The Way

During an evening walk a few weeks back, I found a rusty, gold painted piece of metal (shaped like a wing?) which someone had tucked into a street sign in my neighborhood.

It was happenstance that I glanced-up at just the right time with just the right light to see it's shiny reflection and to know it was there.

And so I used it for a small plaque made with various papers (vintage book, Tim Holtz collage and butterflies cut from Prima scrapbook paper). The flowers are from the new Idea-ology Botanical Layers and the girl is a Baseboard Doll.

I used a bit of crackle medium around the edges, drew some lines and added shading to create a faux border, and trimmed the plaque edges with gold paint. The text was an image transfer.

I began work on this Monday when I discovered the Simon Monday challenge was "Add Something Metallic." Since this metal piece had been laying around my studio for awhile (with no idea of how or what to use it for), this challenge was just the push I needed.

I didn't think I'd get it done in time to enter but sure enough, I did!

Happy Mother's Day

This is the card I made for my Mom this year. I am so grateful to have her still (she's a nonagenarian) and these days, our roles are reversed somewhat but more than a mom, she's my truest friend.

That's washi tape around the outside (pink polka dots), the scalloped border was hand-drawn and embellished with white paint and glitter glue.

The stamped pieces (Simon's Delicate Flower set) were cut from transparent paper that I tinted with inks and pasted onto book paper along with some more washi.

I used white and black gel pens to make lines in the background, on the borders and to further emphasize the line quality on the flowers.

I'm linking to the Monday challenge at Simon, the theme is "Add Something Metallic" and I think my glitter glue may qualify.

If you are a Mom, I hope your day is as special as you are!

Beautiful to Me

Let's just say you don't see these greeting card techniques everyday so I thought they might be worthy of a share. I made this card for my stamping sister, Thelma, using the new bottle of glitter that she had gifted me.

I stamped my images (Simon's new Delicate Flowers set) on purple cardstock, outlined the edges with Nuvo Glitter Drops, used bleach with a paint brush to lighten the colored paper, tinted the space with colored pencils (orange and green), and finishing up with a big ol' fussy-cut.

I mounted my cut-out on some Prima cardstock (Ephipany), used black Scribbles to bring out the stamens, and edged the card with thin dark grey paper and more Glitter Drops.

I've used Nuvo Crystal Drops before but this was a first for the glitter drops and I must say they are very useful for a number of reasons. First, the are very easy to apply--the fine tip and soft-sided bottle allow for good precision. Second, this stuff is tough! Even after using the bleach, rubbing in the tints, and cutting right next to it, the glitter never came off the paper. It reminds me of Glossy Accents with glitter in it.