Monday, June 16, 2014

Gallery Idol Finals - Adhesive



Wow, what a ride!  I'm humbled to have made it to the final round of Gallery Idol, and I have to say that I have really enjoyed the whole competition this year.  What a great group of ladies, and challenges that really stretched me, especially this last challenge!

This was the hardest round by far.  I was really stumped and tried several different things, all which involved making a huge mess out of my craft space (and myself).

At the end of the day, I ended up with something that I think definitely showcases adhesive, but which is very me as well.  This is a play on a technique that I'm sure you have all seen - stacking die cuts to create extra dimension, especially word die cuts.  I decided instead of using those stacks as the focal point/sentiment, why not create stacks that become the background?

Basically I used adhesive to create little 'bricks' of cardstock.  I pulled out several shades of yellow and gray to create an ombre effect, and went to town with my 3/4" square punch.  I wanted the scene/background to have movement in both color and dimension.  So the bricks are shorter as you get towards the center of the card.  At the tallest corners the squares are stacked 14 deep, at the center, they are only 4 deep, and then there are variations between.  This took a little bit of finessing, since I used cardstock from several different companies with varying thicknesses, I needed to adjust the numbers of layer a bit depending on thickness.



Once the stacks were created I started thinking about the sentiment/image.  I was torn between something really basic because I wanted the background to shine through, but I didn't want anything too simple either.

This Birdie Brown set from My Favorite Things was the answer.  Originally I thought to stamp the entire scene on the squares, but I opted for a hybrid, with the sentiment and cityscape stamped directly on the squares and then the girl stamped on cardstock, colored, and fussy cut.

Here's how I went about stamping the sentiment/cityscape:  I used removable adhesive on a scrap piece of cardstock to adhere the squares in place and then stamped on them.  Then I adhered each of those squares to the corresponding brick in the pattern.



I wanted a more sketchy effect with the girl - to evoke a comic strip feel, so she was stamped in gray ink, and then I went back with a journaling pen to add the lines in, being careful, but not overly careful.  I added just a touch of color with some yellow copics to her cape and star.  

To assemble the card, I adhered each brick to a scrap piece of cardstock.  I also added a little liquid glue between each of the pieces to hold it together a bit more.  The entire panel was then adhered to the card and the girl was adhered with foam adhesive.



Thanks so much for all your votes and kind words and comments throughout the competition.  As I said at the beginning, it's been a blast.  Looking back on my cards I can truly say I love each one and I have none of the regrets I sometimes have about should I have added this or that, or maybe I should have used this color, etc.

Thanks again, and please head over to the Gallery and vote!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - Cream, Silver Fox, Fog, and White Cardstock; PTI - True Black, Harvest Gold and Lemon Twist cardstock; MFT - Steel Grey cardstock; Bazzill - Banana Split cardstock
Stamps:  MFT - Birdie Brown You're Super
Ink:  Versafine; CTMH - Slate
Other:  Tombow - Mono and Multi Mono Adhesive; Copic - Y00, Y13, Y18; American Crafts - 01 and 05 Black Journaling Pens; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape

57 comments:

  1. POWER mini POST-IT notes came to mind. I LOVE a good post-it! Wish they would come in such a small size!
    Your card is as the sentiment says! AWESOME!!

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  2. So amazing how you interpreted this challenge, Miriam! Love this!

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  3. Seeing this in close-up is amazing! You should totally put it on display! I bet your girls are loving this piece of art from you! Way to think "BEYOND" the adhesive"! Good luck, Miriam!

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  4. There are no Words !!! WOW!!! AMAZING!!!

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  5. Fantastic! Love the comic book type girl too! The perfect touch :)

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  6. Oh, this is so fabulous, Miriam! Off to vote for you....

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  7. I am so in love with all the dimension and this awesome design Miriam!! (And I also saw cute stacks of post-its :) )

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  8. This is an absolute masterpiece in ombre and stacked awesomeness!! So impressive!! Well done Miriam!!

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  9. This is fabulous - so much dimension! Love the stacked blocks and colour combo - awesomeness :)

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  10. You are Awesome Miriam...your interpretation for this challenge is Amazing!!! <3 Love!

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  11. Absolute awesome, Miriam! Love all the dimension, the yellow-grey-black combo... Well, I just love everything about this card! Best of luck for the final round, girl!

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  12. clever...clever..clever... I love this Miriam.. You did a great job.. congrats again

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  13. This is so much more awesome when I see all of the fun dimension you've created! Way to rock the challenge with a unique idea. Best of luck this week! (p.s. I've really enjoyed getting to know you through this process)

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  14. Sooo incredibly FUN! LOVE this look, Miriam! Good luck <3

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  15. WOW!!!! This is just amazing! LOVE how this looks. Best of luck to you!

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  16. It is super duper cute and lots of FUN!! Miriam, you are totally amazing!!!

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  17. Miriam, this is brilliant! It totally leapt out at me from my Feedly list and I had to see what it was. Super clever, perfectly executed and all around awesome! Good luck with GI!

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  18. SOOO pleased to know you made it to the Final Four (or five, I guess)! So very well deserved. This latest card is just SUPER! Very cool idea, to combine both the ombre-colour with the gradients in dimension, too. Reminds me a little of Minecraft. Keeping my fingers crossed for you all week...

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  19. Oh...you go, girl! Amazing card, Miriam! Best wishes to you, my friend!!!

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  20. Oh Miriam! This is a jaw dropping, heart stopping card!!! Just WOW! I LOVE it! LOVE it!
    congrats and hope you win!

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  21. You nailed it!!! Happy to vote for you...again! :)

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  22. Stunning! Lots of adhesive use for sure!!

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  23. Wow, Miriam! This is so different and really cool! It looks like ceramic tiles.

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  24. This is just amazing and I see winner all over it. What a fun and very clever card Miriam!

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  25. Congrats on reaching this far...not a surprise! I love this tiled card...what a great idea! All the best to you!

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  26. This card is AMAZING!! Seriously, so cool and very you! You are so talented, as showcased by the cards you've made throughout the challenge! Congrats on making it this far!

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  27. Miriam - I am so glad you made it to the top 5 - GOOD for you!! This card is all the things previous people have said about it and more - so much so that I do not even have words cool enough or enthusiastic enough to celebrate the awesomeness that is this card! YOU ROCKED IT!!!! I hope you win!!

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  28. What an amazing design, Miriam! Kudos to you for your originality, and good luck!

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  29. Miriam, you really knocked this one out of the park :o) The gradient colours & depths on your background are amazing - and you created such a cool retro/comic feel with your little Superchick. Best wishes for this week!!

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  30. Love this card Miriam! It is so super fun and I'm so glad you created something awesome in your style! Good luck to you! You've rocked EVERY round! It's been fun being a part of it w/ you!

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  31. Congrats on making it this far! Good luck!

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  32. It is so YOU!!
    This card is both incredibly beautiful and totally "outside the box" ;)
    FAN-TAS-TIC Job Miriam!!

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  33. HUGE congrats, love! No matter what, you have so much to be proud of! This is so fun! What a creative mind you have! Good luck!

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  34. Oh, so cool, Miriam! All your cards have been so fantastic and so "you"!
    So happy that you've come this far. Continued luck to the end! ;)

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  35. Wow layers layers layers of awesomeness!!!

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  36. This is incredible!! What a fantastic way to think about the challenge theme. Its modern, clean and so dimensional. All of your Idol cards have been fabulous and you certainly deserve to be in the Top 5. Will keep my fingers crossed for you!!

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  37. WOW! Very cool!!! Best of luck to you in this final round! :)

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  38. This is so so cool
    !! I love the clever way you stacked the card stock genius!! Off to vote!!

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  39. This is awesome!! I'm soooo happy to see you've used a stamp set I designed to create this stunning card! Thank you!!

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  40. Wowzers, this is such a creative and stunning creation!!! I can see why you are in the finals and predict this is a winner!

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  41. Miriam, you have blown me away and probably all of us with this card design. It is genius, u are such an awesome crafter, I am so glad to have known you :) you nailed it all ! Good luck

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  42. Of course I voted for you : ) What an fabulous card, Miriam!! 14 layers is crazy-awesome. Way to go for making it to the FINAL ROUND, and I'm sure hoping that you'll come away with the grand prize. So proud of you!!

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  43. AWESOME CARD!!! love the dimension!

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  44. Magnificent, Mim, just magnificent!! Hugs, Darnell

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  45. Such a stunning card and so beautifully put together. Congratulations on such a wonderful journey through the competition.

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  46. Amazing card! I just love everything about this! The stacked background is fantastic!

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  47. Big Congrats ! I just love your creativity. Love your card

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