Kind Thanks

While visiting Arizona, Mom & I spent a lot of time at the local craft store Crop Girls, truly a wonderland for those of us who craft. We went in a few days just to crop & hang out, and also took a couple of classes. I wanted to send them a thank-you, so I made this card using a lot of products they introduced me to!

I was inspired by the following challenges:

• Card Patterns Sketch #146
  The sketch really brought my idea together, especially the little embellishments on the right-hand side: I used tiny, vintage-y paperclips from 7Gypsies.
• Craft Your Passion Challenge #91: Anything Goes + Distressing
  All the pieces, thanks to Tim Holtz products, are ink-distressed with Antique Linen and aged with a paper distresser.
  
• Simon Says Stamp and Show: Something Old ... Something New
  The teensy paperclips, enamel & glitter (see explanation below), and the rose-and-netting ribbon are new from Crop Girls too, but the large rose is from a ribbon sent to me from the awesome Linda for the Thanksgiving Postcard swap at City Crafter. Mom already owned this adorable camel stamp, but I liked it so much that she bought me my own set! Thanks Mom! I stamped it with my new brown Memento ink and colored it with colored pencils. The pencils, paper ribbon, and 2 of the brown papers are newly in my possession but are literary old, in that they went through many hands before ending up the Church rummage sale where I found them! The other two brown papers have been in my stash for at least two years.

I used a technique we learned in a class at Crop Girls taught by Jennifer Dove: Fran•táge. Fran•táge was invented by Stampendous designer Fran Seiford, and it's a mix of montage, collage and total awesomeness. Jennifer showed us how to layer enamel and mica onto a card and melt it from below with your heat tool. If you have an opportunity to take class in this, do it! It's so much fun. I wanted all the products (the aged blue is wonderful!), but I bought the Aged Copper enamel (copper with a touch a green) and Shaved Ice mica/glitter.

Stamps: BaZooples #4 set from Inky Antics, sentiment from Stampin' UP!

Thank you for visiting,