We are absolutely thrilled to have Lisa Spangler joining us here in the CLASSroom today! Lisa is one of the very talented Hero Arts women whom I have had the pleasure of meeting at CHA on several occasions and is now my friend. Her warmth and genuineness shine through and make me feel so very special!
You can see more of Lisa's beautiful work on her blog Sideoats & Scribbles. I would like to invite you to head over to Lisa's blog now and help us thank her for sharing her talents with us here in the CLASSroom today. Please leave your comment on her post about being a guest here and as our way of thanking you for taking the time to do so you will have a chance to win some of the fabulous products she used in this post! You know you are in the right place if you see the following pic.
Thank you Lisa for sharing your creativity with us here in the CLASSroom!! -Ellen
I love poppies! There's just something about the delicate petals and how they catch the light that makes me want to grab my camera and TRY to capture them. I say "try" to capture them because I'm never really happy with how the pics come out, ha! Here's one that I took at my Dad's this spring with my phone, isn't the red just gorgeous? And if you think that's pretty, you should have seen it in real life!
So when I saw this Poppy die by Savvy Stamps I couldn't wait to try it! But how to make it look more like a poppy? I thought and I thought and finally it hit me: Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls. LOTS of Perfect Pearls, hahaha!
Here's how I did it!
First make a spot shim by placing pieces of tape over the holes to help make them easier to pop out later. I also used the Memory Box adapter plate in my die cut machine - it helped a TON. But some of those holes were still being pesky so on with the tape!
Next cut a bunch of poppies out of a nice heavy watercolor paper.
Crease and fold the petals to give them some dimension and also to give the ink places to grab onto.
Rub with distress inks! I used:
- Squeezed Lemonade
- Barn Door - I think this is the best poppy red since it has a touch of orange!
- Picked Raspberry
The folds and creases will hold on to more of the ink and will look awesome later!
Now for the fun part! Dump in a BUNCH of Perfect Pearls - I used almost half a jar in a 2 oz spray bottle filled with water, shake to combine, and then mist, mist, MIST! You just can't mist too much if you really want them to POP. :)
Let the water absorb into the paper for a bit - maybe 5 minutes or so - and then pinch the petals back into shape, following the creases and folds you made before. Set aside to dry. It's HOT here in Texas (102 as I type this!) so my poppies only took about a half hour to dry sitting in a spot of sunlight on my desk.
While you're waiting for the poppies to dry, grab some Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and some of this awesome silk ribbon. Rub the ink on the ribbon, mist with the Perfect Pearls and water, scrunch it up a bit and set aside to dry. Note: You WILL have green incredible Hulk-like hands for a few days ha! BUT that just makes you a stamping super hero, right?
This is the first time I have tried this, and now I'm hooked! I plan to stock up on this ribbon - so awesome how you can make it any color you like! And it's a beautiful silk, too!
To finish off the poppies stitch through the centers with black twine, then add a Black Crystal gem. These gems aren't just your basic solid black - they have bits of all kinds of other colors in them - really goes great with the shimmer of the Perfect Pearls!
And speaking of shimmer - make the card base by stamping the new Hero Arts Envelope Liner cling stamp with VersaMark Dazzle Frost ink. This ink gives a subtle shine that you have to see to believe. Love!
Stamp the Savvy hello and trim to a pennant shape, then wrap the car with ribbon, add the poppies with foam tape and sit back and enjoy!
Thanks so much for poppin' by! I had a blast! And thanks so much to Ellen for having me as a guest designer! It's truly an honor. Big hugs! -Lisa
