Celebrate!

Hello friends and visitors! I have a shabby card to share with you today. It can be a card to celebrate Easter, a new baby and baby's birthday or just to celebrate the day!

I was inspired by this sweet little Easter bunny from one of Tim Holtz' old paper stashes, the die cut "Celebrate" gifted to me by my good friend Autumn (SewPaperPaint), some flowers that were laying around on the floor (the complete story on that later), and my latest creative endeavor of making paper ruffles. I could use more practice on this!

This "flower bud" is made using Tim Holtz Tattered Florals and tissue paper, folding and rolling the spindly one on the die, floral wire and tape, tapped with chalky white paint.

Of course, I was dying to work with my Distress Oxides some more, as they've been kind of sitting there teasing me, looking so pretty and organized on their specially devoted shelf in my Closet. I used them on my paper ruffles, my flowers, buttons,and my background papers. The bottom most layer is pink card stock from my stash. I mixed up soft gel medium with DOX in Worn Lipstick and applied through a Tim Holtz mini stencil. I also blended Vintage Photo DOX on, and some more Worn Lipstick. It really was too bright for my vintage look, so I mixed up a DecoArt white chalk paint with Faber Castell glaze and gave it a wash. I wiped it back so the raised areas would show.  The other pink background paper was a scrap I tested the gel/DOX concoction with first. It's a beautiful printed paper to start with, and really a shame to cover it up.

While I had that glaze/chalk paint mixed up, I splattered some on bunny image. It looks like some got on other things that were sitting on my work top, too.

These vintage buttons are from my vast collection, and I've painted them with the chalky paint and then swiped them ever so lightly with the Worn Lipstick DOX. I love the debossing on the one I've used for a center on my die cut flower (Tim Holtz Decorative Strip Flower Garland). I tinted my button thread with Peeled Paint Distress ink.

The four petaled fabric flowers are from a flower garland I picked up at a yard sale. (They are supposed to be hydrangeas.) When I brought the garland in so many months ago, my kitties fell in love, so on the floor it sits in a little circle. The carpet square in the middle is one of their areas they are allowed to scratch (we have 3 others throughout the house). The photo below is blurry, because Biskit was getting ready to jump- she was not up for a photo shoot today. The red ball is one of their toys, and they have tucked it into the "branches" of their little touch of outdoors. The blanket behind her is Roger's woobie (my other cat, for those that don't know); he drags it around the house with him. My cats are so neurotic!

 It's their favorite place to play, and when Biskit gets out of sorts (which she often does), she sits in her "fairy circle" to feel safe.  There are always a handful of these flower petals lying on the floor, so I pick them up and save them for crafting. I painted them with chalk paint and touches of Worn Lipstick.

The little mismatched Tattered Floral flower under the button is one I had in my stash--I believe it was colored with Worn Lipstick ink originally. I wet it so I could make some gentle creases in it, but I had Peeled Paint on my fingers from dying my thread, so it came out this funky color. Weird! Oops! Naturally, I had to make it look like a plan, so I made another for the opposite corner--barely visible in the photo above.

There's another delicate die cut from my friend Autumn (Tutti Designs, I believe) tucked under the flowers. Thank you, Autumn! Such a pretty addition to my card!

While all of my photos were taken outdoors on white fabric to catch the morning sun, I took this one just as the sun was coming up in the newly sprouting grasses right outside my front door. I love the Cross in this image, which is the real reason we celebrate Easter--He is Risen!

I am sharing this card with the following challenges:

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #34-Buttons I felt rather cheesy using just one button on my last entry, so I had to dig deeper into my stash and use some more. Not easy, as I am a button hoarder!

Frilly and Funkie-You've Got to Know When to Fold "em" Well, lookie there! Perfect theme for my folded ruffles, creased paper flowers, lots of folding and creasing to distress my paper edges, and one single folded fabric (pure white) flower at the upper left, added at the last minute because it needed something. Kathy, were you reading my mind, or was I reading yours, when I started this a couple days ago?

Creative Artiste-Challenge #24 Anything Mixed Media Goes

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge-Handmade Flowers

Country View Challenges-March 2017-Inspired by Tim Holtz Even when I'm having a frilly moment, I'm still inspired by the King of Grunge! This time, by his products-new and old.

Thank you so much for visiting today and for all your lovely comments! They make my day!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily