Monday, May 19, 2014

Challenge: Botanical

The Monday Challenge Team over at Simon Says Stamp issued a challenge today with a botanical theme. There are some really nice samples of artwork created by the team members. I decided to make a card to answer the challenge.


I started with the Watercolor Garden set from Stampin' Up. I wanted to try to create a garden scene or a bouquet of flowers, but I've never had success at that type of stamping. I ended up creating a background, though, that I really liked. I used  Distress Inks on my stamps and lightly misted them with water before stamping on the paper, creating a slightly watercolored effect. It really didn't look like much until I added a script stamp, also from Stampin' Up! on top of the flowers. I used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo which is quite dark, also spritzing with water before stamping. I am very happy with the way the water blurred the script - I just think it's a cool look.

I cut a couple of very thin strips of brown to "frame" the stamped paper, and mounted everything on a green cardstock base. The sentiment is from a Tim Holtz set, called Simple Sayings. After cutting my strip of cardstock with notched ends, I added Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick using a foam blender, I also used a little Tea Dye Distress Ink over that. I mounted the sentiment strip on a piece of mustard colored cardstock and notched the ends. I glued it to the card front at an angle, and then added the punched bird, using a tiny bead for the eye. I will admit that I'm not too thrilled with the bird, but what's done is done!

Till next time,

Immi

1 comment:

Andrea Ockey Parr said...

This card is simply genius! It is so pretty, so elegant, and so whimsical at the same time! I was really impressed and inspired by your stamping technique for that "watery" look. I would've never thought to use Distress Ink with a little spritz of water before stamping. That was really brilliant and I adore the effect it created. And then that layer of text gives it such depth! I love everything about this-- especially the little birdie and banner. You've done an amazing job on this piece and I'm so glad that you entered it in this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! I also enjoyed browsing your blog and reading your bio! For the record, I love chocolate, too, although I'm not big on Zumba, so you're one step ahead of me there! Keep creating lovely things and thanks again for sharing this with us!