Mixed Media Engagement Card

Been working on a few longer term things recently, in amongst deciding whether to move house or extend our current home, so yet again crafty things have taken a backseat by comparison. The long-term projects aren't anywhere near ready to post but I have managed a few little cards.

So... Here is my first make (I'll post the others another time):

I used mount board for a sturdier base and then coated with a thick bumpy layer of PaperArtsy Fresco   paint in Snowflake. Then I added those little glass bead things - I forget the technical name :), some dry wall tape, cheese cloth and some Cheery Lynn Flourish die cuts. At this stage I also added the birds, heart and the flowers.

Next the fun really began with building up colours, knocking them back with white and adding again. I loved seeing it emerge and take form.

I did keep painting the heart but the card didn't look quite right, as you can see in the image below, nothing really stood out or 'popped'. So, luckily, I had another heart. I spruced it up with some White fire Treasure Gold by PaperArtsy so it wasn't just one tone and voila I had by card! :)

I did some machine stitching to the paper layers behind it and mounted it on a plain white card as it showed up better on that compared to other colours I tried. I opted for a back yo front gatefold too (serious artistic license here), tapered the bottom corners slightly of the back so it would stand okay instead of falling forward and it worked surprisingly well, something I must remember for the future.

List of products used

Mountboard for base
PaperArtsy Fresco Paints in: Snowflake, Lilac, Elephant (birds undercoat)
Prima Chalk Edgers: Turquoise Stone, Sweet Pea, Worn Jeans, White
Galeria glass beads
Dry wall tape
Cheery Lynn Flourish die cuts
Prima Birds
Mini Roses - eBay
Filigree Heart - The Ranger
Celebrate - from stash
Adhesive pearls - eBay

I'd like to enter this into:
Craft Room Challenge - A Summer Garden