Agapanthus Hello

Hero Arts has started a new series of challenges on their blog, called "Stay Crafty with Hero." The current challenge is "Never Seen Ink." Basically, take your older stamps that you've never used and use them! Hero Arts products, while encouraged, are not required. I pulled out Altenew's "Versatile Vases" stamp set for my card as my never-inked set.

I cut a panel of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper to 3-3/4x5". After lining the vase stamp up in my MISTI, I stamped it with Lawn Fawn's Kiddie Pool ink, dried it with my heat tool, and then added "water" with a pale blue Tombow marker. I blended that color out with a damp paintbrush. I put the panel back in my MISTI & positioned the agapanthus stamp (from Stampendous' "Agapanthus Thanks" stamp set). I masked off the bottom of the vase with a piece of yellow Frog tape, and "inked" up the flower stem with a green Tombow marker. I stamped that, and repeated to get a better impression. I cleaned off the stem, and added color to the flower portion with a purple marker. After I stamped that twice, I used my paintbrush to blend the color in the center of the flower out just a bit, to help fill in the area.

I die cut a tag from a scrap of bristol paper with the smallest of the "Pinpoint Main Street Tags" dies (discontinued) from Poppystamps. I used my purple marker & damp paintbrush to do kind of an ombre on the tag. I dried that with my heat tool, and stamped the "hello" from "Versatile Vases" with Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink. I pierced a hole through the end of the tag, and used some thin jute twine to tie a bow through the hole. I pierced 2 more holes on either side of the vase, & threaded twine through them, taping the ends to the back of the panel. I used a thin foam dot at the end of the tag, and double-sided tape for the rest, and adhered it in place. The foam dot gives it just a bit of lift, for added depth & dimension.

I matted the panel with lavender cardstock, leaving a 1/8" border. I adhered that to a piece of green cardstock, and trimmed that to a 1/16" border on all 4 sides. Finally, I mounted the card front to a white A2-size card base.

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

Dies R Us Challenge #142: "Anything Goes Using Any Brand of Die DRU Sells" (used a Poppystamps die)
613 Avenue Create Challenge #231: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)