Hello crafty friends. As you read this, I’m driving the Nullarbor plain, driving right across Australia. “Again?” I hear you ask! Yes. We drove west a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re making the return journey. It is somehow simultaneously the most boring and the most interesting of journeys, and after all the happenings of the past month, a few days with nothing to do but drive is always welcome. I have a card to share with you today that has lots of texture as the main element, and the feature image isn’t so much the feature!

I have made a video of the making of this card, using the minimal supplies I could find as I unpacked on arrival in Australia. As you will see from the video, I’m missing the most basic of supplies, and even the die cutting machine that I used was borrowed from a friend! You can see the video below, or read on if that’s your preference.

I used the Sweet Vines Embossing folder from Paper Rose Studio for the background. First I cut my paper into strips, then ink blended onto them using Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Oxides. I then ran these through the die cutting machine with the correct sandwich of plates for embossing folders, and then ink blended some more. Blending while the paper is flat gives good even coverage, blending onto the embossed panel helps define the pattern. You can see all the lovely texture in the photo below.

The feature image comes from a Paper Rose stamp set called Peonies. I stamped this in Versamark clear embossing ink, and then used gold embossing powder and melted that on with my heat tool. I coloured the images using watercolour markers scribbled onto a stamp block, and painted with a small paintbrush onto the image. I used Peeled Paint Distress Oxide for the leaves. You can see the painting process best on the video. It was very interesting to see how much the Peeled Paint Distress Oxide changes colour with water. Check out the spatter at the bottom of the card in the photo below.

The sentiment comes from the Rainbow Poppies sentiment set. I brought one page of Happy Birthdays with me to Australia, and found just the colour I needed for the card. I used foam tape to pop up the elements onto the card, and the card was done! I hope you’ve enjoyed this card, and that you are having a super week.

Until next time,

Blessings,

Donna