Hi I’m April. 2020 was supposed to be my #YearOfJubilee. This year I’ll be celebrating my silver wedding anniversary and a half century on this planet. Things aren’t going quite as anticipated.
I miss a lot of things right now. I miss being able to eat out, travel, and see my friends, but I’m also so thankful for the technology that lets me stay connected, and keep my sanity. I decided to create a card celebrating online friends and online community.
I began by creating a watercolor background. I didn’t want the pigment to pool in the texture of regular watercolor paper so I used Fabriano Hot Press watercolor paper which has a smooth texture. I knew I was going to use overlapping hearts so I made three clusters of watercolor roughly standard card sized. This way I would have 3 options and could choose my favorite to use as my background once they were dry.
The next day I selected the color pools I liked best and embossed the stitched heart images over the background. Then I cut out the background with a rounded corner die.
Next it was time to create a focal point image. I knew that I wanted to use the computer monitor stamp and depict myself and my besties on one of our sanity saving ZOOM calls.
I used Essentials by Ellen Mini Voices In My Head by Julie Ebersole which was released as part of their Summer of Stamping at EllenHutson.com. This stamp set is made to mix and match various hairstyles and facial expressions to depict a variety of ladies. I knew I was going to do some masking (covering an image to stamp another so they appear to overlap) to replicate a ZOOM gathering. so I stamped the computer monitor on a post-it note, cut out the inside opening and placed it over the monitor stamped on my cardstock. I used additional post-it notes to block off each ZOOM square so I could stamp each girl. I use a Stamparatus Stamp press to get precise placement.
You can see I made the mistake of not masking above he monitor, but I planned to cut out the image anyway so that didn’t end up being a problem.
Next I colored the friends with Copic markers and added distress ink around the girls with small blending brushes in order to define the grid of the zoom quadrants. I fussy cut the monitor but it didn’t pop against the watercolor background image. I thought adding another color of cardstock would detract from the focal image and the watercoloring so I mounted it on black and cut around it.
I stamped “I MISS YOUR FACE” onto the background and mounted the computer monitor on foam tape for dimension.
I like to take care designing the inside of my cards. I think it’s a nice surprise for the recipient.
I cut a piece of white cardstock with the same rounded corner die I used for the watercolor panel on the front of the card. Then I stamped my sentiment. I angled the largest speech bubble edge die (the large edge is sized for a landscape card and the small edger fits a portrait oriented card) and cut again to create a speech bubble that mimics the shape of the card.
I stamped the messy bun girl from Voices In My Head and added some additional sentiments then adhered the speech bubble to the inside of my card.
#ImFineBecause We’re Connected.
I don’t know what I’d do without all of you. Thank you for being my tribe!
Products Used
- Fabriano Studio Watercolor Paper Hot Press
- Prima Watercolor Confections – Pastel Dreams
- Lawn Fawn Just Stitching Hearts Dies
- Copic Markers
- Stampin Up! Stamparatus Stamp Press (links to my demonstrator website)
- Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blender Brushes
- The Stamps of Life Rounded Corner A2 Card Die Set
- Essentials By Ellen Voices In My Head Stamps
- Essentials By Ellen Speech Bubbles Dies
- Essentials By Ellen Mini Voices In My Head
- Essentials By Ellen Voices In My Head Vol. 3
- Art Glitter Glue with ultra fine metal tip
- Momento Tuxedo Black Ink
- Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks