Imagine Yourself

I hope your Christmas was filled with blessings and peace!

For this card, I pulled out an older Unity stamp set called The Artist in You. It is a favourite of mine, because I love the sentiments and the botanical themed stamps that are included. I used a layout from a card I did a long time ago (way back in 2009!!) for my inspiration. This card turned out to have such a different, more sophisticated feel. I do love using sketch inspiration...

Initially, I stamped the sentiment and was going to add it to the card, but it was quite bland. I sponged around the edges, but it was still lacking. Then, I used the botanical stamps from the set and stamped them using the same ink I sponged around the edges. The leaves all but disappeared. I dusted off my distress ink markers and added a little weight to the image by darkening the lower edges of the leaves. I used a white gel pen to highlight the upper edges, making them look slightly frosty. It's been a long time since I've used many of these techniques and my creativity feels very much covered in cobwebs and it is sometimes challenging to decide what would be best to use in any given situation.

I love mulberry flowers and used one from Petaloo here along with a branch punch that took me almost 10 minutes to locate. Slowly but surely, I'm getting reacquainted with with all my supplies and remembering which drawer things are located in.

Enjoy the rest of the week!!

stamps; the artist in you (unity), vintage life background stamp (heartfelt creations)
ink; shabby shutters, antique linen, tea dye, vintage photo, walnut stain distress inks (ranger)
paper; butterfly garden (pink paislee), cashmere, rootbeer, walnut creme (bazzill)
accessories; ivory ribbon (offray), branch punch (martha stewart), adhesive pearls (making memories), mulberry flower (petaloo)