Encore Post - Flourishing Florals

Since you all enjoyed the rare sighting of some cards round these parts this week with my Birthday Bubbles cards for Simon Says Stamp, I decided to go back in time for another card with this Encore post.  This was created for Calico Craft Parts in February 2016 when I was on the Design Team there, and here's what I wrote back then...  (Check the very end of the post for an explanation if you've not met my Encore Posts before.)

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Hello all, Alison here from Words and Pictures with a very extravagant card for you today.  There are so many decorative elements to choose from in the Calico Craft Parts Corners, Flourishes & Ornaments section that you are really spoilt for choice when it comes to ornamentation.  Plenty of influences at work here (a glance at my "cards I love" Pinterest board will give you some of the main ones), but also a determination to use some of my long-hoarded "pretty things" in my craft stash.  I've got plenty of photos for you, so grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the ride!

It started with some very basic layered panels and one of the wonderful new Corner Wood Shapes in two different sizes.  I definitely took some photos at this earliest stage but, again, my camera seems to have been playing up and they haven't materialised.

Basically, it's a square kraft card, with a couple of layers of patterned paper shabbily die-cut, and finally another kraft panel on the top for the sentiment.  The large Leafy Vine Wood Corner was the perfect size for the main card background, and the smaller one was just right for the sentiment panel.

I applied rough coats of gesso to all the layers, and applied some embossing powders to the Leafy Vine Wood Corners.  It's mainly white embossing powder, but I added some sprinkles of blue and green too.  This is the earliest process photo I've got, and here I've already started adding extra goodies and a touch of paint for colour.

Once I started adding more stuff, I couldn't stop!

A couple more Flourish pieces made their way on - these are all fragments from larger pieces - perfect for tucking in between layers...

... or for adding just a little more ornamental detail in places.

The main corner flourishes have benefitted from some of the spritzing and spraying that I did over the basic gesso and paint layers.

I love how the inks have pooled on the embossed curlicues and ornamentation...

... and the contrast of the slightly glossy dimension with the rougher painted layers on the other flourishes.

The metal flower has also had a coating of gesso and then paint and ink-spritzed added over the top.

Mostly, I managed to keep my paper flowers nice and white to provide some contrast.

I love the extra fun of the curly wires from the flowers coming out in all directions.

The berries had their stems cut off because they were a bit too thick and unwieldy...

... but I love the touch of glittery sparkle which they bring to the card.  When I go full on, I go full on!

You may well recognise the delicate flower sprays which are dotted here and there.

They were on my recent Imagine Simplicity tag - I said it was ironic that that tag grew from such an extravagant creation as this!

There are also some filigree metal pieces layered between the panels.  I think they provide a good contrast to the organic flow of the flowers and flourishes by echoing the more formal decorative style of the corner pieces.

And I love all the inky painty layers and edging to make the panels pop.

A few words in the centre of things, surrounded by inky scribbles, and we're pretty much there.

I hope you like this excursion into flourishing florals.  Alongside my exploration of simplicity, I have a feeling there might be more explosions into full on extravaganzas like this on the side.  When the sun comes out, this just makes me really happy.

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I hope you enjoyed this trip down Memory Lane... it just seemed the perfect time to revisit this summery sunshine card full of flourishing florals, much more appropriate than its original February publication date!  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a great weekend, and I'll see you again on Monday with a new Simon Says Stamp spotlight project.

The whole point of extravagance is to act like a fool and feel like a fool, but enjoy it.
Alfred Bester

Encore Posts

Projects which made their first appearances elsewhere for Design Team duties or Guest Designer opportunities, but which only had a sneak peek here, are being gathered together in the pages of my virtual scrapbook while I'm away.

As always, the Encore Posts are formatted differently from the regular ones, so that you can easily spot them.  Please don't feel that you have to comment all over again!

Birthday Bubbles with Simon Says Stamp

Hello all!  I'm absolutely thrilled to be back in the Designer Spotlight this month over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  (I got a bit carried away with the length of the post in my excitement - you might want a cup of coffee to see you through!)

It's an honour to be creating alongside the phenomenal team there for the whole of August, and it's especially nice to be involved this week as they are celebrating their ninth birthday.

The theme for the week is "Happy Birthday".  Regulars here will know how rare the sighting of a card is here at Words and Pictures, but in celebration of nine years of inspirational creativity at Simon Says Stamp challenge I've managed to make two!

For this birthday celebration, I thought I'd crack open the bubbly... not actual champagne but lots of bubbles on the page.

Along with the birthday theme, we're also playing with products from the Simon Says Stamp's own line.

I've got their Polka Dot Stencil in action, as well as one of their sequin variety packs, Lucky Shamrock.

This all started out as a pair of tags, because there's no a chance that I would actually plan to make cards... it only ever happens by accident.













I did some wrinkle-free distressing with Distress Inks and Oxides in Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage (both colours in both formulations).

I never tire of the effects you can get.












Over that I stencilled through the Polka Dots with the Stormy Sky in both ink and Oxide formulation, before adding little splatters of water to break up the bubbles.















I did a bit of text stamping in Bundled Sage Oxide, just to add detail...

















... and then some stamping in Olive Archival with one of my favourite weeds by Rubber Dance.















I'm very happy with these backgrounds.  I hadn't planned to go down the floral route, but I couldn't resist it.











I fiddled around for some time trying to work out what my next step would be, trying out different bits and bobs.

But in the end I decided I didn't want too many extras detracting from Tim Holtz's Wildflower Thinlits dies.













One of these is from Wildflower Stems 1 and one from Wildflower Stems 2. 



















Some gesso-d strips of torn book page allow them to pop from the panels behind...

















... and the intricate Crochet Thinlits die, cut from plain ivory card, adds delicious detail.
















I coloured the flowers first by dipping the stems into some Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint Distress Stains pooled on the craft mat.















Then I used a water brush to pick up Stormy Sky, Pumice Stone and some of the leftover greens to pick out the petals and the centre of the flower head.












There may also be a touch of white pen work by the look of it, I think... I forget now!














This was about the point when I held my breath and chopped off the tag toppings in order to attach the panels to some of the 6x6 kraft cards I usually have hanging around.














And that's when I had the idea to have the bubbles floating off the panels and onto the kraft.















The snipped-off tops of the tags were pressed into action.  I used a 5/8ths inch punch and a regular hole punch to get myself some bubble confetti.

















And then I had a lovely time picking out the sequins to go on the panels...















... as well as to float in amongst the escaping bubbles.















I've become slightly addicted to sequins lately, something I wouldn't have predicted - though I should have known really... I've always loved to find ways of catching the light in my crafting.















Some more gesso-d book page fragments provide backing for the Small Talk stickers.













These are from the Occasions set, which I'm not sure exists any longer, but you can still get the original ones, and they are so useful to have around.















Obviously, there's lots of white splatter bringing all those bubbles to life... 















... and I used my dipping pen with some white ink to draw the scribbly border frames.















One of these cards has already been pressed into action to wish my 102-year-old neighbour a very happy birthday, and the other is being saved for my niece in a couple of months' time.

















That's why I need lots of pictures in this long blogpost, as I won't have the actual cards any longer.

Just occasionally it's useful to make cards, and these do make me happy.  I hope you like them too.










As it's a celebration there's not just one generous $50 voucher from the Simon Says Stamp store on offer but two!

... and fantastic inspiration from the team over at the main Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog.  I hope you'll all come and celebrate their ninth birthday with a project too!  Happy Birthday!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you all again soon.

Life is mostly froth and bubble;
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.
Adam Lindsay Gordon

Marvellously Rusty

Hello all!  I'm very happy you enjoyed Going for a walk in the meadows.  Today we're heading in to a secret garden.

I'm delighted to be sharing a project as Guest Designer for the new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog (formerly Frilly and Funkie).

I was thrilled when my miniatures piece Around the Fireplace was selected as their winner last month, and so happy when I heard that the theme I'd be guesting on would be Marvellous Metallics, hosted by the brilliant Jenny of Pushing the Right Buttons.

My metallic preference generally leads me towards weathering and decay, so I've gone marvellously rusty with this tall tag.















I started with a tag from one of the Prima Tag Pads, 8 x 3.5inches, which comes printed with this lovely vintage script collage.

















Over that I layered a wash of gesso and applied some DecoArt Crackle Paint with a palette knife.
















From there, I simply did some dribbling and spritzing with Distress Sprays in Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage, allowing the ink to sink down into the cracks.














Later on, I did some dipping and splattering too, and stamped my favourite Rubber Dance weeds in Olive Archival.

I didn't really want to cover it up much after that...















... except to add some white splatter and some white paint around the edge, and some gesso'd tissue tape to anchor my embellishments into the tag.

It's a subtle softening of the look, but I rather like it so I wanted to show you the difference this stage made.








So, on to those embellishments...  I twisted some rusty wire into a rustic oval frame, just right for the Idea-ology girl to perch on.

She's from the Ancestors set, intended for Halloween, but I find her melancholy rather than creepy.









Anyway, she seemed about right as the girl hiding away in her secret garden...


















... a hidden place, a little decayed and run to seed.















To make sure I had plenty of "marvellous metallics" I picked out some metal cogs and gears and started to rust them up.













I smeared on some textured sand paste in places to provide the underlying texture...















... and then got busy with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Quinacridone Gold and Payne's Grey to get the rusty colour tones I wanted.













I'm really happy with the results and it didn't take long at all.  It's a great way to lift some cheap metal embellishments onto a new mixed media level.














I couldn't resist adding some of my favourite dried flowers (Baby's Breath, I think somebody in the comments called them last time I used them?).
















The sprigs add a lovely delicate touch of dimension and echo the flowers the girl is clutching.














It's one of my own PaperArtsy quote stamps providing the words.  This one is a Charlotte Brontë quote from EAB07 Dreaming & Doing.













A scrap of lace and a twist of twine finish things off at the top of the tag and that's pretty much that.













Do check out the fabulous projects from the Design Team over at the Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog, and I hope you'll be inspired to play with some Marvellous Metallics too.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.

If precious metals had been abundant, they would not have been precious.
Henry Hazlitt

A sword, a spade, and a thought should never be allowed to rust.
James Stephens

I'd like to join in again with the Splatters and Splodges theme at Try It On Tuesday - I'm always splattering and splodging!
And at Tag Tuesday the new theme hosted by Joan is Summer Fun - what could be better than a peaceful afternoon in a summer's garden?