Monday, 8 February 2016

Alternative Wildflower Spring

So excited when my Wildflower set of stamps by Tim Holtz dropped through the letterbox yesterday. I had to go out so didn't get to them till last night but I couldn't resist using one of these gorgeous silhouettes with some embossing powder and in sneaked my alphanumeric dies as well. I thought if Tim is 'mixing it up' this year it gives me a fabulous opportunity to look deeper in my boxes and find some my older supplies and think about the early techniques too.
So.............


1. I started with my background of antique linen, bundled sage, tattered rose and stormy skies distress inks on my craft sheet, spritzed them with water and did the dip and dry technique to create a watercolour background.

2. I then lightly stamped with watering can archival ink - don't ask me why that colour, I was just playing and used whatever came into my head.


3. I then stamped again with embossing ink and used the black super fine detail embossing powder.

4. And finished with some weathered white embossed images on the top.

Next came out my alphanumeric dies and I created my own block word using blue and black papers. You can see I kept the middles of the blue P and R to fill the holes after I had inserted the the letters.


Spring and black seemed very 'alternative' to me (hence the title) so I decided to get out the black seam binding and make a shabby ribbon and found a 'wonderful' dark muse token to pin to it. I also punched one of Tim's butterflies from a scrap of a practice background and ran it through the 'cracked' embossing folder then dripped some watery black distress ink through it but it seeped into the whole butterfly. Hmmm silly me of course it needed a waterproof backing so I did no more than turn the butterfly over, daub it with tattered rose distress paint and then ran the black ink through it - I needed to keep it light in tone otherwise it would have detracted from the style. I also used Tim's 'birds in flight' strip die for the little bluebird.


Gosh I have 'mixed it up' and really quite like the effects.
 

I noticed my friend Jenny's gorgeous embossed card for her Frilly and Funkie DT sample so I am popping over to link this up to their 'Enjoy your Embossing' challenge, I have used both heat and dry embossing on this card so it fits perfectly. Gosh it feels so good to do that as I haven't entered a challenge for such a long time.

Thanks for stopping by.

hugs Brenda xxx




19 comments:

experiments in paper said...

Beautiful, Brenda - Love the combination of techniques on the background, which is lovely in itself! Thanks for great inspiration, as always - I continue to learn from you. And now I am really eager to get my new stamps from Tim's new release! xxx Lynn

Helen said...

I was drawn to this stamp set too, wish I'd indulged! Gorgeous project.

Monika Gulyas said...

Your background is stunning! I love all the colours what you used, I love the three times stamped wildflowers too. It's super that you used three different colours, plus embossing powder - this gave depth and dimension to your image!

Annie said...

Great step by step Brenda and your meadow flowers stamp set looks fabulous x love the colours and bow

TFS and hugs Annie x

Nikki Acton said...

Wonderful depth with the triple stamping of the wildflowers. Gorgeous Brenda xx

A Pink said...

Fabulous! Brenda Think I was as excited when mine came too but they have yet to see ink .Love the dramatic contrast of the black with the more delicate spring tones.
hugs x

Jane said...

Beautiful card Brenda and the colours work so well. Glad to see you entering a challenge too xx

Jane said...

Beautiful card Brenda and the colours work so well. Glad to see you entering a challenge too xx

Meggymay said...

A gorgeous card Brenda, those stamps look great.
Yvonne xx

whyducks said...

Gorgeous.

Words and Pictures said...

Beautiful background - and definitely looking forward to getting my hands on this set too!!
Alison xx

Unknown said...

What an INCREDIBLY UNIQUE and WONDERFUL background Brenda. And such a great transition piece from Winter to Spring... the colors are the perfect representation of that change. Just SUPER Lovely. j.

Jenny Marples said...

What a joy to have you joining in Brenda! I ADORE this silhouette idea - perfect for those wild flowers. Thank you for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. Jenny x

Patty O'Malley said...

Awesome card, Brenda! Love the background.

Redanne said...

Uh oh Brenda, I didn't think I 'needed' that stamp set but after seeing your gorgeous card, I think I do now... the background you created is a gorgeous base for the beautiful silhouette flowers. Love this! Hugs, Anne xx

Pamellia said...

Wow Brenda, this is gorgeous!! Love the technique of replacing the negative space in your text with another colour of paper! Your background is stunning. such amazing depth you created! Just beautiful! hugs :)

trisha too said...

SO pretty! And springlike, too--Ima ready for spring, yes ma'am!

:)

Zoe Hillman said...

LOVE your card Brenda! Those dark wild flowers are gorgeous against that subtle background. Thanks for joining us at Frilly and Funkie. :)

sarascloset said...

Brenda, good for you to join the challenges again! Your work is fabulous and it's a great way to share with some new viewers! Love this gorgeous card! Always love your work, but this looks so different to what I've seen; well done! Hugs!