Lovely as a Tree card and some questions answered...

Can you believe that I've had the Lovely as a Tree for about 4 years now and have NEVER used this oak tree stamp?

I got the set with some hostess credit years ago because I loved the line of naked trees that comes in this set. For the last 4 years, it's been all about that one stamp for me.

I've seen beautiful cards done with this oak tree and thought, "Oh, isn't that gorgeous." But I could never wrap my head around being able to use the stamp myself.

I set a challenge for myself yesterday and told myself to not only make a "Guy card," but to also use a stamp in my collection that I either haven't used in a long time, or that I've never used at all. This was kind of hard for me as I don't really have a lot of stamps in my collection that haven't been kissed with ink.

This oak tree stamp stared at me and taunted me. I told myself, "Oh, heck with it, Erika. Suck it up and use the darn thing. It's not THAT scary of a stamp. IT HAS NO POWER OVER YOU!" And so here you go.

So many of you have asked how my creative process works. To be honest with you, it's all over the place. Some things that work for one card may not work for another card. Sometimes I have the card already envisioned in my head when I start and I nail it just like I saw it in my head. Other times, I have something envisioned and when the card is finished, it's completely different than what I saw in my mind. There are times that I start a card and have something in mind for it and only half of it comes out the way I saw it in my mind and I tweak things as I go along....add a new color, change a greeting out, turn things a different way, etc.

There are two things that always stay constant for me in my creative process. One is that I always start with the stamps first and then work the rest of my design around the stamp images. The other is that I try to stay FAR away from magazines, websites and books when I'm in the middle of creating. I get quite a few magazines and LOVE to look at them and get ideas, but I find that I'm easily overwhelmed if I look at them WHEN I'm in the midst of the creative process. For some people, it helps. For me, it overwhelms.

Some of you have asked what I do when I have a "creative block." When I have a creative block, I usually walk away from the desk, put on a Putamayo CD (these are a collection of cultural music CDs and run the gamut from Turkish to Greek, from Reggae to Celtic, from Gypsy to African.....they cover the globe in music) and come back a little while later. Sometimes a bowl of creamed corn helps, too. Now......I'm not guaranteeing that if you eat a bowl of creamed corn and dance around your craft desk to the tunes of Bob Marley that you're going to be hit with creative inspiration, but it does work for me most of the time. :) If you DO try it, though, definitely let me know if it worked because I just might be on to something. ;) The point is.....I find that if I walk away from the project for just a little while and redirect my thoughts somewhere else, I usually come back with a fresh perspective or a new idea that I didn't think about before.

For this card, I knew that I wanted to watercolor the tree image, but that was about it.

When I watercolor, I like to use either my Watercolor Wonder Crayons or pick up my  color directly from the lids of my ink pads. I used the lid of my ink pads for this card. I went over it first with Old Olive ink and then touched it up with some Always Artichoke ink. Same thing for the ground and the tree "shadows" under the tree. I used Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa for the tree trunk. I used a wide flat brush and did a wash of Bashful Blue ink for the sky.

I used my handy-dandy little distressing tool on my Cutter Kit to rough up the edges of the cardstock layers before I mounted it to my card. It just seemed so appropriate for a natural looking card.

You all know how much I LOVE to swipe my cardstock for added texture so I did that with the Creamy Caramel layer under the tree and also on the Close to Cocoa card. I used Close to Cocoa ink to swipe around the outside edges of the card for more definition. The Creamy Caramel ink on the cardstock surfaces give it such a nice rough-velvet look. (Click on THIS POST to read more about the "swiping" technique)

I'm not sure yet who I'm going to send this card to. Maybe I'll slip it into the husband's lunch box next week as a surprise.

I'm so excited that it's Friday. There's just something about them that makes them so enticing to me.....maybe it has to do with the fact that it's payday for the hubby. ;) Or maybe it's the fact that I can spend the whole weekend with him....okay, maybe it's both. ;) ha!

Have a lovely weekend.....I plan on FINALLY putting together a scrapbook page that I've been thinking about for a while. And yes, you'll get to see it sometime soon.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree & Sincere Salutations stamp sets (both Stampin' UP); Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Confetti White; Ink: Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Basic Brown, Jet Black Staz-on; distressing tool from the Cutter Kit; fine and wide flat paintbrushes and water

Comments

[Bee]

I'm looking forward to see your scrapbooking, so far I've only seen your cards I think.... When are you sharing your altered books with us?

I had a good laugh picturing you dancing around with a bowl of creamed corn and Bob Marley in the back.. :-D (of course you were wearing one of your favorite shirts with holes in it....)

Have a good creative week-end...
Bee

[Carol]

I just hope you were dancing well away from your desk so nothing splashed on the incomplete project!

Great card, you've coloured it beautifully :-D

[Alexandra Hobson]

Love it Erika - what a great stamp! Your card is gorgeous and perfect for the fall. And, be careful not to spill anything on those unfinished projects - LOL! *STAMPIN HUGS* Alex

[bettyannmanghi]

LoVeLy! That card is gorgeous. You've outdone yourself again. I really like your water colouring job and colour combos!

[Rain]

Your work is absolutely beautiful. I love to stamp. I came across your page by accident and I am SO glad I did. It made me smile.
Thanks
Rain

[bluemoon]

I love your Oak Tree. I have the same, it worked out nicely for my godfather in the hospital. I only had SU chalks at the time, so coloured and sprayed. It was perfect for my ill godfather. Love how you coloured the sky blue. Thanks for sharing. Happy Day :)