Hello friends. It’s been a long time since I’ve officially welcomed you. You are all welcome here!

Lately, I have been enjoying the cherry blossoms in Tokyo, and the feel of spring in the air. It is pretty customary here in Japan to decorate the Genkan, or entry area with something to reflect the season. I’ve been keeping to a strict budget for my decorations, so most of what I have comes from the ¥100 store. (Basically a dollar store)This time, however, I decided to add my own creation to the mix!

This mixed media piece is not my normal jam, so I was quite nervous about its creation. I don’t usually fully cover the background and I don’t do mixed media as a rule, so it was a bit of an experiment. Also, the size is at least double that of a regular card!

The main image is from the Tall Flowers stamp set. I stamped two of the bouquets in Versamark ink and then heat embossed the flowers with Hero Arts White Embossing Powder. I coloured them using Altenew Brush Markers and Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers before cutting out the images with the matching dies. I love how the dies cut the middles out, as I am not a fan of cutting out the ‘holes’ with scissors!

The panel for this piece is a sheet of Fabriano Artistic Extra White watercolour paper. The background was made using Altenew shimmer sprays in Sunkissed and Puffy Heart, which I first sprayed on very watered down, as these are both vibrant colors! I then used the Stained Glass Stencil, and once I had an initial layer of colour down, I laid down the stencil and sprayed a few sprays in full concentration of the same pink and orange Altenew Shimmer Sprays. I let it dry again, and laid the stencil in exactly the same place, this time spreading a little Shimmer Paste gel onto a few places. I was contemplating adding a border, but I got scared and decided to leave well enough alone!

The sentiment is in two parts (as usual for me!). The letters are made using the Thin Alpha dies and some black cardstock. Once I’d cut the letters, I added some highlights with a white gel pen to each letter, and a coat of Glossy Accents ( after they were glued to the background). The second part of the sentiment comes from the Slimline Sayings Stamp set, and I cut out the banner using the Sentiment Strip Dies.

I hope you’ve enjoyed a little something different this time around! We’ll be resuming normal transmission again next post!

Until then, stay safe my friends.

Blessings,

Donna

These are the supplies I used. You can click on the link to shop. Where available, I have used affiliate links, which means that I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. I’ve tried to link to companies in different countries, so you can save on postage costs. Thank you so much for your support.

Pink and Main Sentiment Strip Dies Shop at: P&M	Fabriano Artistico extra white watercolour block Shop at: B | SSS	Pink and Main Thin Alpha dies Shop at: P&M	Kuretake Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers Shop at: SBC | SSS	Altenew Watercolor Markers – Winter Wonderland Shop at: ALT | SSS
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder Fine Detail Shop at: SBC | SSS	Versamark Ink Shop at: SBC | SSS	Pink and Main Slimline Sayings Stamp set Shop at: P&M	Pink and Main Tall Flowers Stamp set Shop at: P&M | SSS
Pink and Main Tall Flowers die Shop at: P&M | SSS	Altenew Metallic Shimmer Sunkissed Shop at: ALT	Altenew Metallic Shimmer Shop at: ALT	Ranger Glossy Accents Shop at: SBC | SSS
Sakura White Gel Pen Shop at: SBC | SSS	Tonic Mother Of Pearl Nuvo Embellishment Mousse Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Palette knife Pack Shop at: SBC | SSS