Hello There

Hi friends! Our summer is winding down now and my littles meet their teacher this afternoon and start school on Monday. They are so anxious and asking so many questions I can't answer about their new school, so I'm glad we at least get a little visit with the teacher today. Transitions are VERY difficult for them, so a new school, new teacher, new classmates and an entirely new educational approach is probably going to throw them for a loop. At least they'll have each other, as they'll be in the same classroom this year.

Anyhow, I thought I'd make a little "nice to meet you" card they could bring to their teacher today. Not knowing her style, I went with what I was inspired by... the new 3D Lumber Texture Fade and the gorgeous new Misty Rose collection from Prima. Oh my word, this embossing folder made me so happy as I played and played and played with it the other day. Get ready for lots of woodgrain in future projects! I'm totally crushing on it!

For the woodgrain panel, I started with a panel of sahara sand cardstock, and embossed with the 3D Lumber folder.  I then sponged hickory smoke and black soot distress oxides over the embossing to bring in some depth and finished by blending some white soft pastel.

Next I pulled my favorite pattern from the Misty Rose 6x6 pad and cut a 2" strip. I love the look of shabby florals with woodgrain. Such a lovely contrast.  I used a strip of the opposite side of the paper for the sentiment, which is from the Hero Arts Many Everyday Messages stamp set and stamped in Morning Mist Versafine Ink.

For the focal piece, I selected a floral diecut from the Misty Rose ephemera pack and fussy cut to get rid of the white border. I added some shabby accents behind... an iridescent leaf, some cheesecloth and a bit of pearl string I picked up recently at Jo-Ann. A glue pen and glitter added some sparkly highlights to the roses and I finished off with a sweet little paper bow made with the Pink & Main Small Bow Die.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! As always, I hope you have a fabulous start to your weekend!

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CL954 Many Everyday Messages - Hero Arts [ HA ] Prima - Misty Rose Collection - 6 x 6... [ SBC ] Prima - Misty Rose Collection -... [ SBC ] Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Alterations... [ SBC ] Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress... [ SBC ] Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress... [ SBC ] Tsukineko - VersaFine Clair - Ink Pad... [ SBC ] Small Bow Dies - Pink and Main LLC [ PNK ] Sakura - Quickie Glue Pen - Pinpoint... [ SBC ] Tonic Studios - Nuvo Collection -... [ SBC ]

Cocoa Rose

Hi friends! Hope you're having a fabulous week so far. I found a little bit of play time the other day and had to give a go at some new to me products.

My Hero Arts cocoa liquid watercolor ink arrived! Speaking of Hero Arts, this month's kit has started shipping and  I heard there's not many August My Monthly Hero kits left before they sell out for good, so if you want one of these fabulous coffee themed kits, now's the time! All the add-ons that I've shown will still be available, but the main kit is a one run and done kind of thing.

Last Friday while the boys were at their chess class, I snuck away and picked up this beautiful Antique Rose wood mounted stamp at my local stamp store. I do see on the Hero Arts website that they have a clear stamp and cut version available too, which I might just need. {grin} I started by stamping the beautiful floral image on watercolor paper with Fallen Leaves Versafine Clair ink. I just love this ink for watercoloring.

I had this crazy idea to watercolor the flower with the new cocoa liquid watercolor ink. In my head it was going to be mostly white, with hints of brown. But as I have next to no patience when it comes to watercolor, my card quickly took a different turn as I couldn't keep from fussing with the colors while they were still wet. I even tried stamping again and starting over, but soon I had two mostly tan flowers and decided to just go with the flow and bring in some Cup o' Joe ink to add in some shading! To add a little luster to things, I used my favorite new Crystal Clear Lacquer Pen to add some chunky champagne glitter and some fine latte glitter to different sections of the flowers.  To add some dimension, I cut out a section of one of the flowers, inked around the edges with Cup o' Joe ink and then popped up on foam tape and accented with some golden adhesive pearls

At this point, while super sparkly and fabulously coffee colored, I wasn't sure y'all would recognize it as a flower, so decided to add some leaves.  I had just received the new Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens thinlit dies and decided to cut a couple from some Amber Moon paper. This paper is probably my absolute favorite paper pad ever. Gorgeous in every way! After cutting them, I sponged with the inks in the Earth Neutrals ink set and coated with the Crystal Clear Lacquer pen.  I added in a few metal leaf embellishments from my stash, then set to work on the layout of the card.

I used two different papers from the Amber Moon collection, tearing one panel to create a rugged effect, then distressing with the same earth neutrals inks. The pumpkin pie color became a little overpowering, so I covered some of the paper with some Tim Holtz tissue tape and then went over with more of the grey and brown inks.  To add to the shabby look, I added a bit of lace trim underneath the flower.

The sentiment is from a Lil' Inker Designs Tags & Flags set from many moons ago. I embossed it in copper on vellum, added a bit of ink, then rolled one end and glued it down like an old parchment scroll.

Alrighty, thanks so much for reading my ramblings today! See ya next time!

Affiliate links are used on this blog, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting me, and clicking on my links to shop!

K6135 Antique Rose - Hero Arts [ HA ] Hero Arts - Liquid Watercolor - Cocoa [ SBC ] AF381 Earth Neutrals Dye Cubes - Hero... [ HA ] Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Alterations... [ SBC ] Prima - Amber Moon Collection - 6 x 6... [ SBC ] Tsukineko - VersaFine Clair - Ink Pad... [ SBC ] Tsukineko - VersaMark Watermark Ink... [ SBC ] Judikins EP2-04 Embossing Powder,... [ AMZUS ]