French Shop Girl (DTGD08 challenge card)

Warning: this is another long post, but I think it's needed for this card! *smiles*

Another card for the Dare to Get Dirty Challenge at SCS. This one was from Kittie Caracciolo (aka Kittie747), and the challenge was to "Make a Scene"...a scenic card. Kittie is an absolute master at this type of card. She stamps a little vignette, draws in a tree and grass, stamps leaves, fills in with a stipple brush, and stencils clouds across the sky. Truly, she is an artist...and I was nervous to even try!

One of my biggest hindrances for this challenge was that I don't have any of those 'type' of stamps. I don't have little vignette stamps or leaf stamps or tiny flowers. I tend to gravitate toward either large, bold stamps, or more vintage/funky sorts of stamps. So, after days of thinking on what I would do, this scene materialized in my mind...not a 'Kittie-style' outdoor scene, but something I could actually do: an architectural scene with one of my vintage sewing pattern girls to greet!

Since I knew I wanted at shop window, and this girl stamp is fairly large (she's about 5" tall!), I decided to combine Kittie's challenge with Amy Rohla's challenge to make a 3 1/4" x 6 1/2" card that incorporated a clear element. (You can't really tell from the photos, but I did put acetate in that window...I just somehow managed to *not* get an obvious reflection!)
The French curtains were stamped on a polka-dotted blue paper. I also paper-pieced the dress on my French shopkeeper, stamping once on white and coloring with blender pens, and once on this fabric-patterned paper. The window was cut from Bordering Blue cardstock, the mullions were pieced in, and the whole thing was backed with acetate. Then I used my blender pen with Bordering Blue and Not Quite Navy to add shadows to the mullions so it'd look more 3-D. I added the curtains inside then window, then put the whole panel on dimensionals, over a white panel stamped with a dress form and clock (for the inside of the shop).

The little flower box took me much longer, since it's not something I've ever tried to do before! This is the part that is most Kittie-like, though *wink* I drew in the bottom and part of the sides of my box in a navy Zig Writer, then began stamping with the leaves and flowers from Carte Postale. I rock-and-rolled the flowers in Apricot Appeal and Pumpkin Pie, and the leaves in Old Olive and Always Artichoke. Then I went back in with a sponge to fill in with Old Olive, then a blender pen to color in the leaves. *Then* I decided it didn't quite fit with the rest of the scene, and went back and outlined the flowers with a Fawn Zig Writer. I finished drawing in the rest of the box, and colored it with blender pens to look like a weather, painted planter box. Finally, it was cut out and added to the front of my window, with the pattern girl over the very top.

*Whew!* Did you get all that? This card took me a seriously long time to make, but I love how it turned out! I don't think it will ever be given away though! *laugh* I might just frame it for some stamp-room artwork *wink*

Thanks for hanging in there with me, and for all the wonderful comments! (BTW, if any one knows how to keep the close-ups from looking so yellow, I'd love the advice!)
Have a great day!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Cranberry Crisp, Bordering Blue, Whisper White cardstocks (SU!); blue polka-dot and fabric-print dp (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Stazon Jet Black (Tsukineko); Bordering Blue, Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Cranberry Crisp (SU!)
Stamps: Pattern Girl and French Curtains (Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers); dress form (unknown); clock (Cherry Pie); Carte Postale (SU!)
Other: Blender pens, dimensionals (SU!); acetate; make-up sponge