Thanks!

Today I'm enjoying a day off from work. I recently started a new job, and I'm missing my craft time! I decided to make a "thank you" card today for a co-worker of mine. She made a little sign with my name for my work space as a welcoming gesture - so nice of her! I thought it would be fun to use the Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge, A Piece of Paradise, to jump start my project.

I started with a piece of watercolor paper, cut to A2 size. I sprayed it with water, then had fun with several spray inks (Glimmer Mist & October Afternoon), letting the colors run and blend together. After drying it with my heat gun, I took a Tim Holtz stencil (Burlap), and spread Ranger's Texture Paste randomly through the stencil. I let that air dry for a little bit, then finished the drying with the heat tool. I used some Mini Distress inks and blending tools to add some color to the top of the texture paste. Next I die cut watercolor paper into flowers & leaves using Tattered Florals and Tattered Leaves dies from Sizzix. I sprayed those with inks as well, but they seemed a little blah. I added some interest to them by using various stencils & stamps. For the leaves, I used the Typewriter Background stamp from My Favorite Things and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. For the purple flower layer, I used Tim Holtz' stencil, Dot Fade and Seedless Preserves Distress Ink. For the yellow flower layer, I stamped with Dandelion Archival Ink and a Penny Black stamp called Penmanship. The blue flower layer is stamped with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a mini script stamp from Prima. I also edged the leaves with a Black Soot Distress Marker to help them stand out more from the background. I glued the leaves & flower down with Perfect Paper adhesive. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! (Many Thanks). That was stamped on a scrap of watercolor paper with Versafine Black Onyx, covered with clear embossing powder, and heated. I trimmed closely around it and sprayed it with Sea Glass Glimmer Mist. Then I mounted it on a scrap of purple cardstock, notched on the one edge. I tucked the opposite edge under the leaves when I glued it down. The finished panel was mounted on purple cardstock, using Tombow's Extreme Adhesive. For one last touch, I glued a clear gemstone from my stash as a center for the flower.

That's it for today - happy Monday to you all!

Immi

Valentine's Day Card

I decided to do a little cleanup the other day in my studio. It gets messy really quickly in here! One of the things I chose to tackle was some paper that I use to cover my work surface when I'm using ink sprays. The spray tends to get all over everything, so I keep newspapers or large paper bags on hand to put under my project. I get some interesting colors and patterns as they get all dirtied up. I took some of those pieces and die cut them into flower and leaf shapes, using Tattered Leaves, Tattered Florals, and Jumbo Tattered Florals by Sizzix. But now I'm left with a pile of these pieces and need to figure out what to do with them.

I thought it would be fun to layer some of them on a card. I started with a piece of watercolor paper and some ink sprays, I used several shades of red and pink, along with some gold & bronze to create a background. Next I layered some decorative washi tapes over that, gluing them down since the adhesive on these tapes is not quite strong enough for the textured watercolor paper. I glued down a couple of flowers & leaves and set it all aside to dry between a couple of books to help keep it flat. (I keep waxed paper handy to prevent sticking when I use books as weights.)

I had a chipboard heart that I hadn't used on another project, so rather than put it away I decided to use it. I sprayed it with some inks, then put on a layer of Distress Crackle Paint in Clear Rock Candy. 

While that was drying, I decided which sentiment stamp to use - the one I chose is by Heidi Swapp. I added some additional stamping on the lower left since it looked rather bare, using French Post by Hampton Art and Flourish Wave with Hearts by Hero Arts. Next I added my sentiment.

Once the heart was dry, I attached it to the flowers, and rounded the lower right corner of the panel. I folded a heavy piece of cardstock to use as the card base, and rounded the lower right corner of that as well. I used Extreme Adhesive to mount the watercolor panel since it's so heavy.

I can't say that I got very far in cleaning up my space, but I got a little bit done and had some fun along the way.

Happy crafting!

Immi