A Case of the Blues

It is time for the new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Suzz is our hostess for this one and she is calling it Mother May I?  She describes the challenge this way:

May in the U.S. is when we celebrate Mother's Day and honor our mothers. I am challenging you to create something that is vintage or shabby chic which is inspired by your Mother or any mother figure in your life. It can be a favorite memory, something based on her style, something she said/says to you, or anything that reminds you of your mother figure. Make sure to share with us how your mother inspired your art!

By the time you read this Mother's Day will have already passed - it was on May 10th here in Canada.  This card has no sentiment for a Mother because my Mother passed away 27 years ago and my Mother-in-Law died 2 1/2 years ago.  When I made the card, it was approaching Mother's Day and I naturally felt some sadness  however, I did make this with my Mother in mind.

She loved the colour blue and she used it everywhere.  Her walls were painted blue, her clothes and her dishes were blue and she collected blue glass.  Oh, did she ever collect blue glass.  When she died I inherited everything in the house and I thought I would save a few pieces I liked and sell the rest since I had no use for 800 (yes you read that correctly) pieces of blue glass.

So my husband and I packed it all up and brought it to our home but since I didn't have any idea how much the collection was worth, I spent money to have it appraised only to discover that most of it was not worth anything and what she thought were valuable antiques, were reproductions.  It was the polar opposite of an Antiques Roadshow episode - really disappointing and I felt badly mostly for her because she thought she had something but then I remembered her joy every time she told me about a new piece and decided I wouldn't fret about it.

In the end I sent it to an auction house and they started to sell it in small lots.  After the first two, they went out of business and took off in the middle of the night with all the goods in their possession.  I was super annoyed to say the least but then decided I would look at the bright side - I didn't have to pack it all again and find a new way to sell it.

Here is how to make this card:

• Cut two squares of patterned paper from the Secret Garden and Botanical Tea Collections (Graphic 45) making one smaller than the other.
• Distress each panel and adhere to a card blank.
• Add a strip of lace across the middle of the card.

• Alter two filigree leaves by coating first with Snow Cap Mixative Alcohol Ink (Tim Holtz), then Versamark (Tsukineko) and then two coats of Aegean Sea Baked Velvet Embossing Powder (Seth Apter).

• Die cut a couple of flourishes from blue card stock, coat with Versamark and then emboss with two coats of the Aegean Sea Baked Velvet.

• Use a variety of blue shades of Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) to colour a scrap of card stock.  Note:  I had a piece already coloured in my stash and can't remember exactly which shades of Distress Ink that I used.
• Die cut leaves with the Garden Greens die (Tim Holtz).

• Stamp two each of three different Wendy Vecchi flowers with Cornflower Blue Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi.  I used flowers from Daisy Art and  Mix and Match Art.
• Use a water brush (Tim Holtz) and Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) to colour the flowers.
• Shape and layer the pairs and add centres (seed beads (my stash) for the top flower,  gems (my stash) for the little flower and Bliss adhesive pearls (Kaisercraft) for the flower on the right).

• Colour a scrap of plastic packaging with Denim, Cloudy Blue and Aqua Alcohol Ink (Tim Holtz) using Blending Solution or Blending Pen (Tim Holtz) to move and mix the colours.
• Use Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger) to stamp the detail butterfly from the Country Flowers stamp set (Wendy Vecchi) and then die cut with the accompanying die.  Note:  I wanted to include a nod to my Mom's blue glass collection and this was a suggestion from my wonderful teammate Jenny Marples.

To assemble:

• Add the flourishes first, then the leaves and then the filigree leaves.
• Top with the flowers and then add the butterfly last.

I hope you will share a project with us that is inspired by your Mom.  One random winner will receive a gift certificate to go shopping at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the Design Team will choose their top picks with the overall winner receiving an opportunity to be a Guest Designer at a future date.

Links to The Funkie Junkie Boutique for products used to create this card:

Seth Apter Baked Velvet - Mediterranean Kit
Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Blending Pen
Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp, Die, Stencil Set - Country Flowers

Secret Garden Deluxe Collector′s Edition	Graphic45 - Botanical Tea Deluxe Collector′s Edition	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9PK - Garden Greens by Tim Holtz 661206	VersaMark Watermark Ink Stamp Pad	Ranger Archival Ink Pad - Jet Black AIP31468	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink Pad - Cornflower Blue AID38955
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tumbled Glass TIM27188	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Stormy Sky TIM27171	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Denim Blue TIM22015	Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Aqua	Ranger Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink - Cloudy Blue	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Snow Cap Mixative AL31611
Venise Lace Trim - 2 inches	6 Piece Copper Leaf Embellishments	Tim Holtz Tonic Studios Paper Distresser 370E	Tonic 5" titanium snips	KAISERCRAFT Pearls - Self Adhesive - Bliss	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/8" x 27 Yards
Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/4" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 3/8" x 27 Yards	Ranger Dina Wakley Media Ultra Thick Gel Medium 4oz