Friday, November 16, 2012

Night Lights in Paris - Tutorial




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Howdy All!

Here is the promised Northern Light tutorial :)  Its a couple days later than I wanted to post it but dang life got in the way of completing it!  Can you imagine - the very nerve of the Fairy that normally does my house cleaning, laundry, and cooks my meals didn't show AGAIN and I was forced to do it! (hehehe).  Anyhow, here it is; hope you enjoy it and have fun with it.  It can be a technique that requires a little practice at first but just remember every time you try it you'll have a different result - no two will ever look the same which makes it such a special technique!  If you would like to see a few past examples of ones I've done you can see them all HERE.

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Artistic Etchings, Lovely as a Tree
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Lucky Limenade, Tempting Turqouise, Rich Razzleberry, Not Quite Navy, Basic Black, White Staz-on
Accessories: Labels Collection Framelits, Square Lattice embossing folder, sponges, white gel pen, Dazzling Diamonds, stampin dimensionals, 2 way glue pen, Illuminate Glimmer Pad, Gray ribbon


Begin by cutting the second largest frame from the Framelits Labels Collection out of Whisper White cardstock.  With post it notes torn along the edges, mask off the bottom of the cardstock.
Sponge Daffodil Delight ink randomly across the top portion of the cardstock.  The best way I can describe to apply the ink is to not pounce the sponge but rather RUB the ink across the paper.
Sponge Old Olive ink next, following the same pattern you created with the Daffodil Delight.  Apply above and below the Daffodil Delight - remember random is best!

Add a small amount of Lucky Limenade to help brighten areas, once again following the same pattern as with the previous colors.

Now it starts to get colorful :)  Add Tempting Turquoise over some of the previous colors but now also add into some of the areas of white space  surrounding what you have previously done.

Rich Razzleberry is your next stop.  Fill in a good portion of any white space that remains while randomly adding over some of the other areas that already have color.  I know at the moment your probably thinking "Wow, it looks like a clown just lost his lunch", but hang in there it gets better...

We'll now sponge on the Not Quite Navy.  This is where you really see the Lights beginning to take shape.  I begin by adding color in any white spaces that still remain.  By first doing this it will help you to begin to establish and form the pattern your lights will take.  Make some areas darker, leaving the brightest areas untouched.  The whole point is to make the Northern Lights appear as though they are 'dancing'. 

I find this step the hardest to leave simply because I want it to be perfect; but then I have to remind myself that this is supposed to be inspired by nature, and by nature nature is imperfect, and blah blah blah...Melissa quit being anal and move on...LOL
The final step (yes, finally!) is to add Basic Black ink.  This step is easy peasy if you've followed by advice in the last step ;)  Add the Basic Black to all the areas where you just added the Not Quite Navy, leaving some of the Not Quite Navy still showing.  This step is really just to add further depth and really pop the lights off the page.
Remove the post it masks and move them down the cardstock, sponging with Not Quite Navy ink on the very edge.  When the masks are removed you've created beautifully highlighted snowbanks.

Stamp the Eiffel Tower image from the Artistic Etching set in Basic Black where the skyline and snowline meet.

With a white gel pen add snow to the Eiffel Tower where snow might naturally collect when it falls.  Add snow falling to the sky with some larger dots scattered throughout.  I also used a white gel pen to camouflage the base of the tower so it appears to really be sitting in a snowbank.

With White Staz-on ink and a cotton swab, dab over some of the bigger snowflakes.  This will give them a slightly 'glowing' look.

I added a few trees from the Lovely as a Tree set to add a little more punch to the foreground. 

It doesn't show very well in this picture, but Dazzling Diamonds have been added below the tower and along each snowbank ridge. 

I've rolled a few steps into one in this photo.  Cut out the largest frame from the Labels Collection from Basic Gray cardstock.  Emboss with the Square Lattice embossing folder and highlight with the Illuminate Glimmer pad by simply pressing the pad over the embossed area.  With a hole punch, punch a hole at the top of the Basic Gray frame and with ribbon create a loop with a bow on top for hanging.  Assemble with Stampin' dimensionals.

On the back of the card I added a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock cut from the second to largest frame, stamped on a sentiment and added a personal greeting.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial - if you have any questions, please just ask!  I would love love love to see what you create with it!  Please leave me a comment with a link to your creation so I can take a peek!

Until my next post...have a wonderful weekend!
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7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Melissa! I love your night lights cards-they are soo elegant! I have to try out this technique. I am your newest blog follower and a fellow Saskatchewan demo (in Regina). Thanks for sharing your talents :)

Anonymous said...

I loved your tutorial to do the nightlights. Thank you for sharing.
Diane Rosburg

Unknown said...

This is such a stunning picture. You're very talented - thanks for sharing!

Daria said...

Thank you for your tutorial. Your cards are beautiful.

Unknown said...

I look forward to trying to make a card even half as good as this and your Winter Night one. I'll see how it turns out :).

Ruby Sunshine said...

Wow! Thanks for this inspiration!

Molle said...

Just found this, and so, so glad I did. Simply lovely and amazing. Thanks for the step by step guidance.

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