Corrugated Love

Hi friends!  Thanks so much for all of your sweet comments on my last post!  I'm excited to take the pressure off myself to create and just enjoy the process.  As I've mentioned before, I'm starting to delve into the world of mixed-media  and am just twitterpated at the possibilities.  This card here takes a little bit from the techniques I've been learning watching youtube videos and mixes it with cardmaking for a totally fun look and feel.  All of the stamps are from the Text Objects set and I also used the Charming Oval dies.

I've been struggling with another bout of tendinitis in my wrist which has kept me from stamping and computer work, so I've been filling my days watching tutorials on art journaling. In fact, I'm so excited about watching them I finally broke down and ordered an iPad 2 so I can watch them up in my studio with all my toys...er, I mean tools!  {grin} I can't wait for it to arrive!  Okay, tangent over, on with the post.  :)

I love the basic premise in art journaling that things don't have to be perfect.  It is what it is and that's okay.  Wait a minute, back up.  Did I (a classic perfectionist overachieving stressball) really just say that out loud?  Yup.  And I mean it folks!  The joy truly is in the journey, not the destination.  It's quite liberating to allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes and to learn to handle a little messiness while you prepare the way for the beauty that's inside to come forth.  And there's so much beauty in all of us.  So much more than we give ourselves credit for.  So much more than we ever thought possible. If we quit focusing so much on how we think things SHOULD be or how others think we SHOULD BE and give ourselves permission to JUST BE, I'm pretty sure we'll be amazed by the transformation that happens.  Our first little blossoming along the journey of becoming who we really want to be.  So what are you waiting for?  Let's get a little messy today!

 The Making Of:
I used concepts from this video tutorial to make my own corrugated paper.  Instead of patterned paper, I used cream cardstock for the top layer, cut a large scallop square out of it, embossed the background stamping in clear, then spritzed with frost glimmer mist.  Next I laid a harlequin stencil over it and spritzed with olive glimmer mist.  The hearts and charming oval were stamped and cut from the leftover sheet of spritzed cardstock.  For my take on the Material Girl Get Your Diva On challenge {play along for a chance to be a future Guest Diva for Verve!}, I cut a few pieces from a scrap of burlap and glued them onto the card front.  Then finished off with some twine a button and a good round of therapeutic distressing with my Distrezz-it-all.

Enabler's List:
Stamps:  Text Objects (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Classic Crest Natural White (Neenah), Early Espresso (SU!)
Ink: VersaMark (Tsukineko), Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Coffee (Ranger Archival), Frost, Creme de Cocoa and Olive Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels)
Accessories: Charming Oval Dies (A Cut Above by Verve), Large Scallop Squares Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Clear Detail Embossing Powder (JudiKins), Paper Crimper (Marvy Uchida), twine, button, glass glitter. burlap, All purpose glue, Harlequin Stencil (Crafter's workshop)