A Pretty Mixed Media Card & Some Scrap Therapy

Three different happenings coincided to be the inspiration for this card, which is for my dear Grandma's 83rd birthday next week.

1.  This tutorial by the super talented Janine Koczwara really put me in the mood for some mixed media play.

2.  I received some happy mail from the lovely Kim Jeffress, a little gift from the Heidi Swapp team following the Make Pretty Stuff Down Under Tour.  There were two sweet Heidi Swapp masks in that package that I really wanted to try out.

3.  And finally, a little bit of scrap therapy (more on that below).

The background has layers of a children's story book, gesso, texture paste, mists and stamping.

The frame is my favourite chippy piece ever, from Imaginarium Designs, their brackets on oval frame.  A layer of gesso, then some Mod Podge to adhere the gold micro beads.

I also used some chippy flowers from Scrapmatts.  Again with a coat of gesso, and before it dried misted it with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pop Rocks. I then layered the small flower over the larger one and adhered them together.  A pearl for the centre of the flower and randomly applied small amounts of Mod Podge for some more micro beads.

I finished off with a range of flowers, some sequins and enamel dots, and rhinestones.

Now that scrap therapy I mentioned?  Yesterday when I made this card it would have been my Mum's 61st birthday.  I had an empty kind of feeling, like I wanted to be spending it with her, but of course I couldn't do that.

My Mum was a paper crafter - that's something we loved to share together.  She also used to read to my kids a lot when they were little.  So for this card I pulled out a Little Golden Book that she used to read to them.  I only needed one page of it, and cut it into squares and used it as the base layer.  On the first photo you can make out some text on the bottom right and top left.  The act of using that page is only something little, but I had that connection with my Mum on her birthday, and it's kind of special as well because this card is going to my Mum's Mum.  There you go, some simple scrap therapy!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, I'm totally looking forward to 2014 and all it has to bring!