Strong Woman - Through the Craftroom Door, wall plaque

This week's sponsor for Through the Craftroom Door is Erica Falk-Huzar- Fun Stampers Journey.

I am a Journey Coach for Fun Stampers Journey where, although rubber stamps are the foundation, we offer a complete collection of everything you need for papercrafting including inks, cardstock, dies, and accessories. We also offer machines, dies, embossing folders, punches, art media, storage, tools and so much more! Visit my site at www.papercraftinwitherica.com for inspiration!

Consider joining our monthly Bloom Box subscription (formerly the Kit of the Month). Members receive enough materials to complete four pre-designed cards including an exclusive stamp set. You may visit my website at www.funstampersjourney.com/erica for more information or to being your "Journey."

My project is a wall plaque featuring stamps by Unity Stamp Co and a die cut from Spellbinders. The stamping is embossed with Simon Says Stamp - Antique Gold and Emerald Creek - Black. The flowers were in my stash, left overs from a kit.

Come join us at the Through the Craftroom Door challenge. The theme each week is Anything Goes! This week's prize is a gift certificate and goodie bag from Erica Falk-Huzar- Fun Stampers Journey.

Putting It Together

A sketch challenge got me thinking about the vase die in my stash, stemmed flowers from a kit, and a making a small plaque.

While the sketch is a rectangle, the plaque in my stash that was calling to me is square. 

I tried a dry fit of the die, a stencil, and the sentiment stamp.

I wanted to have the wood lightly stained but still showing grain. I used Perfect Pearls Mist - Sour Apple on the wood and dried it with a heat gun. The Perfect Pearls usually has a bit of shimmer, but the wood soaked it up and I don't really see shimmer unless it's too subtle for my lighting. The very pale green, though, is a nice backdrop. Before spraying the panel, I took off the jute cord hanger.

I tried Distress stain - Tarnished Brass with the stencil, but it didn't have the effect I wanted so I wiped it down and added a tiny bit more of the golden stain to the panel to cover the faint stencilled butterflies. Instead, I used a Unity Stamp Co butterfly stamp from the All About Hope set and stamped them directly on the wood with Versamark (shown) and embossed them with Simon Says Stamp - Antique Gold embossing powder. I amazed myself by getting a good single stamping using an acrylic block with the rubber stamp. Usually, I rely on my Misti for my 'clean' stamping. (I am a rocker.) I used a dry fit with the vase die to determine the butterfly placement.

I used a Spellbinders die to cut the vase. I used mercury glass cardstock for the decorative overlay and light blue for the back. I glued them together with Zig glue pen.

I dry fit vase with the flowers beside the embossed butterflies.

I used foam mounting tape to anchor the flower stems and give the vase a little dimension.

Lightning struck twice and I got a crisp clean stamping of the sentiment, a Woman of Strength from Unity Stamp Co, which I embossed with black from Emerald Creek. I added a little more of the Tarnished Brass stain to the outside slates, wiping it so it's just a hint. I thought about adding more but, this just felt right.

Challenges

Feeling Sketchy: Sketch 191

Simon Says Monday: Flower Power

Just For Fun Rubber Stamps: Spring Flowers

Love to Scrap: April Showers Bring May Flowers

Creative Moments: More than two flowers