Tropical Dreams

Good morning!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week!  Our weather is supposed to be great this week so I am definitely looking forward to some sun and warmth!  

The nice weather has me in a tropical, beachy mood so I immediately thought of the 3 Step Hibiscus set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I also have been wanting to make some more bookmarks for a while now. The KSS store carries these cute little plastic sleeves which are perfect for protecting pretty handmade bookmarks!  They're great for gift-giving, give a book and a pretty bookmark - voila!!

I started a bit differently today because I wanted to try some mixed media type things and see what would happen. So I began with my vintage book paper and used Decoupage to adhere it to some card stock. Then the piece got a coat of thinned down white gesso - so you could still see the book paper peeking through. Then I started stamping. I'm not sure if it was the ink or the gesso (maybe both) but the ink did not dry right away which meant that each layer of the flower tended to blend a bit with the previous one. The result is a flower that looks more watercolored than realistic, and I kinda like it!  

Recipe:  Step 1 - (Barn Door) Ranger, Step 2 - (Wild Honey) Ranger, Step 3 - (Cantelope) Memento 

After I stamped the flowers I did hear set them so that I didn't accidentally smudge them while finishing. The final step was to paint the background blue. I wanted it to look somewhat watery so mixed a few colors and them mixed in some water. I pretty much just  used my fingers to paint between the flowers and make it fluid and watery. 

I added some doodle words scattered throughout which was Friday's Mix Ability Challenge on SCS.  I hardly ever doodle, but the words just seemed appropriate.  

It's quite a different look from my other KSS work but I love that I can use my current stock and different techniques to achieve a whole new finished product!   Now if I could just take that vacation to Hawaii where I could really soak in the tropics . . . aaahhhhh!!  Someday! :)

I hope you have a chance to visit the rest of the KSS Crew and the your week is full of sunny days! 

Connie • Lisa • Lynn • Maria

Cardstock: (White) Neenah, vintage book paper, Stamps: (3 Step Hibiscus) Kitchen Sink Stamps, Ink: (Cottage Ivy, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart, Cantelope) Memento, (Barn Red, Wild Honey) Ranger, Accessories: (Ribbon) My Favorite Things, (Bookmark sleeve) Kitchen Sink Stamps, (doodle pen) Scarlet Lime, Tools: (Gesso) Liquitex, Decoupage, craft paint