What Makes You Smile

Being creative has not been happening lately.  Work has overwhelmed me but the middle of July I retire and then hopefully I will be able to create at will.

I am combining two challenge for this card.  When I saw this quote on the paper from 7 Gypsies.  When I read the quote I instantly started to smile and had a flashback to a trip in the spring with a friend to the Florida Keys.  We had the conversation on the plane but how you sometimes laugh at the most inappropriate things or times.  Well, of course, at the airport, I had a battle with the escalator and yes when I finally made it to the top, we had to laugh.  So inappropriate but that flashback made me smile and laugh.  Guess what the challenge is on Our Creative Challenge - is What Makes You Smile.

The challenge on the Mixed Media Card Challenge blog is Collage with the optional element of frame.  The focal point of the card is in a frame and there are many elements which make it collage.

I started with a piece of white chipboard and covered it with crumpled up tissue paper adhered with gel medium.  Of course you don't see too much of that layer.  I colored the tissue paper with a gelato and just blended it with my fingers.  I layered a rectangle doily on top of the colored tissue paper.  I added a strip of patterned paper which I had distressed around the edges.  I colored a strip of canvas with the same gelato and then embossed it with silver embossing paste.

I added extra color to the image with a pink and silver gelato.  I then used a glitter pen to brush some glitter in various places.  I found a silk flower in my supplies and glued that to the center of the floral image to add more dimension.  The picture was matted with grey card stock which was distressed around the edges.  I wanted  to try a product that has been hanging out in my supplies for year - silver mica flakes.  I dabbed gel medium on the edge of the image and added the flakes (it was messy).  After it had dried, I then dabbed more gel medium over the top hoping it would stop the flakes for flaking off.  UGH.  I then added a button and some twine on the the image.

I took some grey polka dot crepe paper and kinda pleated it, scrunched it and placed it on the card so it would show on two different sides of the image.  The image was pop dotted at an angle on the front.  I took some of the silver embossing paste and just rubbed it on some parts of the doily.

Here are a couple close ups of different parts of the card.

A close up of the silver embossing paste on the pink colored canvas.

Here is a close up of the upper right corner of the card.  You can see the silver flakes around the image, the crumpled tissue paper and the silver colored doily.

This card was lots of fun to make.  I actually have another card I am working on.