INSPIRATION STRIKES AT ANY HOUR

Have you ever had one of those moments of inspiration in the midde of the night and just couldn't rest until you got the idea down on paper? I had one of those this morning. Samson (my big dog) woke me at 3:30 a.m. whining to be let out for a potty break. I roused myself enough to realize John was sleeping in the living room in the recliner (apparently he was afraid his 3 cups of coffee before bed would keep ME awake!) so I had to actually get out of bed to wake him. HE lets the dog out - NOT ME! By the time I walked back to the bedroom I was wide awake and decided it was a fine time to stamp. I had this beautiful stamp with a bench and flowers I had purchased at a Garage sale earlier in the summer which I hadn't used yet and a new one from Hobby Lobby that talks about "rest". The two just seemed to go together so off I began. Let me tell you it did NOT turn out at all as I envisioned. In fact - it almost went in the garbage after 2 hours of work!!! I went back to bed at 6 a.m. totally disgusted with the result - woke back up at 7 a.m. and spent another 30 minutes reworking it. THIS IS THE RESULT.

First I stamped the image in Black Stazon on 140# watercolor paper and colored it using SU markers, an aqua painter and blender pen. I added my gold metallic paint to the scrolled ironworks on the bench using my Gold Ziggy Paint Pen then brighted it with a touch of Summer Sun marker. I rounded the corners, sponged the edges with Not Quite Navy and Close to Cocoa then layered onto a scalloped rectangle of Chocolate Chip. I added gold dots in each scallop with the Zig Pen. Gold ribbon was added on the diagonal of two opposing corners and gold brads were placed in the corners. I colored paper flowers using markers and the Zig Pen and cut leaves from a scrap piece of Bella Rose Designer Paper. These were layered onto a piece of BigShot embossed Chocolate Chip cardstock. The last thing I did was to stamp the greeting in Basic Brown on Watercolor Paper, sponge the edge in Close to Cocoa then cut around it with paper snips and tuck it under the flowers and ribbon.

This card was based on a Splitcoaststampers challenge from this past Monday. Every Monday on Splitcoast there is a new technique challenge. This week was to create a card using the stair-step fold. The Santa stamp is from Rubbernecker. The house stamp - borrowed from a friend and the trees are a stamp from Stampin'Up!s "Lovely as a Tree". This was a fun technique and definitely challenging. First I stamped the trees onto white card stock then sponged thesky using Not Quite Navy making sure to leave white space toward the bottom for snow. This I attached to the back "step". Next I stamped and colored the house then tore from each edge up to the house to create the snow on the ground and then cut out around the house. I tore a second piece of white cardstock and layered it under the house to achieve a little more depth. This completed piece was adhered to the middle "step". Santa is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with markers and an aqua painter. He is popped up on dimensionals onto torn white cardstock which is adhered to the front "step". I sponged the upper edge of each torn snow layer very lightly in Not Quite Nay and then lined the edge with Stardust Stickles. The snow on the trees and in the sky is made with a white gel pen.

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy your weekend and remember to get in a little play time.

Jill