Friday, September 14, 2018

So You Think You Can Giraffe...

I have a very strange obsession with Degas.

I LOVE his ballerina paintings.

Now, full disclosure - I was in ballet as a tiny tot. And tap, too. I loved BOTH of them, but they didn't love me back. I'm short, I'm long-waisted, and I don't have strong joints, so it was most definitely not in my destiny to be a ballet dancer or a tap dancer. Or, if we're being honest - any kind of dancer.

HOWEVER. I loved the rituals of ballet. I loved the outfit, I loved the exercises we did to warm up - I loved the geometry of the basics, and how they were very scientifically accurate, even though when you did all the science, it was art.

I loved my teacher.

The only thing I didn't love was the pink. The rest was fantastic.

When I went to college, I discovered Degas in my first art history class, and I was sold on Impressionism forever.

Those chalky dancers are still in my top five arty things ever. They all convey motion and color, and most of them were actually blue.

So every time I get a ballet themed stamp, I have to go all pastel-y and Degas on it. Today is no exception, with this adorable Inkon3 set.

This giraffe sums up pretty much how graceful I felt in ballet, too. :)










Dance & Twirl 4x6 Clear Stamp Set
[ INK ]
Fadeout No Line coloring Detail Ink
[ INK ]
Blick Studio Artists' Colored Pencils...
[ BLIC ]
13663-2585 - Strathmore 400 Series...
[ BLIC ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
Post-it : Removable Cover-Up Tape,...
[ AMZUS ]
Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Fine Line 05...
[ SSS ]
Tsukineko VersaFine Clair NOCTURNE...
[ SSS | ELH | CST ]
Coloring Glove - Anti-Smudge
[ AMZUS ]
Derwent Battery-Operated Eraser
[ BLIC ]
Westcott iPoint Halo Electric Colored...
[ BLIC ]
Global Art Classic Leather Pencil Cases
[ BLIC ]
Staedtler Mars Plastic Erasers
[ BLIC | JGG ]
Sizzix BIG SHOT EXPRESS Gray and...
[ SSS | BMS | ELH ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ]
Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth
[ AMZUS ]
Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding...
[ AMZUS ]
Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675
[ SSS | ART | AMZUS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two...
[ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ]
Ink Off Cloth
[ INK ]
Inkon3 Blog
[ INK ]

The very first thing I did was color the entire stamp image, (I stamped it in Fadeout ink on this toned paper) white with my Blick Studio pencils. Then I blended in the colors of the giraffe and kept going back with white to blend. When that was all done, I used some Post-It tape to mask off a floor and I colored above and below the line with white. Above the line I added blue, pink, and black to demarcate the line between the wall and the floor. I shaded around the giraffe with black as well. In a few spots, I added highlights with a white gel pen.

Then I set the card front up in my MISTI and stamped the sentiment, also from this set, in Nocturne, and mounted it on a white card base.

Here's the whole stamp set - how cute is this??

Inkon3Release stamp set

Want the good news? I have a discount for you! Click here, and enter coupon code  dancetwirl15 and get 15% off your whole order! Yay you!

Then head over to the Inkon3 blog for more inspiration, and your chance to win a $25 shopping spree!

Leave me a comment telling me if you were in dance or ballet or gymnastics or anything else requiring coordination and grace. 

Then, check out the inspiration in today's blog hop!

Loveyameanitbye. 

27 comments:

  1. Your blue dancing giraffe brings a huge smile to my face. Not only did I take ballet and modern jazz for years, I actually took Ballroom Dancing at a very young age, in which I was required to wear white gloves and wait for one of the boys on the class to ask me to dance. But we did learn fun dances like the foxtrot and the cha cha cha. Mr. Bergeren, the piano teacher, had a band aid on his nose for the entire year.

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  2. Oh wow! Your coloring of this little ballerina giraffe is just beautiful Lydia. You should go Degas on everything! Happy you joined us on this hop :)

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  3. Lydia, you post made me smile. I can’t dance, either! But I do love to watch dance of any kind! I love how you showcased the little giraffe in center stage. Your coloring is beautiful!

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  4. Nope, no ballet or gymnastics in my little Catholic school. Only playing tag and chase on the church parking lot/playground. No grace required, but speed....I was all over that! Loved your whimsical card and your story telling never ceases to amuse and entertain.

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  5. This is so cute! I love it! How do I NOT have this set, or have not even seen it?! Love this so much.

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  6. This is adorable, Lydia! I need to brush on my pencil coloring.

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  7. Cute card!! I love your coloring. Very adorable

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  8. Adorable card!! Love how you did the Background!! Thank You for sharing. 🙂

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  9. They have the best ink and stamp sets. I will be trying the embossing powder next. Your card is adorable.

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  10. Looks fabulous!
    I was in gymnastics
    from 5th grade through
    Freshman year! Loved
    it so much.
    Carla from Utah

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  11. So cute. Love your coloring technique.

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  12. I yearned to take ballet for YEARS when I was a kid, but it was not in the family budget. I have always loved dance. I did learn to line dance as well as a few “couples” country dances when I was in my thirties. I really enjoyed it. Zumba is really fun too, but I had to quit due to my back injuries.

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  13. Oh my Lordy! I love your blog so much. First of all, I have to have that giraffe stamp! I’m very fond of giraffes. But this ballerina giraffe made me laugh... love her. Second, I took art history in college and my final paper was on Edgar Degas. I seriously appreciated his perspective and his use of color. Thanks for reminding me about him. Lastly, I had to take tap as a child because I had a foot that turned in and the doctor thought it would help. I loved it, but I too am short and I’m not really very graceful... so it was a very short lived activity for me. I took ballet for a semester in college to get acphys ed credit and I can honestly say it was my hardest class! But I do enjoy watching ballet. I’m definitely going to have to purchase this stamp and play. Thanks so much!!

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  14. I love your giraffe! She is VERY Degas-y, one of my very favorite artists! I'm sure you know all about his career, but not only did he paint in color, and create bronze sculptures of the ballerinas, he did hundreds of beautiful sketches on kraft color paper with white chalk, and tiny details in black, and they look so beautiful! Anyway, I was in all kinds of plays and musicals all through high school and college, and spent lots of time with choreographers. I LOVE to dance! I should have taken lessons as a young girl. Love your sweet giraffe!

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  15. So so stinking cute. And I agree re Degas! And your question reminded me of my traditional Korean dance classes taught by my aunt who was a professional dancer. She was still performing into her 70s.

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  16. This set is adorable and the sentiments are perfect too. I took dance classes as a small child but I don't remember much of it except I loved the noise the taps made. I took gymnastics in college just to meet the PE requirement, but my fear of heights was an impediment to the uneven parallel bars and even the balance beam to be truthful .

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  17. As a child I did ballet, tap, and acrobatics before deciding on ballet. My feet weren't right - would have had to break the bones and reset if I wanted to be a professional. Now I do the next best thing! If you can count to 8 and walk you can do Scottish Country Dancing! It's more than that but walking is perfectly fine! Love this card and cute stamp set!

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  18. No real dancing for me as a kid but I sure took a few twists and turns in my bedroom to the radio, yep a closet dancer with no grace or balance lol. However I absolutely love watching any kind of dance. I am always amazed at the strength, balance, fluidity, and concentration of dancers and gymnast.

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  19. You’ve made such an amazing job with this Degas-giraffe !! I was maybe 12 when I tried a couple years of what we called Modern Jazz dance. But the teacher was such a b**** I didn’t wanted to go to be yelled at ! I still regret didn’t met the good teacher because I probably would have loved it otherwise. Please excuse the approximate English... Love, Marjorie
    [margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

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  20. That is such a cute giraffe! Speaking of, have you seen the giraffes in the front yard of the house at Roehampton & Doncaster? If not, take a drive!

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  21. Such an adorably sweet stamp set and I love your cute card Lydia!!!

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  22. Super cute card!
    I did take some dance classes when I was little, but gave up on it pretty quickly! (I don't think I was asked to leave the class.... haha!).

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  23. Oh my!!! I'm totally in love for this adorable and cutie card!!! Love it!!!
    I've always wished taking ballett class but unfortunately it has never been possible and I've literally the grace of an elephant! : D

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  24. No classes for me as a kid at all, too shy! I probably would have liked gymnastics, but ended up just roller skating all.the.time. I definitely like your card though! Super cute!!!

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  25. Adorable card! I love the sweet giraffe, so beautifully colored. Love the soft texture of the pencil.

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  26. I love this crafty corner of the internet, because there are things like Degas tributes and tales of tiny tot ballet classes along with images of a tutu-ed giraffe. What more could one need? Thanks for sharing this card with us; I always love seeing your no-line coloring.

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