My amazing challenge buds at
Anything But Cute went for a Secret Santa this Christmas and I had the great honor of creating a project for my crafty friend
Sara Emily. In so many ways Sara Emily's and my style line up, well maybe I can be more shabby/feminine sometimes, but we are so much alike! Now, everybody else made Christmas art for one another. But I went for a grungy rusty project that I knew would push Sara Emily's buttons. Would you like to see what Niki made for me?! Yes, you would! Here's a sneak peek!
Hop on over to
Pawsitively Creative to see the AMAZING card/ornament I received. Niki, thank you so much for sharing your creativity with me! You are an inspiration always! I'm so thrilled to have a piece of your art to grace my home this Christmas! While you're at it, do visit the rest of the team:
To start, I reversed an 8x8" wooden canvas to create a frame. I used the new
Star Border Stamp by Darkroom Door to emboss the design around the perimeter of my canvas. I used Burnt Copper Leaves. Next, I began to spray with Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays over the panel. I did not gesso the panel because I wanted to see the wood absorb the spray for a different effect.
I tried to create a lot of color variation. I added some DIY rust paste randomly because Sara Emily is the queen of grunge and loves rust, thus the project inspiration.
I stamped partially with several designs to give the background more interest.
I used Prima background stamps in script and dots.
My friend Mimi sent me this awesome thick adhesive corkboard so I used it for the base, which gave amazing visual interest and also bumped up my focal point. I layered several sheets of my own nky papers with chipboard between.
I added torn crocheted lace, metal filigree, bundled string, and my favorite new Tutti Designs die,
Flower Orchestra Corner.
I painted and randomly embossed Tim's ornate frame die and then layered over more corkboard, which I cut by hand using the castoff of the center of the oval. The floral die and IndigoBlu's
Flutterby Butterfly stamp are both a nod to Sara Emily's love for plants and nature. The butterfly was stamped on Prima patterned paper.
Look at that gorgeous die!!! I hope you can see the dimension in the pic below. I embossed the Darkroom Door border stamp along the edges of the panel to keep the flow. A little time consuming, but oh so worth it.
So her she is, my grungy rusty mixed media panel, made with much love for my dear friend. I hope she will like it. I thought, "What would Sara Emily do?" all along the way. :)
