It Was Never Random

It's Saturday night and I took some time for myself in the studio to put together a quick card for my daughter, Sam.  I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but she's transferring to a different college for the rest of her PT undergrad.  It was a difficult decision for her to make as a junior, but a brave one and we are tickled to death that she got into all three schools she applied to so she had some good choices.  She settled on our alma mater here in this household so off to PA we go on Tuesday to help her move in. 

I thought it might be nice if she got some mail fairly soon so I decided to pull from my scrap area and pull together something uplifting and whimsical, perfect for RubberMoon's wheelhouse.  I really went at this completely spontaneously, so it morphed as I went along.  I started with the Moon Unit house and my all time favorite sentiment, "Sprinkle Moondust Spread Magic" and a piece of leftover glossy polka dotted thinner cardstock that I thought would be perfect for the house.  I often do b/w work in the winter so why should 2014 be any different? 

Once stamped in black StazOn, I made a moveable door and cut out the windows with my X-acto.
 I stamped the sprinkle sentiment on pink cardstock and cut it out like a banner and began looking for other potential embellishments and stamps that could be used on this "moving" or "new beginnings" type of card.  

I settled on some paper florals with black pom pom centers that eventually I would draw white stems for to fill in the bottom and then added the banner raised on pop dots for some more visual texture.  A thicker gel glue or gel medium is perfect for this adhesion.  A pearl brad made the top window just perfect.  My card was starting to take shape. 

I began to work on the sky by stamping a moon (lt crescent) to hang, and then I stamped my own stamp, "It was never random." onto a piece of matching pink cardstock and cut each word apart.  Those of you who have seen my paintings know that one of my recurring motifs are the stars that hang on strings in the sky.  I used the same concept for the phrase on this card. I cut a thin piece of shiny floss for each word and used double-stick tape to attach at the cardstock.  As shown below, I then pulled used more tape and tucked the floss under the top piece of black glossy and the used more adhesive to put that piece down permanently. 

I added some gems at the base of every floss to punctuate them and called it a day.  This photo taken on a chair gives you more definition of the edges than the top one.  Black glossy is a bear to show depth at times, but it is a favorite of mine anyway.  I hope Sam enjoys this empowering card that's a commentary on my belief about life. I hope she can spread her own magic and, finally,  I hope you enjoyed my night of whimsy.