Angelic Joy

Hi everyone.  Happy Wednesday.  I hope you all had a great hump day!  Cherie… I always think of you on Wednesday!

Those of you who watched my "how not to make a crafting video" will have seen this card I made using the new set from the Holiday Mini – Angelic Joy.  It really is a gorgeous set.  The image itself is so serene and the angel is seen holding the dove of peace.  At first, I skipped right over the set, but when I looked at the catalog again, I decided that I really wanted this set.  Once again, you can see that I was drawn to the Cherry Cobbler and Gold color scheme.  I do want to make a statement about the video…. what this video is, in actual fact, is me trying to work out the knobs and dials on my new video camera…. I just happened to use this card as a means to play with my new toy!

Here's the actual card:

Isn't she pretty?  I used gold embossing powder on her halo and Iridescent Ice on her wings.  Of course, I used my nestabilities for the ovals that she sits on.  Once again, I had to use this fabulous Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper.  Because the paper has Christmas sentiments on it, I really didn't think she needed a sentiment at all.

I colored the dove with my signo white pen and then went over the lines with a miniscule 0.2 copics black liner pen.  It was the only thing with a small enough nib to put the lines, eye, beak, etc. back on the dove.

I used my versamark pen to prep the halo and the wings separately. 

I colored her in using my Copics – purely because I wanted a saturated color.  I alternate between using my SU classic inks and blender pen, my markers and my copics, depending on the saturation of color that I wanted.  I also wanted a very smooth finish to her garments, so another reason I used the copics.  Adelle has asked me to do a video on my coloring, so what I might do is create one that shows you how I do the watercoloring with my inks and blender and then compare it to copics.  Sometimes, copics is just toooooo saturated for the effect I want and I use my standby inks and blender pen.

Once I had colored and embossed the angel, I cut her out using my paper snips.  I swear, my paper snips are my MOST used tool…. Brenda will tell you that I love "putzing" and I think she is right! :-)  But, to be honest, the reason I do it is this…. once you cut her out and raise her on dimensionals, she pops off the page and gets the right shadows and things behind her.  It really does add depth and dimension and gives more presence to the image.  You have to pay more to put this through the post… but I think it's worth it!

A couple of notes on the card…. I bet you are wondering about this GORGEOUS ribbon!  It is one of the VERY few non-SU ribbons that I own.  I bought 3 yards because I wanted to try it with the Cherry Cobbler – and it works really well.  Also, being satin – like my favorite SU ribbons, it creates a gorgeous looking bow.  This bow was made using the technique that I showed you on this video.  This one looks a little different, because the ribbon is wider and just a little softer.

On a personal note:

Do you have those days when someone says something that really makes your day?  Well, shout out to Vicki – she did just that today!  Vicki also made an observation about prayer and positive thought.  Vicki, I hope you don't mind me copying that thought here:   "Whenever I read your prayer list, I send out my own version of good thoughts to all those people. I think it all adds up…." 

That is a totally true statement.  It doesn't matter whether you are deeply religious, less religious.  It doesn't matter your religion…or if you follow a more secular path….. positive thoughts in any form, can create a huge difference.  There are many missives on the power of positive thinking, the power of prayer, etc. and I don't intend to turn this into a philosophy discourse….. :-)  To me it is interesting though, that all religions – and many secularists, practice it.  It is, without doubt, a very powerful thing.  Of course, the opposite can also prove true… when many of us think negative thoughts, those thoughts also transcend the same barriers.  It affects our tone of voice, our physiological cues, our aura… in fact, everything about us.  My mother always tried to teach me to think positive thoughts – especially about people.  I certainly try, and I do try to send out positive energy to the universe…. some days… it is much harder than others! 🙂

Anyway… do you also have days when you see a card and think… oh man… that card is SOOOOO good, I really should just hang up my paper snips?  Well, I had one of those moments today.  Here's  WHY I should hang up my paper snips!

I have to close out now, as I have a conference call with my colleagues in Asia… this will be my 8th hour on calls today and, considering that my voice is still gone…. you can imagine how happy it makes me!  positive thoughts, Jaydee… positive thoughts 🙂

Prayers – and positive thoughts – to Bob and Nichole, Germaine (who really needs them from us all right now… she really could do with a boost), John and Sue, Lesley and Cyrus, Adelle and Rach.  Lesley, Rach and Adelle have animals that are getting ready to head towards rainbow bridge…. and you all know that I believe our pets are a part of our family and getting ready to say goodbye to a beloved pet can sometimes be harder than saying goodbye to a family member.   Prayers also for T, Pri, Arthur.

As always… thank you so much for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere…. Don't forget FEEL GOOD FRIDAY is coming up… if you have a story you would like to offer up for me to link to, just send me an email.

Don't forget…. hug someone – just because you can…. smile at a stranger, because it may change their life and send positive thoughts to all those around you.

Hugs

Jaydee