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Breathe Deeply and a Hop

Hi friends!  It's the 5th of the month, which means it's Diva Inspirations Hop time!  And along with that, it's the first Monday of the month, so it's also contest week at Mojo Monday!  I'm the first stop along the hop, so if you're just popping in, grab a treat and settle in for some Verve inspiration. There's a prize drawing from all the hop comments, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop about.



This month's Diva Inspirations challenge is Font Focus.  Totally up my alley, and I chose to use sentiments from the Remember This set, paired with butterflies from the new again Die Sidekicks set.  And since the inspiration graphic was mixed-media, I decided to pull out some gesso and get my hands dirty.

The meaning... Life has been throwing me a few curve balls lately and I really wanted to just kind of let it all go with this card.  To remember that this life is lovely and to breathe deeply, fly freely and nestle into the small quiet moments that make life big.  To remember that even when the edges of our days are jagged and ragged and messy, if we only look for them, we'll find that there are beautiful moments of hope and possibility and peace that flutter all around us.  So that was the heart I was trying to portray with this card.

The messy part... I started with a piece of so saffron cardstock that I wiped gesso all over.  I heat set it so it would dry aster, then began to stamp the Oh happy day stamp all over the front of it in So Saffron.  Next I sponged on some wild honey and scattered straw distress inks and sprayed the whole thing with water and wiped off some of the ink on the gesso.  I then went back into some of the whitest parts and stamped the Oh happy day sentiment again.  in the corner I embossed the breathe deeply sentiment in black, then distressed the edges, adding just a bit of pumice stone ink here and there to dirty things up.

My square layer (which you can only see a triangle of) is from the Hello Sunshine paper pad  (I love that it has the lyrics of You Are My Sunshine on it) and I also distressed it and added a bit of gesso.  The butterflies from Die Sidekicks are embossed in black onto so saffron cardstock, wiped with gesso, then I added in a bit of watercoloring with wild honey and scattered straw markers and a waterbrush, then hand trimmed to pop up on the card.  The love this and life sentiments are stamped onto a hand cut banner, sponged with a stencil and then wrapped around a stick pin.  I used the same stencil on the fly freely panel and added a bit of distressing and gesso there as well.

So, that's the how-to and the what-for. Thanks for stopping by today.  There's some super exciting news on the Verve Blog today that's going to make for a lot less stress on my creative soul, which has been feeling a bit battered and bruised and taped back together this past year or two.  Be sure to head on over there for the announcement and all the deets on prizes and deadlines for the blog hop and challenge!

Next up on the hop is Amy!
1. Julee 9. Susan
2. Amy 10. Chaitali
3. Anya 11. Stacey
4. Betty 12. Maureen
5. Karen 13. Marisa
6. Sankari 14. Andrea
7. Sarah 14. Charmaine
8. Sony 14. Christyne


Mojo Monday 344
Enabler's List
Stamps: Remember This, Die Sidekicks (Verve Stamps)
Paper: so saffron, basic gray (SU!), Hello Sunshine (Pink Paislee), cream (Neenah)
Ink: so saffron (SU!), tuxedo black (Memento Luxe), scattered straw, wild honey and pumice stone distress inks (Ranger)
Accessories:  gesso, clear embossing powder (Judikins), stick pin, paper distresser, Dot Fade Layering Stenciel (Tim Holtz)


And last but not least, Verve's May special is 25% off some fabulous floral and butterfly sets.

35 comments

Sarah Gough said...

This is so beautiful Julee, both in sentiment and execution! Big hugs - I hope your creative soul can breathe easier now!

Dodie said...

Love this card! The colors are fantastic, the layout is superb, and the description is outstanding. I have to shut down to leave for work, but I will definitely be back later today to read/look/ooh and aah more!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Julee!
This is really, really beautiful!
I love the grunge!
Fabulous job!
Hugs,
cathy

kReN said...

What a truly unique and beautiful card. I just love Verve's sentiments. Really inspiring!
kReN@
http://afourthlife.blogspot.com

Julie T. said...

Love the card and it is true, crafting helps the soul!

D- said...

I LOVE how you just let that creativity flow. Very pretty.
I hope it helped calm things a bit. Take care my friend.
Thanks for sharing.
Crafty hugs,
D~
DesignsByDragonfly.blogspot

Lynn Noe said...

This lovely card fits your blog name perfectly. You really have a gift for card making and design. These sentiments and the thoughts behind them are beautiful and meaningful.

Maureen said...

oh, Julee, I think this is one of my favourite creations of yours! It truly comes from your soul and the sentiments are perfect. You are amazing and look at all you've done raising twins, running your own company, and being a supportive wife. I see more wonderful times ahead. I hope this card goes to YOU and gets a place of honour on the mantle or in your studio :) Hugs ox

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

What a super card. I love that you added gesso. Best go get me some.

Donna Oates said...

Love the sentiments used and all those rich colors. The hop for using sentiments is great! Works really well for me this week.

BJ Searcy said...

Very pretty card. Love the way you wrapped the sentiment around the stick pin, so creative.

nattyboots said...

Just loving the Look and Style x

Marisa said...

Love black and yellow - we were on the same page there, and it beautifully reflects your heartfelt comments about life recently. Great work and yeah for a sigh of relief in the creative side of things ((hugs)). Hang in there, one day at a time, and enjoy the little glimmers of joy, thankfulness and hope today brings :)

joy said...

Love your card - the grungy look and the colors and the sentiments - all so great together. I just placed my first order for some Verve stamps - thanks for the "sale"!!!

Stacey Schafer said...

Verve has the most awesome FONTS! Love your distressed beauty, Julee!

cm said...

Sending thoughts and wishes that your serenity and harmony come your way! Your card is stunning; beautiful and exquisite!
c

Sue D said...

Great advice on this lovely card.

Anonymous said...

Great card. Great sentiments to live by.

Heather said...

Gorgeous as always, Julee! This may be one of my favorite mixed media cards, ever! I'm not a yellow fan, but this color combo is fabulous.

Linda Callahan said...

Beautifully done!

Unknown said...

This card is so beautiful! Really like the yellow and black.

Kris B said...

Fantastic card! Love the distressing and the gesso! Beautifully done!

Unknown said...

I LOVE your card. I love all the distressing and the colors. Very pretty. This was a fun sketch. :-)

Darlene Gabriel said...

Wow this is beautiful - I do love black and yellow together. You do so well with the mixed media technique and I love it that your creations come from your heart. Praying for those "curve balls in life" to "straighten" out for you quickly.

Sue Crease said...

What a fab card, love those colours great for guys.
Sue

Bernadette Bliss said...

My goodness, I just love all the textures on this card. Just beautiful. B

KFlaherty said...

Beautiful card Julee

Christine said...

Love the look of this card! The sentiment on the stick pin is wonderful as are the colors and textures!

Kathy Krug said...

Beautiful tattered and torn look with great sentiments.

Papercrafting Princess said...

Love the sentiments and artwork!

Lady Rynn said...

Wow, this card is amazing! I wish I was half this talented! ;) Such a fabulous job!

dj said...

fantastic card...loving the yellow and black combo and great font focus!!

Linsey R said...

It's SO gorgeous and so inspirational Julee! The wonderful sentiments are definitely the star of this show! I absolutely adore your card! Incredibly beautiful job!!

Miriam Prantner said...

Loving the grungy look of this! The gesso and all that distressing, fantastic!

Patt H. said...

Beautiful card, Julee!