Tim Holtz Farmhouse Card with DIY Cotton Stems

Farmhouse style is all the rage right now and I've been wanting to design some cards along that theme/color palette for some time.  I was experimenting with the new Tim Holtz 3D Lumber Texture Fade and achieved that perfectly chipped paint look, so I built built a little "farmhouse style" card around it, complete with a DIY cotton stem!  :)

For the background, first I embossed a piece of watercolor paper.  I spritzed my paper lightly to help it mold in the embossing folder.  I scraped DecoArt Crackle Paste all over the embossed panel and let it air dry.  Then I went back over the panel with Distress Crayons in Gathered Twigs and Iced Spruce.  I wasn't very pleased with the result, so I scraped off some of the crackle and then gave it a wash of Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

I spent some time coloring a few images from Tim's Illustrated Garden stamp set and left the flowers of this one white and colored the background with Frayed Burlap.  I used Vintage Photo and Peeled Paint all with a Water Brush.  I sponged a couple of sprigs from the Funky Florals 3 die set.

Again with the Shadow Script #3 set, this time three layers!  :)

Now onto those tiny little cotton stems!  I'm bursting with joy over them!  I die cut small flowers from the FF#3 set using kraft paper.  I inked the kraft paper with a bath of Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then scrunched the petals up while they were still wet.  I had purchased a package of small cotton balls from the Dollar Tree.  I pulled away a tiny section of cotton and balled it up, then glued in each of the stems.  I was inspired by THIS pin, but wanted to make tiny stems that would work well with cards.  If you'd like to see more of my Dollar Store craft ideas, please click HERE.

This card is very special to me, because it reminds me of my Grandmother.  She was one of 13 children and grew up picking cotton.  She was the most amazing woman and lived through many trials, including the Great Depression.  She worked hard all of her life to provide for our family and instilled so many wonderful ethics in her children and grandchildren.  Most of all, she was passionate about her faith in Christ and reminded me all of my life that I had been given to God as a child and belonged to Him, what a comfort!

I hope you're inspired by this sweet idea and will give it a try on your own.  Have a blessed day, Autumn

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