Love Letters and Old Lace

This is a postcard I made for a swap...and the theme was Love Letters & Old Lace.

I will admit to feeling a little pressure with this one from the start... firstly because I was new to the group, but secondly as a newbie I was invited to set the theme...and then of course felt I really needed not to make a hash of it ...

I began with a layer of gesso (of course) and then added a  thin layer of acrylic paint. Once it was dry I used black archival ink and a French script stamp... which I then proceeded to largely cover with torn pieces of lace doily and more paint and a single application of gold wax...

On top of that I used plain white texture paste through a script stencil and gold embossing paste through a teeny hearts stencil. I stamped the word love randomly across the card.

I used a distress tool around the edges and then went over again with distress ink and the gold wax. I also used both of them on a layered flower which I adhered to the card and finished with a tied piece of old lace trim.

For the base I used Kraft card which I stamped over and over with a lace border stamp and black archival ink. Once everything was dry I adhered the centre of the panel to the base card to complete the project, leaving the distressed edges to lift from the base and reveal the lace stamping underneath.

It took a few days to complete this project because I did a bit and walked away...sometimes simple to let things dry, other times to give me some thinking time about the next step, but when I was finished I was happy with the end result ...and more importantly the recipient loved it.

Until next time
Cxx

52 week cafe card challenge and E is for Eclipse

I am really enjoying this weekly challenge and I am slowly getting used to working on something so small. I will admit it was hard at first, especially as my roots were in card making, but I am liking it more now.

For this card I began with a couple of fairly thick layers of "boiled gesso" background and I topped this with a couple of  fairly generous coats of black acrylic paint (I used Daler Rowney for this). I then rubbed in some Treasure Brass to highlight the textured surface and to provide the glow. The central focus was made by rolling and ink edging the eye shaped piece and adhering with distress medium to form delicate  teeny cracks. The letters (from Stampin' Up!) were stamped onto linen paper with black archival ink and adhered with gel medium.

This one took me the longest to actually begin but once I had the design idea fixed in my head it came together easily and I am happy with the result.

Until next time

Cxx

52 week cafe card challenge and D is for Dragonfly

D is for Dragonfly and for this card I really wanted to keep it very simple and let the dragonfly be the focus of the card.

I used a couple of layers of gesso for this card and I heated both long enough to make the gesso surface bubble (I call it boiled gesso background lol)  Over the top I simply added some diluted decoart acrylic and over that I added some blue radiance paint to give a shimmer. The dragonfly was made from two layers both stamped onto vellum and heat embossed.

I really like the simplicity of this one.
Until next time
Cxx

52 week cafe card challenge and C is for Coffee

The 3rd in the series of altered playing cards for the 52 week challenge...and it is C is for coffee.

 As always I started with a layer of gesso to which I added a few layers of torn paper to add texture. I stuck to a range of coffee coloured inks to do the back ground and the stamping... All the stamps used here were from VLVS. The mouse was stamped onto linen paper, coloured and then adhered to the card with a distress medium.

Considering I do not like coffee at all I was quite pleased with my take on the theme.

Until next time

Cxx

Postcard crazy

I am  going a little postcard crazy this month... With  the intention of boosting my motivation to get things done and set them free, I signed up for several swaps this year, including a couple of post card based events.

This postcard was made to fit a monochrome theme. I really wanted to step away from the obvious black and white and since the definition of monochrome also includes shades of one colour with the addition of either black or white, my choice was to take the sepia route.

All the stamps used here are from VLVS and I used the simple combination of vintage photo distress ink and black archival ink to complete the project.

I hope my swap partner will enjoy the postcard I have made for her...I certainly had lots of inky fun in the making of it.
Until next time
Cxx