Where Your Story Begins…

This is post number 2 for today! Scroll down for my Waltzingmouse Sketch submission!

A friend of mine recently moved into a beautiful new home in an even more beautiful neighbourhood, which sits at the top of one of the hills overlooking the City. I am so happy for her, as the last couple of years she has been working hard to get to where she is, and this is a major turning point for her!
I wanted to make her something for her home, a housewarming gift, but something that was more than your typical plant-in-a-pot kind of gift.

I used the colour challenge at Just Add Ink for this week, which was to use Real Red, Chocolate Chip and Kraft. I also used this week’s sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. This is my first time for both of these challenges!
I am so happy with the results. Lucky for my friend, I have to give this to her tomorrow, and I am in the midst of getting all sorts of things ready for my daughter’s birthday party this weekend, so I don’t have time to make something else – otherwise I’d be keeping this for my own house!

I started with a little canvas I bought at the Dollar store – can you believe I got 3 of these babies for only $2?! I am amazed, because they are wrapped all the way around the canvas, and the store where I usually buy canvases to paint on (yes, I do more than paper crafts!) would have charged me $2 for just one! Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t want to paint on this canvas, as it is quite poor quality – but for altering with paper, it’s perfect!

My canvas is about 6×6 inches, and I used Kraft as my base. I used Vintage Photo distress ink on the edges to add an aged feel. Then I used some red textured cardstock, which I aged the same way. My brown paper is embossed with a damask (my fave!) pattern, of which I tore the edge, and then highlighted using my Brilliance gold pigment ink. I just ran the pad right over the paper very lightly.
I used the Kraft for my Labels 4 (Spellbinders) frame, then used white for my main tag. I used Antique Linen distress ink to age my tag, and used the Vintage Labels No. 4 stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps to add the frame in Basic Brown (I do not have Chocolate Chip). I then used the Victorian Alphabet (also WMS) to write “HOME” in Real Red. The flourish behind the word is from Labels 4, and the scrolls framing it are from Vintage Labels no. 10.

I have to add another load of praise for Claire’s stamps here – I was not completely happy with this project, even once assembled, feeling like something was missing… I toyed with what to do for quite some time before adding the little scrolls to my tag.. instantly I fell in love with the whole thing! This is what I love most about Claire’s stamps… with so little effort, you can acheive such beautiful results!!!

I digress…

I also used the Victorian Alphabet for the rest of my sentiment: “where your story begins” and used another flourish from Vintage Labels no. 10 to frame it. I added some brown pearls to help the flourish pop a bit.
Look! A paper flower AND a button!
I used the same old printer-paper-with-sponging technique for my paper flower. I really think this paper is the perfect weight, and once you add ink, it softens it just right so that when you crumple it, you get terrific results. I also used some pages from an old novel, also aged with distress inks, then finished the whole thing off with a bow tied with a button.

I finished the whole thing by aging the sides of the canvas with Vintage Photo distress ink. I was too lazy to wait for paint to dry, but actually think this turned out better – it really adds to the aged/vintage appeal!