After the Last Long Rain...

 

Hello and welcome back. I want to say a huge thank you to Mr. Linky for drawing my number in last week's Simon Says Stamp challenge and to the folks over at Simon Says Stamp for their generous prize. What a thrill to be the lucky winner! 

I had to chuckle when I saw that this week's Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp was "Whatever the Weather". I wanted to say "The Weather?...Whatever!" Last week we were having some of the coldest days and nights of the winter, and then with the official arrival of Spring last Sunday, we switched right over to mid-summer with hot temps and high humidity. Every day was overcast or densely cloudy, and the clouds managed to wring out a couple of heavy drops. It made it difficult for me to be inspired by the weather. But today, the sky was blue and clear, and it actually felt a bit cool this morning. So I took a little bit of time away from my garden chores to make a card. I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday's mood board to use my new  Tim Holtz Intertwined 3D Embossing Folder.

As I started to take photos of my card, heavy thunderstorms were piling up, so forgive my less than perfect photos--I was rushing to be sure and beat the possibility of a power outage. As I write this, we are having that promised thunderstorm.

Anyway, since the weather outside my window wasn't very inspiring, I decided to focus on 'weathering', and weathered and aged  my Intertwined background to make it look like a basket that's been left out in the uhhh, weather. I love that deep dimension that Tim's 3D Texture Fades create, and this is my first use of this folder. I inked the flat side of the folder randomly with Gathered Twigs and spritzed with water, before placing a panel of watercolor paper in and embossing in my machine. After drying it with my heat tool, I scraped over areas of the panel with Crackle Paste and allowed it to dry. 

I chose a pair of butterflies and floral sprays from Botanical Layers and blended the edges with Walnut Stain ink.

I chose these Quotation Stickers to report on the weather. (Of course, this is no longer true.)

Rubbing my finger over the crackle with Frayed Burlap and Ground Espresso Distress Crayons highlights those cracks and adds to the wonderful weathered look of the weave.

To mat my panel, I weathered silver Metallic Kraft Stock with sanding and then rubbing with Black Soot Crayon. That's all for me! I hope you enjoy some beautiful clear sun-shiny days this week! Hugs! Sara Emily

Challenge Shares

Simon Says Stamp Monday Whatever the Weather I chose to do some weathering, but the recent change in weather inspired my sentiment, flowers and butterflies.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Spring/Easter Mood Board I was inspired by the basket and the flowers, of course!