Rusted Reality

Hello, friends!  I have a card to share with you today. I was playing around with my embossing powders and paints and just generally trying this and that. Even though Valentine's Day has come and gone, I couldn't resist using those romantic colors once again.

I started with a cardboard base--the backing of a discarded steno pad.  Did anyone else take stenography in school? I guess I'm dating myself by asking that, but I still use these paper notebooks to write everything down.  I have one for every aspect of my life; I guess they would be an un-glorified diary. I digress...

I found a sheet of brown cardstock which I had embossed with a Recollections damask stamp and Antique Linen Distress powder. It didn't emboss well, but I thought I might have a use for it some day. Today was that day.  I tore it into strips which I layered on the board. I gave it a coat of gesso using a credit card and then scraped over it with the card before it completely dried. This gives a nice worn texture, and the gritty embossed areas show through. Next I layered with some strips of vintage book pages randomly and gave them a wash of watery gesso.

I dabbed some distress paints in Shaded Lilac and Wilted Violet and teensy bit of Chipped Sapphire in different areas of my craft mat, spritzed with water, and dragged my card through the puddles, spritzing with water to allow it to drip and blend, then drying and repeating until I came up with what appealed to me.  I love it when the paint is reduced to just dots of color.  I turned my card face down into those drops to get these lovely droplets on the background.  When completely dried, I distressed the edges and blended with Ground Expresso. Finally I stamped randomly with a Kaisercraft butterfly in Potting Soil Archival ink.

The larger tag is hand cut and covered first with gesso and dragged through puddles of Distress paints, spritzed to blend and dried.  I repeated until I was happy with the outcome. I stamped with a Tim Holtz flourish in Picket Fence Distress paint. I dried, blended with Ground Expresso ink, and spritz and flicked . Lastly, I splattered with diluted Picket Fence paint. The quote is Tim Holtz stamped in Potting Soil Archival ink.

The two smaller tags are Tim Holtz tiny Tags and Tabs, cut from more paper I colored with Distress inks and paints.  Again I stamped two Kaisercraft butterflies on a separate piece of paper and fussy cut. I adhered one on the tag, and another to peek out from bhind the large tag. The eyelet trim is a gift from my talented and super hilarious friend Niki of Pawsatively Creative Crafts.  Be sure to pop by her blog and see what amazing creative things she has put together--you will be so happy you did and leave with a great big grin on your face!  I stained the trim with some sort of spice tea, and I have to say my Closet smelled wonderful while it was drying.

The rusted chicken wire is Tim Holtz Mixed Media Thinlit embossed with my own mix of  powders and Embossing Puffs. I used the same rusting technique on the jump ring and staples which fasten my hand colored (Distress piant in Twisted Citron, Shaded Lilac, Picket Fence, and Wilted Violet) Linen Ribbon trim on the tags, as well as on the Ideaology pen nib. The pen nib was colored first with Mushroom and Pitch Black alcohol inks.

The die cut butterfly is Tim Holtz Butterfly Duo. Before embossing with the enclosed folder, I dabbed the folder with Twisted Citron Distress paint and spritzed with water. Once embossed, I dabbed the raised areas with Shaded Lilac paint and wiped while it was still wet.  With Wilted Violet paint on a damp baby wipe, I applied it to the body and wiped it out toward the wings. Finally, I edged with Ground Expresso ink.

I hope you enjoy my card as much as I did creating it!  I would like to enter it into the following inspiring challenges:

Creative Artiste Challenge 11 Anything Goes With Mixed Media

Frilly and Funkie Layer it Up!

Country View challenges-February-Make Your Own Background

Word Art Wednesdays Challenge # 220 Anything Goes

Kort-o-Mania Challenge # 147 Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers February Mixed Media Challenge Paint

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Anything Goes

-Mixed Media Place Creative Gym # 17 Coffee I used tea to die the trim, and perhaps a little Ground Expresso counts too! :)

-Vintage Stamping Challenges # 41 Splatters and Drips See bold text for splatters and drips. My stamps include those by Tim Holtz and Kaisercraft.

Mixed Media World MMW # 11 Love is in the Air I was inspired by Georgie's make--although there's no mention of love in either project, we both used colors associated with romance and love. And I do love butterflies and rust!

Thank you for stopping by today, and for all your amazing comments!  I read and appreciate each one of them!

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily