Thursday, June 30, 2011

Paris, New York, London Couture


Lately, I've found myself surprisingly homesick for the beautiful Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains that flank the Shenandoah Valley where I grew up, so I took the three kiddoes down that way to visit their grandparents for a couple of days. Their behavior (the kids', that is -- teehehe) was wretched, but even that couldn't rob me of the peaceful, restorative powers of the beautiful landscape. We also visited a museum where we watched a short movie about Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign during the Civil War. I've never been a big history buff, but I found myself fascinated and wanting to learn more about both the Civil War and the geographical region I still call home.

Enough chatter, though, would you believe today's card was supposed to be a 10-minute card? I've had a quick and easy idea I've been wanting to try, but I went in a bit of a different direction, I'm sure you can tell {grin}. See the tag? I started by making that out of watercolor paper, Distress Stains (Peeled Paint and Broken China), various distressing methods, then stamping with an image from Tim Holtz's Papillon stamp set (currently out of stock at Stamper's Dream - sorry!). The words "Paris, New York, and London" had me thinking fashion, so I pulled out a Maya Road chipboard dress form and Webster's Pages' Trendsetter 6x6 Petite Paper pad. I painted the dress form with ivory (or maybe white?) acrylic paint, then sponged the edges with Old Paper and Vintage Photo Distress inks, and last, coated the whole thing with Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint.


Various bits and pieces tucked here and there finish up the collage look:

Maya Road tickets, stick pins, and organza rose ribbon
Prima bling (necklace on the dress form) and trim
May Arts trim (a prize from Embellish Magazine for winning one of their color trends challenges - thanks Embellish!)
Webster's Pages Bloomers (the turquoise flower)
a stamped and trimmed butterfly (also from Papillon)


I'm linking this up to the current CR84FN32 challenge. Aqua and green are well-represented, and I'm hoping the bling "necklace" fulfills the yellow :)



Thanks for stopping by today! Have a good one!


18 comments:

Arlene said...

This is gorgeous, Amy! ♥

Marimer said...

Una verdadera maravilla de creatividad y gusto, Amy.
Enhorabuena.
Besitos.

Sherry Cheever said...

Amy this is absolutely FABULOUS! I love all your little details and different elements!

Marisa said...

Totally different from your normal style but you rocked it :) Love the pearls on the dress form and all the wonderful details you have added.

Betty Wright said...

WOW GORGEOUS, Amy! Love this whole look and all the wonderful details.

Unknown said...

Just gorgeous, Amy! Love all the wonderful elements on this! Thanks for joining us at CR84FN!

Mona Pendleton said...

Oh my Amy! Love the crackled dressform and all the amazing detail! That aqua fabric flower is gorgeous and the colorful tag looks amazing! Thanks so much for joining along with CR84FN :)

Oliwiaen said...

That's the music for my soul! I love each and every single detail of that card!!

Linda said...

such a cute card-girlie but not over the top.

Deborah Frings said...

Real shabby chic - super layers, and wonderful details. Thanks for playing along with CR84FN!

Susan said...

I don't know about the challenge, but who cares this is STUNNING!!
Susan

Lorel-Lye said...

This card is Beautiful! I love everything about it... it's Beautiful. Thx for Sharing

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous !!! I love this card !
Best regards Berdien

Monika/Buzsy said...

Gorgeous card Amy. Love the pretty vintage elements. Great colors too. Glad you had a nice mini trip!

Maureen said...

oh, my Amy...this is just gorgeous! I am drooling! Love each and every element...the colours, the dress form crackle, everything!

Crestajune said...

So fabulous! I love everything about this card!! Thanks for all of the details, I am going to try some of those techniques out today! Love this!

jan metcalf said...

BEAUTIFUL card!!

Tami said...

Amy, this has to be one of the most beautiful cards I have ever seen . . . you are truley a head above the rest! Wow!