Welcome SNR blog-o-loggers!

If you're visiting from the SNR blog o log, welcome! I'm glad you're here! :) I hope you stick around and check out all the other goodies that are waiting to be discovered. If you haven't checked out SNR yet, do! The link is over there in the sidebar, I suggest you make (lots) of time to check out the SNR Card Universe. Tons of goodies over there, and the spring fling has been tons of fun!

If you've been around for a while, you know that I'm an (ahem) eclectic stamper. Today I think I've outdone myself for bright (yup, get those sunglasses out) and cheery. For my contribution to the BOL I've dressed up a picture bookmark from Michael's in very springy colors. I wasn't too concerned with failure - it was in their dollar bins. :)

Here in this first picture you can see that I've removed the insert and acetate where the picture goes and started painting with gesso. What you can't see (somehow I've managed to lose a bunch of pictures, wonder which computer those are on??) is that it was a *very* slick surface - therefore I sanded it before applying the gesso. I just used a medium grit nail block kept from the days when I actually *cared* about how my nails looked (ROFLOL). I did two coats on each side, one vertical & one horizontal since the pattern was so pronounced.

Next you can see that I added Distress Inks over the gesso. I just used a couple of cotton balls to mush the colors together. After I added all the colors I sprinkled with a little water & dabbed with a paper towel to give that signature DI look. Ummm, yeah, you can see a spot near the bottom where I blotted too hard - no worries! I intend to cover that with flowers anyway.... I did stamp the sentiment using VersaFine (not a great ink for this, next time I'll try a permanent ink like Staz On) but had to use the heat gun to get it to dry enough for the next step....

Here you can see what happened when I added Crackle Accents. Honestly, I forgot that DI over gesso starts moving when you add a clear gel product on top. I've had this reaction with clear gel medium, Glossy Accents and now Crackle Accents. I really like the look, it was just unexpected! You can see that the color intensifies and looks more impressionistic - I did help that look along by applying the CA with my finger. The cool thing about applying it with your finger is that you can vary the amount of coverage - some spots will crackle heavily, some lightly and some not at all. Of course you can apply it however you wish, it's all a matter of personal taste.

Once it was dry I rubbed it with a Vintage Photo DI pad - rubbing the color well down into the cracks for contrast. In retrospect I think I could have used a darker (probably Walnut Stain) pad, but I was afraid to overpower the underlying colors. Sadly, that' s another mysteriously missing photo. You'll just have to trust that I actually *did* rub it with ink! :)

While that was drying I started on the flowers. Now, I don't know about you, but I have tons of white flowers - paper and silk. It's very easy to color them, and you can get some amazing effects using a couple of simple techniques. Just place the flowers on your dye ink pad, cover with a scrap of paper and brayer over them. Or just mash'em with your fingers! :) I used a combination of multicolor and Distress Ink pads. You'll get a different look if you spritz with water first (the one on the left) or spritz after inking (on the right). I chose to spritz with Pearl Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels over the ink. It gives a lovely shimmer and moves the ink around even better than plain water. If the color is too intense you can blot with a paper towel until they pale out (keep adding water if you need to). So, I set those aside to dry, and once they were I added Swarovski gems to the middles - like they needed extra bling!

The next step was to arrange the flowers and glue them down. I used Fabric Tac because some of the flowers were silk and that seems to hold them the best (it also works great on paper flowers). And since I just couldn't stop... I added some of my new Distress Stickles all over the top (um, Frayed burlap & Walnut stain) for a little more dimension. These are not traditional glitter, they aren't sparkly - and they're very chunky, but I love the way they look. Of course I wanted a *little* sparkle, so I dusted over the wet stickles with clear crystal glitter.

There you have it! Bright, oh-so-sparkly and very springy! Now I need to find a bright springy picture to feature in the little opening. It will never be able to serve as a bookmark, but put a little magnet on the back & it would look really fun on the fridge! What do you think? Was it worth all the effort?

I hope you enjoyed your visit with me. Come back soon! :)