another adventure in blue

The postcard that I posted this weekend at Lost Coast Portal fit the cold & frosty theme, and I started with stencils and rubber stamps, but I neglected to pay attention to the challenge rule which clearly states that the main focal image should be stamped - so sorry!  I wasn't completely satisfied with my finished product, anyway, so I tried again:

And again:

Both include stamped and hand colored images, and the second one also has a stamped sentiment - much better!  Now if I could just figure out what's wrong with my camera's white balance...

adventure in blue

The prompt at Sunday Postcard Art this week was blue, and seemed to coordinate well with the prompts for cold & frosty at Lost Coast Portal, W for winter at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers and winter wonderland at Try It on Tuesday.  It took me five days, four different acrylic paints, four stencils (one gifted from another postcard maker, one from Stencil Girl, One from Stampin' Up!, and one I cut myself), three colors of Stampin' Up! ink (one in an alcohol spray), two different rubber stamps (including Imagine-Faith-Destiny-Inspiration from Lost Coast which has nearly disappeared into the background due to an unfortunate choice of ink color), some 5-year-old leftover punched snowflakes and a happy accident with the embossing powder before I had a background I liked.  It took me another 36 hours to decide on a focal point, and I'm not sure this is the one I love:

I started with a 12"x12" sheet of unloved scrapbook paper and cut three 4"x6" postcards and seven ATCs, so I will try again on the focal point.  Next time I work with a 12"x12" masterboard, I'm hoping to remember to cut at least four postcards, as seven ATCs is too many!  If you're interested in receiving one, leave me a comment :)

mixed media adventure

I've recently branched out from making greeting cards to include making post cards, and I've also been learning to work with mixed media.  For inspiration and instruction, I've followed along at both Paper Artsy, where the current topic is tissue paper, and at Sunday Postcard Art, where the current theme is owls.  I knew I could not draw an owl I would be pleased with, so I printed one from the internet onto plain white gift wrap tissue.  I also printed the quote onto the same tissue paper.  The base of my piece is a page from an old book which I colored with ink and acrylic paint.  The tissue bits have been attached with Mod Podge, pounced carefully (not brushed) so as not to cause bleeding, because I used an inkjet printer. 

You can see my first attempt at a post card (also inspired by Sunday Postcard Art) here.  I learned from that card that I need a double thickness of card stock and it should be sealed, so I used a clear acrylic gloss spray that I've had forever. This is now ready to be mailed to another Postcrossing member.