Thanks for the image swap!

A few weeks ago I joined a "virtual" image swap on stamp-shack. I was mailed a few mystery stamped images and my task was to create one or two finished products using the images. This past week, I received the two images and thought a while about what I would do with them. It was a bit of a challenge as they are not images I would have selected myself, but they were interesting and a chance to jump out of the box I've put myself in for a while.

I started out by coloring an image that was SO different than what I'm used to but I've always been interested in. I've been fascinated with the current trend in Anime and Manga images for a while but have been hesitant to purchase any stamps in this style because I can't imagine using them more than just a few times. This was an opportunity to have a little fun and be a bit more creative in my color selection. After spending quite a lengthy time coloring the image and bouncing back and forth from liking to HATING what I did with the image, I put the colored image aside for a while and went on to something I was a bit more comfortable with.

So I grabbed this image and started coloring her hair first. I love coloring hair! Then I moved on to her jeans, her apron, her shirt and then her skin. I don't know why, but I always seem to color the skin last. WIERD HUH?

I can't remember who the manufacturer of this image is but I have seen it many, many times. The artist drawing style brings me back to those Dick and Jane books of long ago. Anyway, I colored her in as I would any other image I love to color (with my copics). After that, I did a bit of distressing as I didn't like the stark white that was overpowering the image itself.

After coloring the image, I set out to find the perfect paper that would go with the colors I chose for the image. That was a chore! I finally came across some old paper in my stash. It had a bit of pale green on some of the dots but the distressing, brown and pinkish-peach made me feel it was the perfect match (I'd have to do something about those green dots though.)

So here's the final product, a feminine card that I am happy with. As you can see, I added some paper ruffles and some liquid pearl dots...

NOW back to the challenging image...

I distressed her up a bit so I could make the candle light effect more "glowing". I know the lighting is a bit off, but I didn't want to do anything further to the image in fear of just ruining it. So I decided that the image and her coloring was done...I cut the image out to approximately an ATC size and then started thinking about how I would do the remainder of the card...Yes, I was set on making a card...

At this point, I was on day 2 of working with this image and I think my muse was starting to understand that she wasn't going to be able to hide much longer! I think she started to get into her groove...and I went along for the ride. I noticed the stippling technique the artist used on the image and decided to mimic that design (and the vines too), so I traced the shape of the image onto a piece of white cardstock and started penciling in the vines...right off the page. Yes, It brought me back to my college art days when I experimented and worked hard on stippling techniques. Literally, my work leaped out of the box and onto another piece of white paper, this time to help my colored image take center stage as if it was leaping of the page.

So here's a peek of my doodling-or whatever you want to call it.

Now trying to figure out a layout presented a challenge too. You know me and flowers and embellishments, right? Well, I knew that with all my work on the doodling and mimicing of what the artist included in the stamped image, I wanted to make it have center stage and not be distracted by a bunch of "STUFF" so I decided to pull a little color from the wings for my main card base color. After that, I used some plaster tape to paint a bit of white dots on the background paper (pulling from the dots in the image) it was a bit flat so I decided to add a piece of ribbon to tie it all together and also added a jar of pixie dust (HMMMMM...Is she a Pixie or a Nymph or what???)

Anyway, I'm happy with the finished product and I think the image does what I wanted it to do...Takes Center Stage!

Thank you Cindi for the wonderful challenge and for sending such a challenging group of images. You've inspired me to host a virtual swap in the future, so watch the SHACK swap board soon!

BYE...I'll be back though, My Magnolia images are calling me again! LOL