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
