Thank You

Ellen Hutson is having their September Pin-Sights Challenge at The CLASSroom blog. Actually, today is the last day, so I'm getting my entry in kind of just under the wire! :) I used all the images from the Essentials by Ellen "Mondo Hydrangea" stamp set, as well as its coordinating dies. The greeting is from Stampendous' "Happy Messages" set.

I stamped the flowers & leaf with Hero Arts Soft Granite ink on Canson XL Mixed Media paper. I needed a waterproof ink, but wanted a softer look than black, hence my choice of ink. I stamped the individual blooms multiple times, and the large cluster & leaf just once. Then I watercolored them with my Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolors and a water brush. After they had dried completely, I cut them with the coordinating dies.

I liked the "weathered wood" background I used in this card so much, I decided to do another version for this card. This time, instead of leaving the paper white, I lightly inked a panel of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Hickory Smoke Distress ink first. Then I applied lines of Perfect Paper Adhesive over the panel, and let that dry completely. After scoring the panel with a stylus to create the look of boards, I went in with more Hickory Smoke and a mini ink blending tool and just blended the ink lightly. Then I blended on Mermaid Lagoon Distress ink. I went back & forth a couple of times with each color, until I had the look I wanted. I finished by wiping off any residual ink from the glue lines with a damp paper towel.

I stamped my greeting on a strip of vellum with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. Because my background would be so busy, I really needed my greeting to pop. I set the ink with my heat tool, and cut the left end of the strip into a V-shape.

After I glued all my die cut images in place with more PPA, I positioned my greeting banner. I held it in place on the front of my panel with a couple of pieces of painter's tape, and wrapped the right end of the banner around to the back of my watercolor piece. I adhered that in place with my ATG adhesive, and removed the tape. I applied tiny dots of PPA behind the greeting on the back of the banner, then put an acrylic block over it to adhere it to the background panel. Once that had set up, I added a bit of sparkle & shine with some Darice 5mm & 8mm Crystal sequins, and glued 3mm clear gems from The Paper Studio in the center of each. Finally, I adhered my card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering my card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion Challenge #331: "Anything Goes"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"