For a Special Lady!

Hello Friends!

Today is a special day!  My Aunt is celebrating her birthday.  I can tell you in the last 10 years we have become very close and I am very grateful for our relationship.  I guess I can blame her for this crazy addiction I have.  I remember telling her when she asked me to scrapbook with her, "I am not that patient, I don't think I could do it."  Well, here we sit today and she blames me for getting her into trouble with supplies and You Tube.  I guess what comes around goes around, right?! =-)

Well, we both have a love for the same man... Ummm, that would be Tim Holtz.  So I thought I would take some of the things I am learning in the Creative Chemistry 101 class and make a card for her.  She will 'get it'!.  Others would likely say, what did you do with that mess of stuff.

So for the tag, I used distress inks in blues and greens.  I then used some stamps with white picket fence stain and stamped on top of the first layer of distress ink.  I heated it with a heat tool to make sure it was sealed.  Then I used black Archival ink to stamp the bird and flowers (stamps by Tim Holtz Visual Artistry collection).  I also stamped a bit of texture in black to add some extra dimension.  When I completed the stamping, I used black soot distress ink to go around the images to make the center pop out a bit more.  The ribbon on the top was white, but I used tumbled glass distress stain to give it color to match the tag.

The background is actually a black piece of cardstock.  I took crackle paint in white and painted the cardstock.  I was too impatient to let it dry, so I heated it also.  Once it cracked, I went over it with peeled paint and tumbled glass distress ink for additional color.  Don't be shocked, but I then wadded that piece of black cardstock up and then flattened it out and distressed the edges.  I figured that since the tag was a bit grungy, I would make the background grungy as well.

The inside was much simpler.  Just a piece of Bo Bunny paper that matches the outside.  I distressed it then took a white piece of cardstock to stamp the sentiment.  The edges of the white cardstock are inked with more peeled paint and tumbled glass distress ink.

When I finished, my hands were pretty stained.  But overall, I am very happy with the result.  I can't wait to play a bit more with the inks and stains.  They are pretty cool!

Have a great day!

Blessings until next time...

Athina