Song in Your Heart

Hello, and welcome!  I've had several projects on the go at once for the last few days.  A couple of them stalled because I was waiting for some gesso which I'm planning to experiment with on them.  A friend had promised to bring a little pot over from his supply, as I'm not sure where you'd get it in the little villages round here, but kept forgetting to put it in his bike basket.  I've got it now and, given what I've seen on some of the amazing crafty blogs around, I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do.



In the meantime, the two other things I was playing with somehow amalgamated themselves into one on my craft table.  As with many of the other lucky accidents which happen as you're crafting, the serendipity of this one has come together into an end result which I think is probably nicer than either of the other two things I had planned!

With this card, I think I'm starting to feel my way towards finding out what 'my' style is.  I'm pretty new to this stuff, and there's been so much to see and learn and explore (ongoing - as I suspect it always will be!), and I'm trying out lots of different things, but I'm discovering the elements which keep bubbling to the surface as I play.

For this project, I've come back to the words and music which have been at the centre of my 'other' life, so perhaps that's part of why this project feels so right to me.  

Having the words, the sentiment, at the centre, guiding what was happening, made complete sense to me.  And it's a quote I've always loved, since singing and music are really important to me, as are - of course - my friends, old and new.  


Kraft paper is never far away when I'm playing... there's something so pleasurably earthy about it.  And I like throwing that into the mix when things get too flowery or girly!  





Once I'd painstakingly stamped the quote, letter by letter, I was planning to cut it out as a plain old rectangle, but as I looked at it on the page, it started whispering 'heart shape' to me.  


I doodle hearts all the time, not because I'm a hopeless romantic (although looking at this card, you'd be forgiven for thinking so!), but because it's a pleasurable shape to swoop round, so for once, faced with some freehand drawing, I wasn't completely fazed.

The treble clef is another of my constant doodles when my pencil is wandering.  I had to learn to do it for Music Theory when I was a schoolgirl, and there's a real precision required when you're doing it on the stave.  


I used to take great pains and pride in getting all my swirly bits on the right line.  But it's also really pleasing to draw, as well as to look at.  This Memory Box Die is going to get plenty of use, I can see.  It's so delicate and fragile, and beautifully formed.


The vintage look has been at the centre of all the crafting I've been doing, whether grungy or, as here, shabby chic.  And layering seems to recur again and again in the pieces I like best (whether mine or other people's).  

I adore papers!!  There are so many amazing ones out there I could spend a fortune.  Most of these are K&Company from their large 'Best Of' selection, while the music notation is from DCWV's Tattered Time Mat Stack.  Again I'm often drawn to the papers with music and with script or text on.


I'm also discovering that dimensionality really excites me, so the ripping and tearing not only fulfils the aged, vintage look, but gives that texture and life to the paper.  





I could have edged all these with my adored Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, but for once I wanted the white edging to ping out, creating the border between these pinky-brown papers.   











And yes, I know that it's pink and brown rather than my out-and-out favourite blue and brown, but sometimes a girl's just gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I also enjoyed finding out recently how simple it was to curl a paper-ribbon, and I love how this animates the piece, giving that 'fluttering in the wind' look.  

I made sure that the ribbon at the front had the words visible... such a pretty font.  And with the ribbons, I did indulge myself with a bit of inking - Frayed Burlap though, not VP.

And here's another Memory Box Die, the Madera Corner.  If there's been a surprise to me in all this, it's how drawn I am to the delicate and fragile elements and embellishments, and to the florals (although they do have to be vintage, cottage florals not huge great tropical things - so far, anyway).  


I guess I'll just have to accept that there is, after all, a girly-girl in the personality mix too!

And who doesn't like to receive a bouquet from time to time?  I made the little conical wrap, and tucked in some of the lovely Mulberry paper roses I got from Malaysia (via eBay, of course).


So, these are some of the things which are starting to be part of 'my' style, but I'm so new at this that I'm not going to pin myself down yet, or maybe ever.  The last project that really got me going was the complete opposite, and the other thing I do know about myself is that I love contradictions!


I'm entering this one in the following:

La-De-Dah's My Mojo Monthly summer challenge to discover 'Your Style'
The Daring Cardmakers' challenge Papermania, where they'd like us to use 6 or more patterned papers on a card
The Little Red Wagon challenge Sentimental You, where they'd like us to have the sentiment at the centre of things
The Craftroom Challenge, whose theme is Friendship
Take a Word's new challenge - the word this week is Music
The Cupcake Craftroom's July challenge, which is Layers

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at this shabby chic style card.  I've also been playing with my photo editing a bit today.  It has a 'Vintage' option, which seemed appropriate.  I'd like to share it with you because I think it's rather nice.


Thanks so much for taking the time to drop in.  It's always fantastic to hear your feedback, and if you'd like to see more, do join our merry band of followers!  For now, have a great day, and I hope to see you again soon.


You don't make friends, you recognise them.
Isabel Paterson