Blogger's Challenge #96 - Alter It!

I have a confession to make - this project is 3 years old. I had zero time this week to make a new altered project - although I had many ideas floating in my brain - so I reverted to this piece of artwork that resides in my studio.

I created this in early 2006 with what was then new SU! product - Looks Like Spring stamp set (still one of my all time favs!, now retired), Spring Flowers Designer Series Paper (the first double sided paper - you would be amazed to know how much of this I hoarded, ok, am STILL hoarding!) and Hodgepodge Hardware in Pewter.

This piece has been on display in my studio ever since I made it and when I took it out to photograph, I realized that I love it even more now than when I created it. I began with a black wood framed picture from everyone's favorite store - Tar-jeay. (Target. Really, don't you read French!) I sanded down the $$ spot find with some fine grit sandpaper which brought out a brown undercoat and then painted it with some soft pink acrylic paint. After it dried I applied crackle medium to the surface and that created the aged look on the frame.

I think the original picture was of an elephant or something jungle themed, so I just covered it with a piece of my DSP and built the collage from there. I stamped the large flower twice on Naturals Ivory cardstock, once in So Saffron and once in Blush Blossom then trimmed them out. Yes, it was a pain - don't you remember doing that? But the results were SO worth it! I then curled my petals upward with my Bone Folder and tipped a few of the edges with a Stampin' Sponge and Always Artichoke ink. I added a punched out Artichoke flower to the middle and held this focal piece together with a Hodgepodge brad. It's mounted on another piece of the DSP and then again on Always Artichoke cardstock, also aged a bit with some more Artichoke ink.

All the other little flowers were punched out of the DSP or stamped and punched out of co-ordinating cardstock. A bunch of dimensionals were used to get the height differences there and then I added a couple of Hodgepodge pieces and some ribbon bits to finish it off.

So, yes, this is an oldy, but a goody! I hope you like it and will enjoy the look back at one of my all time favorite stamp sets and dsp combos. Maybe it will even inspire you to dust off your Looks Like Spring set ( I KNOW you kept it!) and cut out a few of those flowers again! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think - I love to hear from you! And thanks to those of you who have signed up to follow my blog - I really appreciate that you want to keep up with me!

Be sure to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge players by clicking on the link in my sidebar - they are a great source of inspiration!

Happy Friday, ya'll! I'll try and be back with a new post tomorrow. My hubby gave me an idea to try and if it works out, I'll be posting that! Now you're really curious, eh? :)
~~Robin