasper]

I love Stamping Bella stamps (shh, don't tell anyone!). Your card is gorgeous all around. Love the colour and the playfulness of it! Thanks for playing along at the As You See It Challenge blog!

[Joanne James]

Your cute scientist is adorable Cindy! I love how the bubbles of her potions are echoed in the dotty background paper too. Glad you are a lover of the Envelope Punch Board too (it totally counts!!) I wouldn't be without mine - best tool EVER! Thanks for sharing your creation with us over at AYSI this week!