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Saturday 2 October 2010

...Happy World Card making day!!!





ED, My Harriet card is finally finished!! I've written the info in blue, 'case you were here earlier and already read the post.

Good morning! It's World Card making day and there are a stack of fabby things going on all over the web, Here at WMS we have a freebie for you in honour of WCMD!

Say Hello to Harriet, she's a little Vintage moppet all wrapped up in her winter fur, and she's got a gift for you! Won't she look fabby on a Christmas card, maybe inside a nice Vintage frame??

And, we thought we might run a little competition with Miss Harriet - If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning some free stuff, why don't you snag Harriet, make a card/project with her and enter into our WCMD giveaway.

You have until 11:59 pm EASTERN on Saturday, October 9th to enter. We will draw a random winner to win a free stamp set of their choice! Simply upload your project to your blog/fave online gallery and then add the link here!

My Harriet was printed onto cream and coloured with copics, I lack Lisa's superb colouring skills that you can see here, but I was actually really happy with the result, these wee ladies are really growing on me...! lol. I trimmed her out with a Spellbinders labels Labels Seventeen die template (#S5-025).

Sponged copiously with Antique linen...what else? lol. Trimmed out a mat by embossing the die temlate onto purple cardstock and then trimming along the outer edge with scissors. Made a similar panel for my sentiment.

Did you like my snowflake embossed background? It's a Spellbinders Impressabilities (# I2-1003) Gorgeous results. Here it is below, before I added the panels.


A wee gold button and snippet of purple ribbon, just to finish.

My Sentiment...do you like it? lol, I must admit I'm being a little sneaky here...you know what's coming, don't you...? lol! Yep, the October release is looming....



How to Snag Harriet:

I'll be making Harriet available to download directly from the store Freebies section here. If you are reading this before I have that ready, you might be able to click on the image above in this blog post to make it bigger and then swipe it to your desk, Mac folk can just drag it, PC people maybe have to right click? I think.

Waffle

It's Saturday morning, who knows you might be bored...lol!

I'm not that fab at drawing people, some of you might be very polite and say that I did an ok job on Harriet but believe me, I'm out of my comfort zone...lol. It's the faces...actually it's lots of things, I went through about 6 versions of Harriet before I settled on one that I liked...this time it was the nose...now there are loads of girl type images out there for folks who like to colour and some I like, some I'm not sure...it's the no-face people that get me...lol, I always want to add little smiles but when I came to draw Harriet, I found myself baulking at the nose...lol, I even left it off but the DT ladies wouldn't have it, nope we needed a full featured face and so I added the teeniest little line...think I got away with it...just...

This was not the case many moons ago...

I went to Art College, you know, that bohemian place where girls in flowing chiffon scarves pout in front of statues of gorillas made from decomposing fish...free expression or something...I can't remember what particular movement was on at the time...it pains me to think so far back...lol

I made a few wee wax discs one time by pouring melted wax into a little dish of cold water...I thought it was cool that the water made the wax solidify instantly and I was able to capture wax bubbles and such...lol, I was having a ball... It didn't hurt that a tutor thought I had single handedly produced just about the best 'visualization' of the chaos theory that he had ever seen....Of course that's what I was aiming for!! (slaps head) any fool could see that...yeah right...

I enjoyed the theory classes, I wrote a thesis on Japanese design, I ate up the classes on Art History, I painted like a demon, I modeled in all sorts of 3-D, I bought my first Mac, I still have it, I fell in love with drawing on the computer, I reveled in packaging design...

...but I couldn't draw people for toffee...

part of it was embarrassment...life study class...you know, the one where they wheel out the naked human being for you to sketch...some nights I still re-live the red faced shame of being singled out in class... every single week... the tutor in charge would come and stand directly behind me... every single week... the little tutting noises... the tapping of the finger on my sketch pad... every single week... in the little blank areas of my otherwise finely detailed sketch...hundreds of sketches of people...with no faces... no boobies... and no bottoms...

yep, I think I started a whole new movement....

31 comments:

  1. Claire, you should write a book! I'm quite sure it would be a huge hit and eventually be made into a movie. Who to play you, though?

    Hugs!
    Lisa

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  2. I'm cracking up. the image is gorgeous!

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  3. Lol claire how lovely to hear the story behind the digi stamp - thanks it makes using it a more personal task - another step in it's journey x
    I hope I can find some time to play along - I'd love the chance to win some of your lovely stamps.
    Thanks again
    ((hugs)) Suzie xx

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  4. what a great image, claire! loved playing with harriet!
    love your images and hope to buy some of my own some day!
    have a wonderful weekend!
    *hugs* steph :)

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  5. this is awesome, adorable image,
    hope my family and health let me have time to get at least one card done with it,
    Thank You so much
    Hugs
    Angie

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  6. Hi Claire
    Love to read your story.
    And you did such a great job.
    The lady looks so sweet and soft.
    So no worries about the face its gorgeous!

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  7. Nothing at all wrong with this sweet face Claire! Thanks so much looking forward to some colouring!
    Happy World Card Making Day!!

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  8. I thought she was great Claire....I loved colouring her...many thanks! xL

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  9. I LOVE Harriet! Thank you Claire, she is so sweet! I can't wait to color her! I love reading your blog, you definitely have the Irish gift for storytelling! Off to color!

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  10. ooooh thank you Claire.
    I think I will
    Love ya!
    Em

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  11. Harriet is a beauty. I'm always amazed at people that can draw anything that looks real. My sketches are always quite cartoonish. And i'm already dreaming about the upcoming release. the sneaky peak is great. (i hope i have enough pennies collected to purchase something this month....)

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  12. Harriet is just so pretty! Your 'face' drawing well out does my colouring ... you have no worries there!

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  13. Sounds like a great movie to me Claire! Happy World Card Making Day! It is extra super happy for me this year since it falls on my birthday and my hubby is home from a year long deployment to celebrate with me this year!

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  14. Happy World Card Making Day Claire! Harriet is beautiful & you really brought her to life with your amazing coloring skills! Stunning card!

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  15. Well I think Harriet is just beautiful and very elegant looking. I really enjoyed colouring her and hope I did her justice. Love her cute nose too :) The colours of your card are just GORGEOUS.. the purple really pops out... and a little sneaky peek of what's to come, love it!!

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  16. I LOVE your stories!!!

    I always wanted to go to art school, but knew I wasn't weird enough... your description of fish gorillas explains it perfectly - I am far too levelheaded to belong in a place where that is the norm! So instead, I taught myself how to paint, and draw, and every time I see my aunt who lives in Edinburgh (A long way from Vancouver!), I soak up as much of her knowledge and talent as I can - she went to art school later in life, and now she teaches. Lucky for me!

    I have issues with illustration - I can draw things to look like the picture I take it from, but I can't create illustrations to save my life. I think you did a beautiful job. I am no fan of digi's, because they always look too cutesy and cartoony... I think yours is classic and perfectly neutral (which is perfect when others are finishing it!). I don't think you need to worry about her little face at all, I think she's gorgeous :)

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  17. I love it when you tell stories Claire. Harriet is georgeous. You took my breath away when I saw your card. It is so different from anything you have done. Absolutely amazing!!! Don't stop!

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  18. Harriet is lovely and so is your card Claire. I enjoyed reading about your arty exploits!

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  19. Claire, thank you for Harriet and all the other freebies in the download section. She's lovely and I'm not just saying that to be polite! I love your art - you rock! Happy Card Making Day.

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  20. What a great story Claire. I wish I had a smidgen of your talent, whether you know it or not, you're brilliant! Your Harriet is simply divine. I am amazed at the shading your achieved on her collar and cuffs. You have brought this line drawing to animated life. Awesome job.

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  21. I To just love reading your blog!!Thank so much for the free digital image..I will take a try at it:)..

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  22. I think this is one of my favorite "people" stamps ever. As always, we are our own worst critics. I think she is absolute perfection, and I hope to get to make a card with her soon. Thanks so much!

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  23. I think Harriet is lovely - Claire, you really can draw people. I've downloaded the image and will play later this week.
    Love the card - purple is one of my most favourite colours.
    Deborah x

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  24. Harriet is beautiful and was a lot of fun to color!

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  25. Claire I love Miss Harriet. I enjoyed working with her. You did a fabulous job designing her and puttin her on paper with your lovely creation. :)

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  26. Just rec'd the WMS newsletter and I love it! Your drawing of Harriet is fabulous. Even her petite little nose is perfect. Thanks for the freebie and all the reminders in your letter! Have a good day!

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  27. Claire you are so funny! I have always struggled with people too. When I took drawing and they wheeled out the naked person, I too thought I was going to die of embarrassment! One class I really did love was a portrait class I took. Only faces. So you get to stare at a person (who is wearing clothes) and then draw away. LOVED it- alas I had just started teaching so I ended up dropping and never finishing it. Wow, I am long winded today--- all that to tell you I like your little Harriet, hoping I have some time to play later this week.

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  28. Lovely image ,nice challenge !Thanks for a chance to win.

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  29. I love Harriet! Just like a character from Charles Dickens! Makes it seem like Christmas already!

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  30. I have tried now 6 times to link my thumbnail. Never had this problem before! Well, my card is at http://scrapnsurprise.blogspot.com/2010/10/holidays-are-here.html#links. Hope you can take a look! Thanks for the image!

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  31. Thanks for the lovely Harriet and competition!

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Thanks for taking the time to comment, :) I read them all and I appreciate you taking time to visit!