I should have been working on writing a class yesterday but really felt the need for some creative time. I decided to just sneak over to the other side of my studio for just a few minutes to make something really quick and then get right back to the computer side. It seemed like a good plan, but one I didn't stick with. Instead I spent the better part of the day playing. I decided I wanted to challenge myself to create something using one stamp set and one, maybe two ink colors and see where it would take me. I grabbed the Urban Tapestry stamp set, Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress inks and got to work.
The base to my project is a vintage cabinet card photo like the one I used HERE. I used an ink applicator tool and applied Wild Honey Distress Ink to the surface of the card. I added Vintage Photo to the edges. I layered on paper from Tim Holtz's Lost and Found Paper Stash, Sticky-Back Canvas, and lots of flowers.
I used the Alterations Tattered Florals die to cut crinoline for the large main flower. I colored the crinoline by making a mist using Wild Honey re-inker, Perfect Pearls Perfect Gold powder, and water in a Mini Mister. The crinoline gets really soft when wet but re-gains its stiffness when dried making it a really nice material for making fabric flowers. After drying the diecut flowers, I added more Wild Honey with an ink applicator tool.
I used the steps shown in my Shaped Roses tutorial that you can find HERE.
I made a second rose using the second to the smallest flower on the die, this time cutting it from Sticky-Back Canvas. As before, I sprayed the flower, dried it, and then added more Wild Honey with the ink applicator tool. When making flowers with Sticky-Back Canvas, I leave the paper backing on. I like the added weight it adds to the fabric. I also like that it allows me to ink the back of the petals so that they have color on them in case they show.
I embellished other areas of the project with layers of Grunge Paper, assorted fabric, and mica flowers, all cut from the small flower on the Tattered Florals die. They are all layered and mixed with metal pieces from the Idea-ology Foliage set. I added a scrap piece of Hanah Silk Ribbon in Midas Touch.
For the centerpiece, I used the ink applicator tool to lightly brush on some Vintage Photo Distress Ink to a piece of Sticky-Back Canvas. I wanted to knock down the brightness of the white while not adding much color. I then stamped the phrase stamp stamped in Ranger's Archival Black.
I wanted to add extra emphasis to the key words, so I stamped the image on a piece of scrap pattern paper (the yellow side of Pink Paislee's Bees Wax). I cut out the words and inked the edges with Vintage Photo. I used a Ranger Cut & Dry Nib to pick up color from my Wild Honey inkpad and then used it to color in the word "Risks".
I glued the cut out words in place using liquid glue (Helmar 450 Quick Dry). I added a thin layer of batting under the word before stitching it onto the layer below.
Just under the word piece is a layer of grosgrain ribbon topped with a strip of Tissue Tape. Both were lightly swiped with a light layer of Vintage Photo using the ink applicator tool.
I think my favorite part of the whole project is the background fabric I made with Sticky-Back Canvas. I brushed the surface with Wild Honey using the ink applicator tool and then stamped the piece using the floral stamp in the Urban Tapestry set using Wild Honey. I added another layer of batting and then sewed it to the piece of pattern paper from the Lost and Found Paper Stash.
Before adhering the assemble piece to the board, I added a bit of random stamping in Vintage Photo to the board using the speckling stamp from the same set.
I think what I really love about this project is that it demonstrates how versatile one ink color can be and how different it can look applied to different surfaces.
