More Than Words February 2017 Mini Challenge

Hi everyone, Melissa here with a card for the Mini Challenge at More Than Words! You could make a card, ATC (artist trading card), or tag. Since February is the month of love, you had to put the word "LOVE" on it.  I am very mushy on the inside, so using this theme wasn't much of a stretch!

I made this card by layering watercolor paper, and then I handstitched a border with embroidery thread.  I applied home made texture paste with a Prima  Stencil, Royal Menagerie Collection, Decor 1,and a credit card.  I painted the whole thing with Winsor and Newton Watercolors, in sap green and burnt umber.  I sponged Prima Heavy Gesso on to create negative space around the embellishments.

To create more visual interest I added tulle, microbeads, seed beads,bling, metal, and moss. The cherubs are from Authentique Paper.

The "Love" is part of a wood chipboard piece. I used Bark Derwent Inktense watercolor pencil on the edges of it by holding the pencil sideways and drawing it along the edges. Some of the pink paint on the edges of the card is Lindy Stamp Gang's Rambling Rose. 

You can see a little gold mica powder I brushed on the card.The flower is by Prima, the leaves are sizzix die cuts that I watercolored.  

Thank you so much for looking, and have a great week!

Beachy Altered Box

Hi everyone! Melissa here with an altered box. The paper I used is so beautiful, it was hard for me to put anything on it. The beach is one of my favorite places to be. 

Supplies Used:

• Footprints 12" Double Sided Scrapbook Paper
• Atlantis Cloudy Skies 12" Colorways Scrapbook Paper
• Believe 12" Double Sided Scrapbook Paper
• Atlantis Map 12"Colorways Scrapbook Paper

To make this covered wood box I first took the hardware off.  I adhered paper to the inside and outside with gloss gel. I painted the hardware with gesso after putting it back on.  On top of the gesso I applied gold rub n buff with my finger, gold mica powder, and very lightly brushed on  aqua metallic paint. 

To make a surface to apply paint to, I applied mat modge podge with a cosmetic wedge sponge. I also thought the sealed paper would be easier to dust, for when it's on a bookcase in my scraproom.

I painted on brown glimmery mist around the hardware,and drew on thick lines with a brown watercolor pencil. I softened the pencil with a wet brush.

I left three sides of the box relatively plain, to allow the shoreline on the paper to be the main focus.

I rubbed on gold mica powder with my finger on the edges of the box.

I used glossy accents to glue on shells, metal,micro beads, and pearls. I painted with brown,then turquoise shimmery mist on the front of the top.

  I sprayed on the same colors of mist on gauze. After it was dry, I  put small pieces on the box,  sprayed with water, and using a straight pin drew the threads out to where I wanted them. I lightly applied glossy accents along the threads.

  I put on a photo of a Black Crowned Night Heron that I took a while back. He's a water bird so he fits right in.

As a final step I patted on gold mica powder with my finger to random spots. This was to kind of tie together all the items.

I kept the color scheme pretty simple.

I'm sure I will enjoy looking at this on my bookcase for a long time.  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!