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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

PCW Terrific Tuesday Challenge: Harvest Time!

Happy Tuesday once again, my sweet friends! I hope your November is off to a beautiful start. :o)

It's my first Terrific Tuesday Challenge as a Paper Crafting World designer! I am honored. The theme this week is Harvest Time, with the option of creating any type of project. For even further inspiration, Melin has provided three optional sketches if you so choose to use them. :o)

The creative process can be interesting. I will be honest and say this began in a frazzled panic. This is one of my favorite themes, yet I was drawing blanks and everything felt wrong and forced. I tried to simplify (don't laugh... I AM trying to explore that side of me!), which ended up making things harder. I stepped back, cast aside what I was doing, and started fresh. I thought about what harvest means to me and from there, I finally had a card path that was clearer than mud. Victory!

"Harvest Blessings"

When I think of harvest, the most poignant meaning is a harvest of spiritual blessings. What stands out is not the blessing of fruits, vegetables, and grains... but rather sowing seeds of love, faith, hope, and joy to reap a harvest of blessings for others and for myself. To spend time planting tiny seeds whenever possible, whether the recipient realizes it or not... being a blessing above all else to be a representation of heaven. Every moment is an opportunity to sow the most important seeds of all... and in due time, all will be gathering a harvest of blessings. :o) Truly glorious.

My attempt to craftily capture this is focused upon this wonderful PCW birdcage and flowers digital stamp that I colored with Copics and trimmed in gold sparkles. Given the season, when I saw this I immediately thought pumpkin... so I colored it shades of orange and filled it with the heart-shaped seeds of love, faith, hope, and joy. I coated the seeds with Stardust to make them sparkle with the Lord's radiance. Extra love abounds when on this beautiful path, evidenced by the pretty plaid hearts that are ready to burst forth from the cage. The tiny seeds, properly nourished, have blossomed to overflowing, portrayed by the cascading flowers. I colored a few of them with Copics and also added a couple of Primas. Naturally all are anchored with a sparkle. The focal element is surrounded in a circle of sparkles because love is sparkly, after all. I used rhinestones of deep amber and a golden orange, then used one of my yellow Copics to color a few clear stones to get a third harvesty color in the mix. (Which was oddly entertaining.)

My card needed a sunflower, but without any on my carts I had to improvise. I layered two sizes of Prima daisies, cut out a circle of brown felt for the fuzzy center, and dotted it with gold Stickles. I used my favorite Martha Stewart border punch and some gorgeous Prairie Bird Boutique crinkle ribbon, so I was having all sorts of fun once I relaxed about the whole project. I love how embossing looks on chocolate browns, so that was actually the first thing I did to set the stage for a happy harvest of blessings. :o)

Be sure to skip on over to the PCW challenge post to check out the fabulous creations by the rest of the Design Team! I hope you'll link up with us this week, too! I'd love to see what you create for this beautiful harvest time. :o) Thank you for dancing on by to see me! Have a sparkly day. :o)

Key Recipe Components:
 * Cricut cartridges: Elegant Edges
 * Cuttlebug embossing folder: Victoria
 * Paper: Bo Bunny, stash
 * Spellbinders Nestabilities: Labels Four
 * Stamp: Paper Crafting World~ Birdcage and Flowers
 * Copics: YR01, YR12 ('pumpkin' birdcage); YG11, YG13, YG17 (vines); Y13, Y15, V, 12, V15, V17 (flowers)
 * Ribbon: Prairie Bird Boutique
 * Flowers: Prima
 * Border Punch: Martha Stewart Doily Lace
 * Miscellaneous: Brenda Walton rhinestones, Stickles

Photobucket

11 comments:

  1. OOOOOH, I KNEW you'd come up with something amazing! Believe it or not, this is the closest thing to a CAS card I have ever seen from you, and I LOVE IT! :)

    The colours, the flowers, the embossing (it looks SO GOOD!), the punches, the sparkles, the crinkle ribbon - it's all brilliant! I love the brown and orange - very harvest-y (and to be honest, it kind of reminds me of a Pumpkin Spice Latte, so I love it more, hee hee).

    Only YOU, my sweet friend, would interpret a harvest theme in this way, and only YOU would be able to take that vision and celebrate it in card form. I adore the heart-shaped seeds blossoming into full-fledged flowers of faith, love, hope, and joy.

    I'm so proud of you! You powered through, you didn't compromise, and you created something that is very much "Karen". Well done, my friend. You are so awesome. :)

    Nita

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  2. Karen, This is absolutely beautiful. It makes me think of a cool fall day yet warms my heart. I just love that border trim and the embossed background just makes the birdcage sing... Lovely Karen, just lovely!
    Have a wonderful Day!
    Shelly

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  3. Oh Karen, this is just breathtaking...I almost cried as I read your post, what a blessing you are to everyone that comes into contact with you.. hugs from ukiah

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  4. Stunning card Karen.Love the embossed background and as Shelly said,it really does set off your beautiful birdcage.PCW are very lucky to have you on their team,you very talented lady.
    Hugs my friend,
    Jayne x

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  5. Oohh Sweets! This card looks so good I could just eat it up! The browns are deep and rich like delicious chocolate, which creates a perfect base for the orange to really pop and shine. Speaking of that gorgeous centerpiece, when I caught my first quick glimpse, I thought it was a magical pumpkin carriage like Cinderella's! Looking closer, I realized it was actually even more magical, filled with love and good wishes. I also adore how you mixed pop up flowers with the colored flowers to create dimension. Genius! Amazing work as always! <3

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  6. Oh wow this is so beautiful and very neat! love the image and the colours beautifully finishes of with gems that sparkle truly gorgeous!!:) Sandra H

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  7. Great card Karen! Be sure to link it up on my next challenge <3

    Love

    Catarina aka docerela

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  8. (Gasp)...Wow-this is gorgeous Karen! I love the beautiful embossing, gorgeous border trim and birdcage. Wow, so stunning and rich looking:) Fantastic card my friend!
    Sherrie K
    http://sherriescraps.blogspot.com

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  9. *sneaks into your blog and tucks some cookies and cupcakes into that gorgeous birdcage too because my sweetest sis sooooooooo deserves some* TEE HEE HEE!

    Everytime I look at this card sis my heart just smiles brighter and brighter! I love it something crazy!!! So much stunning detail from the choice of bright and cheerful fall colours to the beautfiul sparkling flowers...it is just the very essence of autumn and all the extra special blessings God provides. I know how much love and commitment went into this project Sunshine. I couldn't be more proud of you for all the hours you put into making this one the gorgeous creation it is. *hugglers you tons* SQUEEE!!!

    *leaves a trail of sparkling hugs for my Sunshine today* Do you know how happy your card made God sis? He hasn't stopped smiling since he watched you making it!

    I LOVE YOU SUNSHINE!!!

    *forever squishies*
    ~~~Christina :)

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  10. Beautiful card! I love all the colors you used. The rhinestones and crinkle ribbon look so pretty! :)

    Karen
    craftedwithlovebykaren.blogspot.com

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  11. Oh my, this is GORGEOUS, Karen! Your design is perfect for a fall/harvest card! I love the pretty flowers, sparkly rhinestones and crinkle ribbon! Absolutely beautiful - you did a fabulous job!! :D

    Lisa
    http://indymermaid.blogspot.com

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Thank you for leaving some love! Have a beautifully blessed day. :o)

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