Hi! this card fits today's Free 4 All Challenge: Out of the Box and this week's Stampin' B's Challenge to make a card with a sun and an encouraging sentiment. It also fits the Dirty Dozen Vintage Challenge.
I wanted this to be a "Vintage Type" or Shabby Chic card. For the focal image, I stamped the swan and then made a mask, placed it on top of the mask and stamped the cat tails over the mask. I peeled off the mask and colored in the scene, using colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. I outlined the swan with a Memento Marker to make it stand out.
I put the Spellbinder die on top of the scene and pressed it down with my hands around the top of it. (This left a small impression that I could use as a guide.) Next, I removed the die and cut around the BOTTOM, beak and rear of the swan. I made sure I cut around it so that it could be slipped through the OPENING at the top of the die when I cut it out. I ran it through the Big Shot, to cut and then used a STYLUS to emboss. This way, I made sure that the frame, NOT the swan were embossed.
I made a piece of Ink, Spray and Smash (See my tutorial for this on the right!) and decided the entire scene needed to be "shabbied" or "antiqued/vintaged". So, I sponged Adirondack's Espresso around all the edges.
To finish, I added Inkssentials dots.
Finsihed Card Size: 5" square
Total time to complete: 53 minutes. (The Ink, Spray and Smash took a while to dry.)