April Showers Brought May Flowers

April showers brought May flowers to my garden, as well as into my art journal.  For this post, I designed two cards in which I incorporated my new art journal page, which was inspired by Word Art Wednesday Challenge #28 and the Collage Obsession - Tulips challenge.  Although it took me a while to get the artwork done due to one of the most hectic weeks ever, it was a blessing to get it done.

For this art journal page, I cut out tulips and foliage shapes out of hand decorated paper leftovers that I had from a collage project I did several years ago.  The paper was decorated by pasting down various pieces of ephemera, stamping, and painting over everything with acrylic paints.  Jane Davies explains the process in more detail in one of her books.  I layered my tulip bouquet over a vintage primer image from an Anna Corba clip art book.  I used a K&Company Smash blank sheet to write the Bible verse in 2 Timothy 1:7 with a red Sharpie pen.  I tore it into 3 parts for drama.  As a finishing touch, I doted some areas around the perimeter of the page.

My first card was inspired by Case Study Challenge #91, which features a spring card by Agnieszka Malyszek.  The card has a tag with butterflies and lace, over a wood grain stamped background.  Therefore, I decided to scan, print and cut my art journal page into a tag.  I made a paper lace trim using Martha Stewart's Rings border punch and a strip from a Fiskars cinnamon stick mat stack.  I glued it to the bottom of the tag.  I used raffia to enhance the lace trim and the top of the tag.  As an embellishment, I used a couple of corsage pins.  I also used a butterfly that I made with my paper, a Martha Stewart punch, Tim Holtz walnut stickles, and a Clearsnap henna stamp pad.  I attached my tag to a DCWV green card, which I decorated with three strips of print from the same Fiskars stack.  I rounded the upper right hand corner of the card.

My second card was inspired by Unscripted Sketches #159, which has a Piggyback challenge to use ink.  I used ink to write the text in my original art journal page and to edge my butterfly's wings, so that was taken care of.  I used the exact same materials in both cards.  As to the tools, the only additional tool I used was a pair of Fiskars pinking sheers to cut my print.  The layout worked beautifully with my art journal page.  The only thing I had to do was change the shape of the focal point from a square to a rectangle, to fit the format of my print.  Therefore, I also had to lower the horizontal band.  (By the way, I love the way the punched border simulates the lattice work in a garden gate.)

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I apologize for not posting during the week.  With over 12 hour days at work and evening church vestry meetings this week, it was just impossible.  However, 2 Timothy 1:7 truly spoke to me, even when I wasn't in my studio.  As always, you are cordially invited to follow my blog and/or leave a comment - I'll be grateful to you.  Blessings!

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power,

and of love,

and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7