Thursday 4 March 2010

ATC - distressed bumblebees and butterflies

Oh I have missed being able to create and blog this week, but, more importantly, Mum is home from hospital. Between us, my sister and I have managed to overcome some of the beaurocracy and get Mum back into her own environment. She needs care, and at the moment that is me, (hence no cards or blogs this week) but she is on the list and we hope to hear very soon.
That said, I did manage to grab a few hours last night which resulted me staying up till 1.00am, but this is the outcome. The two photos show the difference light can make to the same image. The first one was taken laying flat, the second one was standing up, and you can see what a difference it makes, but by comparing the two, the details and the shimmers can be seen.
I haven't made ATCs for a while but found Fun With ATCs challenge blog and this week shadows need to be included, so I thought I would experiment to see what I could do. It is just possible to see shadows behind the foliage and the butterflies and I double stamped the bee to get it to look as though it was really buzzing around. I used the swirl and butterflies stamps from the Shabby French collection by TH, the bee and the foliage are tiny stamps that I purchased at the weekend at the Farnborough Make It craft show and are from Lavinia Stamps. The Tuesday Taggers challenge this week is to include swirls and curls, they are being sponsored by Crafty Individuals. The flourish has been coloured with Promarkers (and I added to my collection at the weekend - money, money, money!!!). The background is distressed using TH distress inks and water, spritzed onto my craft mat and fits in with the Pollycraft challenge for distressing. I added perfect pearls to it as well to get the shimmer.  I highlighted the foliage with sepia accents and the butterflies with crackle accents to get the glossy, glassy look for the Cuttlebug challenge. The colours fit Think Monday ATC orange challenge and the Pink Elephant green challenge. Finally I edged the card with my Sakura glitter pens.
I love all this experimenting with new techniques and feel this is a good result for what I set out to achieve. It just so happened ,when I had finished, I realised that the content fits my blog name. Result!!
I am adding some photos at the bottom of the page that show that Spring is really on it's way. They were taken Tuesday morning along lovely Oxfordshire lanes as I was on my way to work . It was such a gorgeous morning and, as I was early for my appointment, I was able to stop a few times to take photos. These I just love for the colours and fabulous blue sky, but also because I felt very uplifted to feel the warmth of the sun and see the beautiful snowdrops.
Thankyou for looking I hope you are having a good week.
Take care. Luv Bxx

22 comments:

Georgie Hughes said...

Glad to here your Mum is home. This card is absolutely gorgeous, where do you get your inspiration? I am sooooo jealous. You really never cease to please with your creations.

GeorgieX

Nancy B said...

This is very pretty! Glad your Mum is home. The flowers are gorgeous. I'm glad you took a picture to show that Spring is on it's way after a very cold Winter.

cbee said...

Your ATC is really amazing! So beautiful!! And I love the shimmer!!
Thank you very much for taking part in our challenge at Fun with ATCs!!
Hugs, Caro

froebelsternchen said...

wonderful entry!
beautiful pieces!

Thank you very much for taking part on Fun with ATC´s challenge!

xxx Susi

Sally H said...

Stunning! I love the colours and the butterflies! Your snowdrops look amazing too. Thanks for sharing with us at TT this week!

Zoechaos said...

Good news your mother is home hope things get easier from here on. Beautiful card love how it changes in the light. Glorious snowdrops as well. Thank you for joining us at TT this week, good luck

Anonymous said...

Well it was worth staying up till 1am for us to share your beautiufl ATC`S Your embossing and images are `Gorgeous`
Thanks for joining us at the Cuttlebug Challenge Brenda ..great to see you...hope to see you omore!!
Terrie
http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing your card with us at The Pink Elephant.

Sandy said...

Oh wow these are fantastic.
Gorgeous ATC´s.

Cate said...

What pretty work! It's amazing what a difference the angle makes to the look of it. x

scrapkowa maniaczka - Dorota 71 said...

Świetne kartki robisz i widzę, że u Ciebie już wiosna !!!!!!!!!! U nas jeszcze śnieg - nietety.
Pozdrawiam cieplutko.

Sue said...

this is very pertty and i love the shimmenr,thank you for joining us at pollycraft

sue
xx

Brenda Brown said...

This is the nearest translation I can get to scrapkowa maniaczka - Dorota 71 comment

Great cards and I see you do that in spring you already !!!!!!!!!! You can even snow - nietety.
Yours cieplutko.

Thankyou. xxx

Anonymous said...

that is really an awesome piece of art. you are right, what a difference it makes, you really see a difference in these pictures!
Thanks for taking part at Fun with ATCs

*hugs*

Unknown said...

Brenda this is absolutely stunning, I love it, thank you so much for sharing with us at Tuesday Taggers this week. Hugs Avril xxxx

Barbara B. said...

That is a wonderful ATC. I like this romantic pictures!

Jill said...

Gorgeous ATC. Thanks for joining in TT this week. Jill

Emma said...

Wow Brenda your card is stunning...
Thanks for joining us at Pollycraft & good luck.
Hugs Emma x

Michele Roos said...

Ohhhhh such a pretty card Brenda. Love the image you've used and the colours also. Thanks for joining us this week at Pollycraft. Hugs Michele x

JoanMarie said...

This is very very beautiful! I'm so happy you share with us all!
Joan Marie

Unknown said...

This is gorgeous...thanks for joining us at Tuesday Taggers this week...hugs Nikki xx

Shantaie said...

quite pretty!!!

Thanks for taking the cracked glass challenge with us at, cuttlebug challenge blog~ Shantaie