Asian Embrace

I made this for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge over on her blog. OMG is this ever an awesome sketch! The first thing that hit me when I saw this sketch is that it would be perfect for an Asian style card. Unfortunately, I do not have much in the way of Asian inspired stamps and accessories. I then saw this weeks tutorial for Faux Silk over on Splitcoaststampers, and knew in my head what I wanted to do.

The main image panel is Faux Silk. I stamped the floral branch from my SU Embrace Life set in black Staz-On on white tissue paper and then I very carefully watercolored using a Real Red reinker and my aquapainter. I then crumpled the tissue paper into a little ball and then smoothed it out as the technique calls for. The tissue paper was then adhered to a scrap piece of white cardstock with Mono Multi glue. While the glue was still wet, I sprinkled some Dazzling Diamonds glitter all over the image for a little added sparkle. I then cut away the excess tissue paper and then mounted the panel on some Basic Black cardstock, followed by a layer of SU Brushed Gold cardstock (I used my perfect layers tool to get the 1/16th in border just right). I then wrapped some gold cord around the panel and set it aside.

The Real Red layer was embossed with my Stylized Flowers cuttlebug embossing folder. This layer was also matted in Black and Gold. I then used two different sized square punches for the side accent (using black and gold cardstock). The background cardstock layer is the new Basic Grey color. This was embossed with Detail Black embossing powder (the image is also from the set Embrace Life). The final touch was stamping the large bloom from the Embrace Life set on Shimmery White cardstock. The image was colored with Real Red reinkers and some Twinkling H2O's for extra shimmer. The stamen of the flower was accented with my Black Copic Spica glitter pen. I wish the picture above would capture the sparkle and shimmer a little better, but these wintry Colorado days don't provide the best photography conditions.

I absolutely enjoyed making this card due to the awesome sketch. Thanks Julee!

Card Details:

Technique: Faux Silk

Stamps: Embrace Life (SU)

Cardstock: Basic Black, Shimmery White, Brushed Gold, Real Red

Ink: Real Red, Staz-On Black

Accessories: Gold Cord, Dimensionals, Stylized Flowers embossing folder, Dazzling Diamonds, Twinkling H2Os, Copic Spica Glitter pen