Friday, April 25, 2014

Dreamweaver-Stampendous Blog Hop Grande Finale!

Wow, what a fun week filled with so many creative ideas from the Dreamweaver Stencils and Stampendous design teams. Wonderful work everyone! Thank you for all of the comments our "viewers" have left us, I can't tell you how inspiring they are to me! Who knew a theme of "Faces of art" could be so much fun!
So for the Grand Finale, I wanted to create something really unusual. Then I realized, I'd done that on Wednesday, with my canvas project (well, it was unusual for me anyway!). So what to do, what to do...some days it is more challenging than others to come up with ideas. Here's what I came up with for today:
Bald. Bold. Beautiful.
I told you it would be unusual! I created this in honor of my little 8 year old great-niece who has Alopecia Areata. She is one of the bravest and most beautiful people I know! They recently had a walk in MN to help raise research money and awareness. It's not life threatening, and she leads the normal life of an 8 year old, just a bald 8 year old. Their theme was "Bald. Bold. Beautiful." Here she is with the walk organizer.


This year in second grade, she went around to the other classrooms with the school nurse to explain why she is sometimes allowed to wear a hat in school (on the days she doesn't feel like wearing a wig). She told her Mom that it was OK, she could do it herself and didn't need her to come to school! The nurse said she did a great job explaining it and answering all the questions the kids had! We are so very proud of her. So to all the people with Alopecia Areata  and those who have gone bald due to cancer or other reasons, this one's for YOU!

To learn more about Alopecia Areata go to www.naaf.org

  • The Stampendous Blossom Beauty stamp  face was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, the head template was placed over it and I lightly traced the top of the head with pencil, cut the whole thing out, colored it with COPIC markers.
  • The Open butterfly stencil (LG740) was pasted embossed with glossy red embossing paste (you can make red by putting red tube acrylic paint into the Translucent Embossing Paste). Let the red dry.
  • Place the clean, dry stencil back over the dry red paste and paste emboss with Crackle Embossing Paste, let dry.
  • The crackle paste dries with a slick white surface, great for coloring on top of with COPICs.
  • Cut out the butterfly, edge with a dark marker and mount everything into a great card.
I think I will be sending this to my great-niece to congratulate her on a successful walk!


We hope you've enjoyed your week of inspiration as much as we have! It's a big list today, so hang on tight for a BIG HOP!



Happy Creating,
Louise

37 comments:

Unknown said...

Your card, and your great grand-niece are truly beautiful! Thanks for sharing the story behind it.
Denny
San Diego

Jade said...

Your niece will be so lucky to receive this beautiful card. She can call herself a Blossom Beauty as well! She is also lucky to have your support coping with Alopecia Areata and thankfully it is not life threatening. The Open Butterfly stencil made a beautiful image and it's great to know we can use red acrylic paint in translucent embossing paste for another color. And the crackle paste sounds fun with copics! Your post was very inspiring!

TracyM #6773 said...

Your great-niece sounds like one AMAZING little girl and what a WONDERFUL way to honour her and the theme of the fundraiser - your Bald. Bold. Beautiful. really is BEAUTIFUL!!! LOVE the colours, LOVE the butterfly, LOVE the crackled effect, LOVE the background and most of all, I LOVE your BALD BEAUTY too!!!
THANK YOU for sharing this project and the precious inspiration behind it!!!

Eileen L. said...

Your card is gorgeous as is but along with the reason and tribute you created it for its superb along with your great-niece.

Glass Daisy said...

I love this project and the story behind it. Thank you so much for sharing. xx

Unknown said...

What an awesome aunt you are!!! It is a beautiful message and so inspiring!! God bless

Lyn Bernatovich said...

Your project is truly inspired. Thank you for sharing your niece's story through art.

Irish Cherokee said...

Excellent way to support a cause. Great card.

KT Fit Kitty said...

Gorgeous card! Love the colours you used! Beautiful butterfly! A wonderful card in honour of your great-niece. I have enjoyed the hop this week - thank you!

Anonymous said...

bald is beautiful. The big butterfly is so pretty. The green background really sets a great background for the whole piece.

Pam Hornschu said...

So cool! Beautiful photo inspiration as well. Love the colorful butterfly!

Kailash said...

Vey inspiring story attached to your project. Thanks for sharing!!!

Lea said...

Louise, what a beautiful card for a beautiful little girl! I've donated hair five times now to Locks of Love, I'm one of those lucky people that has fast-growing hair. I'm a bit too old now to grow hair down to my butt! Anyway, your card is lovely!

Yolanda said...

Beautiful project, beautiful story and gorgeous little girl!!

barbara macaskill said...

LOVELOVELOVE your card!! Bald IS beautiful! Reminds me of a saying my oncologist told me when I had cancer. "God created a few perfect heads, on the rest he put hair". TFS!

Jan Castle said...

Your beautiful card is a wonderful tribute to your niece and she will love it! It is surprising how many people have some version of this problem...happy to know research is being done!!!
Jan

AndreaB said...

Such a wonderful idea. Well done!

Kristine Reynolds said...

Love this inspiring card!

Carolina Kathy said...

This is beautiful. Should be titled Bald can be Beautiful!

Sue D said...

Perfect card to honor your great-niece.
Sue in Ohio

Stampendous said...

Louise, we are so excited and thrilled to have one of our images linked to your fabulously brave great-niece. We have to admit we hadn't considered the beauty of baldness when we created the Blossom Beauty, we were just going for versatility, but Lea Kimmel reminded us early on that bald is sometimes a very necessary beauty, and we're so thrilled to be a part of someone's experience of understanding, support, and hopefully adding a little cheer to a life. What an honor! Thanks so much for sharing with our products this week!

Unknown said...

What a lovely way to honor your grand-daughter.

Jean said...

What a lovely card, and the story behind it is very touching. She's a beautiful little girl.

Judy said...

What a great card! Thanks for sharing with us your idea for using the stamps and stencils.

Sandi Lou said...

What a lovely story, a lovely little girl and a lovely tribute card. Thank you for sharing the whole story and best wishes to a beautiful great-niece.

Tenia Nelson said...

What a gorgeous story about your niece and a gorgeous card as well. What an inspiration!! :)

Katie said...

Beautiful card! Love what you did with this butterfly, I have this stencil but never thought to do this. And thank you for sharing the story about your great-niece. Thanks for sharing.

Katie B.

Heather said...

what a beautiful tribute. She sounds like an amazing girl that has a very loving and great support system.

Greta said...

What a tough & beautiful little girl! I love what you made in her honor!

Viki Banaszak said...

Such inspiration! Thank you.

Miriam Prantner said...

What a wonderful card! I am sure that your niece will love it. What a brave girl she is!

Suzanne C said...

A lovely inspiring post both about your niece and your art!

Robin B. said...

Pretty card, love the purple butterfly!

Con said...

What a wonderful tribute! thank you for sharing it. -con

snazzyjj said...

A very inspiring and uplifting post today.

Heather said...

What a wonderful way to honor your niece! She's lucky to have you for an aunt.

Chesley said...

So beautiful - the card and your niece! Thank you for sharing, I am so touched!