Layered Backgrounds

I have been busy! I've been playing with some of those large background stamps from Impression Obsession. I've been layering complimentary backgrounds for a long time, but these are just made to go together! If you are into a vintage or grunge-y look, this is the jackpot. In general, I think stamps that large are just difficult to manage. The mega-mount is a really helpful tool to manage those large stamps, help distribute pressure evenly for a better impression, and is just easier on the hands and wrists, even with small stamps. Anyway, here are some  pix!

This one, The Roses, uses  the distressed cordoroy background , first stamped in Clearsnap Vivid! Cobblestone ink onstandard cardstock, then again, turned 90 degrees, and stamped in Clearsnap Vivid! Straw ink.The roses and sentiment are also by Impression Obsession. The roses were stamped in ColorBox silver pigment ink, embossed with Top Boss Silver Embossing powder, and painted using the same Vivid! inks (straw, yellow, vintage green, olive). The sentiment was stamped in ColorBox black pigment ink, and embossed with clear embossing powder.



This one uses The Harlequin background, stamped in Vivid! Inky Blue on glossy paper, then overstamped with the Distressed Cordoroy backgroond in Olive, then Cobblestone Vivid! inks. The sentiment is also I/O, stamped in Inky Blue Vivid! ink, and the flowers are white, by Petaloo,dyed with matching inks, misted with water and dried. A vintage button is the center of the flower.

This one features the Ornate Floral background stamp,  with Garnet Vivid! ink on glossy paper, overstamped with the Distressed Cordoroy in Straw Vivid! ink.  The sentiment is I/O, stamped in Black ColorBox pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Various black brads, as well as dimensional mounting tape are used.

This one is the Wallpaper background stamp stamped in Vivid! Olive ink on standard cardstock, and overstamped in Vivid! Straw using the Distressed Cordoroy background.  The sentiment is I/O and is stamnped in ColorBox Moss Green pigment ink, embossed with clear embossing powder. It reminds me of old Hawaiian plantation decore!

This would be a nice, easy class with lots of options for backgrounds to play with. Any larger background stamp will work. Currently Hero Arts has a bunch of those available, some with coordinating foreground stamps, as well...lots of things to try!



Alyse's Birthday Star Book

  I have a friend who will soon reach the revered age of 95 years. We met in a class at our local synagogue about 17 years ago. We became fast friends, providing a friendlier perspective of the other's generation. Alyse's presence in my life has made a profound difference in how I view the caregiver role I fill for my own mother. Anyway, one of Alyse's adult granddaughters arranged for 95 individuals or families that are important to Alyse, and to whom Alyse is important, to send a card or letter or photos or whatever, on an assigned day, for the 95 days prior to Alyse's actual birthday. Alyse was astounded that all these "love letters" were arriving, out of the blue! She figured it out on the third day! My assigned day was April 25th, about 3 weeks before the actual date of her birth, in 1916. I wanted to do a project that Alyse could spend time enjoying...something with a bit of Wow to it...I wanted her to LOVE it. I did a star book with the theme of friendship in 5 pages, and the 6th page was a birthday page. She loves it and I am happy to have done it. She keeps it on display in the front entrance of the house.

Here are some photos:

I realized today that I have never really shared my art work with Alyse...she received holiday cards, thank you cards and birthday cards , but I never brought her any of my class designs or book projects or any of the other things I've made to share with her. So today I packed up a shopping bag of samples and we had a lovely hour or so while the cookies were baking, looking at a bunch of my stuff. She concluded that although all the things I brought to show her really were "gorgeous", the book I made for her was certainly more beautiful than all the rest. She was happy, and so was I.