Dandelion

The May Art Elements theme is the Dandelion. We can use any medium that we feel inspires us to showcase the dandelion. Projects can be posted on Instagram using the hashtag #aethemechallenge or #aeDandelion and tag it with @art__elements (2 underscores between art and elements) and we will repost your images. You can also post it to the Art Elements Community Facebook page.

This theme really made me happy because it reminded me of how much I enjoyed blowing on dandelions when they were white and had gone to seed when I was a child.  I  loved watching the seeds drift off in the air.  With that in mind I started to notice all of the dandelions around me on my walks. 

I thought that this would be the perfect time to introduce my 15 month grandson to the tradition of wishing when you blow on a dandelion.  His newly developed walking skills enable him to follow me outside to a dandelion and watch me blow on it. I repeated this a number of times and then he picked a dandelion by the stem and waved it around with excitement.  He isn't able to blow on it with enough force to  to send the seeds flying off but he enjoys the wandering around and picking them up with me doing the blowing.  I smiled inside when I heard a report that he had picked all of the dandelions around his house over the course of the week.

With dandelions in mind,  I set out to make a few birthday cards.  One for a friend's birthday and the others for my BayMoonDesign gift shop.

                                              Make a Wish Birthday Card by BayMoonDesign

                                                Inside of the birthday card by BayMoonDesign

I used white craft ink on the card to get an extra thick image. I also used a trick that I read about to color the rhinestone that I glued to these cards. I applied ink to the rhinestones that matched the paper. The ink stayed on the stones perfectly and added some glitz.

                          

I love this bright yellow paper and I used it to line an envelope for a card that is in my BayMoonDesign store.

                                                Inside of  birthday card by BayMoonDesign

I made a second card in a different color palette just to see which one I liked the best. The first card has earthy colors and the second has bright spring colors. I like them both!

                                                            Dandelions by BayMoonDesign

For my third card (photo above)  I set about selecting a Dandelion metal cutting die that would enable me to cut out the image of a dandelion as well as emboss the image of a dandelion onto paper. To emboss I used my Big Shot and created these layers to emboss the dandelions.

Step 1
Placement of the platform and die to emboss with the Big Shot:

Platform
Clear plate
Silicone craft sheet
Cardstock, facing up
Detailed die, cutting edge face down onto the cardstock)
A piece of copy paper
Clear plate
Two pieces of cardstock for shim

Top and bottom plates or shims may vary depending on your machine, but the technique will work with proper pressure if the layers are in order.

1. I watched a number of videos on the technique of embossing with metal dies and experimented with the technique a number of times before I got the results that I was looking for.  It was worth the trials because I love the result.

2. Dandelions give me joy!

3.