Carte a Jouer #13

Just made the background for the next challenge and I am so happy with the end effect that I had to write about the process here.
PRINCIPLE OF THE CHALLENGE: http://carteajouer.blogspot.com/

Thème : Oiseau Topic: Bird
Technique : Fond coquilles Technique: Bottom shell

I covered the playing card with white gesso and then with a roller applied random spots of glue over the surface. I broke some egg shell and rolled it over the glue until it stuck. Next I painted some brown Winsor & Newton Ink over the whole surface. The ink was absorbed at different rates into the egg shell and gave some dark patches and a variety of lighter ones. To give it some shimmer I sprayed it with "Wheatfields" Glimmer Mist which gives it an iridescent green finish, the texture is fantastic on this card. I just noticed what looks like a tiny bird on the right hand side of the card just below the middle. Now it is ready for embellishment. I stamped a bird and painted with felt brushes and covered with crackle accents so that the finish would reflect the cracked egg shells. The flowers are stamped on a separate piece of cardstock, embossed with clear powder and then painted with Lumiere paints. Again I glazed these with crackle accents. The edge of the card is finished with gold leaf pen.

Miniature Rose, at home at last.

Here in the south of Florida it is very hard to grow roses and this delightful miniature rose has been transplanted three times now trying to find a suitable place for it to thrive. Under the bird cages seems to be the place. They get shade from the fierce midday sun and plenty of water each day when I clean out the bird cages. On a still afternoon the perfume fills the air of the patio it sits alongside. Perhaps I will buy a few more to put here.

My Vegetable Garden

It's only small and grown in pots and containers because of nematodes, but it is already supplying me with tomatoes and red and green peppers. The cold weather at the beginning of January set it all back a bit but now it is doing fine. Along with the lettuce, cucumbers and eggplant (aubergine) I have a selection of herbs that includes parsley, tarragon, sage, thyme, chives, dill and cilantro, everything I need for my limited cooking repertoire. Trying to grow without the use of any pesticides so I have planted nasturtiums and marigolds around the outside of the low perimeter fence which keeps the wild rabbits at bay. I will be trying some of the green methods of pest control, I hope they work well.

Carte a Jouer #12

This fortnight's challenge was to make a shaker card with a romantic feel to it. The base of the card is made of two "6 of hearts" cards and a piece of corrugated cardboard. A window is cut in one playing card and the corrugated cardboard so that the hole is in the same place and the same size. These two pieces are then stuck together. I then stamped the image on the remaining playing card and attached it to the back of the corrugated cardboard with the image showing through the hole. Sticky tape lines the inside edges of the cut out hole to prevent the tiny pearl beads (the shaker part) from disappearing into the corrugated cardboard. See the link to Carte a Jouer to the right for a better illustration of how this is done, Isa has photos http://carteajouer.blogspot.com/. I covered the top playing card and into the hole with a single layer of a pretty paper napkin using decoupage medium. The single layer napkin shows the playing card hearts slightly through from underneath. I placed a few pearl beads in the hole and stuck a piece of clear thick plastic just larger than the hole to the front of the card. I framed the lady with four die cut corners and then gold leafed the die cuts and edges of the card.