Seed of Happiness

Hello everyone, and welcome to a warm and sunny Spring day here on Words and Pictures (though the forecast is for the temperatures to plunge again and snow to arrive in the next couple of days).

I'm on my way across Europe again, to do a couple of months work in the Czech Republic helping my mother prepare her dollshouse collection to open as a museum later in the Spring.

At the moment we've paused for a couple of days with friends in Germany so I'm trying to do some catching up with blog visiting.

I'm also catching you up with some projects I haven't had a chance to post, starting with this one which I made immediately after visiting Stamperama a few weeks ago.  I just wanted to play with some of the goodies I'd succumbed to.

So this involves some new Fresco colours (mainly new to me, rather than part of the new range) as well as a fabulous MDF ticket substrate - part of a set (the Kaisercraft Long Ticket album) which you're meant to make an album out of, but I just decided to use them to create individual pieces.  They were so reduced in price - irresistible!








It's basically a very large ticket shape - about 10 x 4 inches and 1/8 of an inch thick, so it's lovely and sturdy to work on. 

I layered up Fresco colours, starting with Honeydew and working my way through Hey Pesto and Hyde Park over the raised honeycomb I'd created with some texture paste and a Crafter's Workshop stencil.









I also added a good touch of Treasure Gold in Aquamarine to highlight the texture, and to give the edges of the piece some antique-y distressing.

It's lovely working with the Fresco paints direct onto the MDF - you get such good coverage that you can go straight into blending and playing.  They also create a fabulous surface for stamping onto.

I used some of the fantastic new Sara Naumann Eclectica range from PaperArtsy to create some word-y texture in the background - love the Gothic font, and the wonderful Carte Postale lettering.  





The white stamping is done with Fresco Snowflake and Honeydew mixed together.

I sponged on some more Honeydew to create a paler space on which to stamp my main sentiment - another PaperArtsy stamp from one of the Hot Picks range (stamped in Olive Archival).  

Spring is all about seeds and growth, so this stamp seemed perfect with all the fresh spring greens of the palette (sorry, seem to have an obsession with spring greens - so good stir fried in sesame oil with a little garlic and ginger!).











I was delighted when the Vintage Stamping Challenge came up with a new theme of Spring is in the Air, as this seemed to fit perfectly... and then I had to smile when I saw that the fabulous Sue of Stamping Sue Style had used this exact sentiment on her gorgeous DT piece!!

Because the quote also mentions the present moment, time seemed to be an important element, so I added a couple of the lovely Prima clocks with their delicate "wrought iron" hands.

And since it's Spring, you've got to have some flowers, haven't you?  So I added matching Fresco paint and Treasure Gold touches to my cheapo paper flowers from The Range and added them to the mix.

The ribbon through the top is some fabric leftover from my brother and sister-in-law's Handmade Wedding last year.  I simply looped it through the two holes intended to bind the album together to create a hanging instead.  
I love how both the fabric ribbon and the Treasure Gold gleam when you catch them in sunlight.











It was so lovely just to play with my new toys, and I'm delighted with the result.  It's a feelgood piece as far as I'm concerned; it lifts my heart to look at it!










A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.
Welsh Proverb


The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.
Chinese Proverb


Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.
Robert Louis Stevenson


I'd like to enter this in the following:
At the Vintage Stamping Challenge, sponsored by Flonzcraft, they are hoping that Spring is in the Air
At Simon Says Stamp they're looking for A Bit O' Green
At Anything But A Card they're looking for Anything Green or Irish or St Patrick's Day - well I'm up for the first of those to be sure
And Hels Sheridan for the Sunday Stampers wants to see Something Pretty, and I think I'm just in time...