WHEN INSIDE THE LINES ISN'T QUITE ENOUGH

A dull and dreary day makes taking natural light photos very difficult. Even with the inadequate lighting, the majority of this card looks pretty true-to-life. BUT, both of the dragonflies' wings and some of the stripes on the mushrooms have been dressed up with Wink of Stella. And that doesn't show up at all! Trust me, those areas do sparkle pleasingly -- in the right light. And that little Wink adds a lot.

At this past Monday's Stamp-In Workshop, the girls got the chance to work with the Sale-A-Bration Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper. Two of the sheets, the rain forest and the clusters of flowers with bees and dragonflies, were sort of sparse in the design in a few places.

Before the workshop, while I was planning the projects, I'd cut sheets of these two designs into 3 1/4" x 4 3/4" pieces. 

For my sample, I randomly chose one of these pieces. While looking at it and trying to decide what to do, I was struck by the fact that this small piece of the 12" x 12" DSP was not all that interesting. 

To remedy that situation, I grabbed the Awesomely Artistic stamp set (page 144 in the big catalog) and stamped a few of the ferns in black to fill it in a bit. Then, when my dragonfly looked lonely -- and like he wanted a friend to flit around with -- I also stamped the dragonfly from the set onto a scrap of Whisper White cardstock. After fussy cutting this gentleman, I popped him up in playing position with his new friend.

There! Now the empty spaces looked more filled in. And the dragonflies were busy flitting. 

So I went to work with the Watercolor Pencils (page 24 in the Occasions Catalog), and chose a few areas to add color to. Since the selection of colors in the Watercolor Pencils is quite limited, I went with the Pacific Point, Old Olive and Calypso Coral pencils.

After having used those three colors, I decided to finish the card with the same three colors.

By popping up the various elements of the card, I got a nice amount of dimension.

I so wish the sparkle and glimmer on these mushrooms would show up in the photo!

 Notice how nicely these two dragonflies get along together!

So, when the girls arrived on Monday, they had some decisions to make in completing this card.

First of all, they had to choose their small piece of the DSP. Then they needed to decide if they were pleased with the composition, or if it needed a little help like I felt mine did. They were welcome to dress it up with the Awesomely Artistic stamp set as they saw fit. 

Next, they needed to "watercolor" their chosen portions of the design. Once this was completed, they were to tell me which colors they used, thus which colors of cardstock they wanted me to cut up for them to finish their card and have it coordinate with the colors they'd chosen.

Another choice I gave them was whether they wanted to emboss the base of the card. So little of it showed on the completed card that I felt it didn't add all that much.

The girls seemed to have fun making their card totally their own, and not just copying the sample I'd given them. 

How have you been using your Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper? And, did you realize that it will only be available through March 31, as long as Sale-A-Bration lasts? 

Following is a tutorial of how to make this card:

SUPPLIES:

Awesomely Artistic stamp set (page 144)

Cardstock to match the colors of Watercolor Pencils you used

Whisper White cardstock

3 1/4" x 4 3/4" piece of Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper

Basic Black ink

Calypso Coral ink

Big Shot

Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits

Embossing Folder

Watercolor Pencils (Occasions Catalog, page 24)

Aqua Painters

Sequins

Stampin' Dimensionals

Glue Dots

Paper Snips

Wink of Stella

DIRECTIONS: 

First of all, choose your piece of Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper (cut to 3 1/4" x 4 3/4"). Some of the pieces are sort of naked, so if you'd like, use the ferns to fill in some gaps, stamped in black. Also, if you want to, on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the dragonfly, add a little shimmer with Wink of Stella and fussy cut him. Wait to attach him until you are done with your coloring.

Now, on my sample I've used Pacific Point and Old Olive Watercolor Pencils. Thus, I chose those two colors for my card base and my mat. Depending on what colors you choose to use, your card color choices may be different than mine.

If you'd like, you can emboss the front of the card base. Not much of the card base shows, so you may choose to eliminate this step. Your choice.

After stamping your (optional) ferns, use the Watercolor Pencils to color in whatever portions of your piece that you want colored. Use an Aqua Painter lightly on the coloring to give it more of a watercolor look.

If you want to add a dragonfly, use teeny pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals to add him where you want him to be flying on your card.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp first the frame, then the word. The ink you choose to do this stamping in will need to match some of the coloring you've done. Cut it out at the Big Shot with the proper die from the Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits. Add it to a good spot on your card front with a couple Stampin' Dimensionals.

If desired, add a few sequins here and there.

Inside 

Smiles.