I was inspired about the idea of letting go by a Hugh MacLeod cartoon - "one day, she just let go" You can sign up to have his cartoons sent to your email (for free!) at www.gapingvoid.com. Many thanks to Phyllis (whatnext )for introducing me to his work. In thinking more about this notion of letting go, I found this quote by Herman Hesse which seems to capture the idea beautifully - "Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go." Anna's gorgeous art helped to convey the idea in this card.

(Don't you just want to cheer on that little snowflake?)

Supplies (Anna)

4 X 6 ArtsyKardz Chills http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=32974;cat=383;page=1 - cool glow - **NEW
ArtsyKardz Chills http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=32973;cat=383;page=1 - card4 art stroke - **NEW
ArtsyPaint No. 2 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=33023 - **NEW
ArtPlay Palette Chills http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=32918;cat=383;page=1 - Overlay3, Transfer5
CoolGlows No. 4 http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=32913;cat=383;page=1

Fonts - Blackjack, Avenir

Process

One of the transfers from ArtPlay Palette Chills (Overlay3) became my main image. I set its blending mode to Screen, then created a copy, moved it above the original layer and set its blending mode to Linear Dodge. Next, I placed another Chills transfer (Transfer 5) over the top of the circular part of the original image and set the blending mode to Vivid Light and opacity to 50%. I played around with the placement of this layer until I liked the effect, masking out some of the image. I then duplicated this layer and moved it to highlight another area of the circular image. Next, I added CoolGlows 4_7 to this area of the card, with a blending mode of Color Dodge and opacity of 60%.

I loved the little snowflake with artsroke in the new ArtsyKardz Chills (card 4) - and thought it would be the perfect image to show the "letting go". I duplicated it, moved it above, and set the blending mode to Hard Light. I also loved the little stream of star glows in a layer in the 4x6 ArtsyKards Chills (card 1) and positioned it to enhance the snowflake that was letting go. I set it's blending mode to Color Dodge, then made a copy above the original and set it's blending mode to Color Burn. I then added ArtsyPaint 2_2, filled it with turquoise color, rotated it, resized, set it's opacity to 43% and then placed it over the star glows to give that area a cloud-like, misty quality. Added a few more glows here and there and voila!

Thanks so much for looking!