Vintage Stamped Collage

I made this card for this week's sketch challenge on the CardMaker Card Swap forum. I am not completely thrilled with it. Collage is one of my favorite stamping techniques, but I think I am a bit out of practice since it's been at least two years since I've done one (probably longer). It didn't turn out quite like I wanted it too. I wanted to see how it looked to tint a couple of the images, which I have never done before. I used chalks just to give a little color. I don't think I'll be doing that again - or if I do I'll just color them sepia tones. Also it didn't exactly fit the sketch. I probably should have made a bigger card to have more room below the diamond to put the ribbon.

I did try a couple of new things. I made my own background paper out of a page from an old book that I picked up for free from a box at the library. I applied packaging tape to the page, then stripped it off to remove some of the lettering. Then I wet the page down with coffee, crumpled it and flattened it out to dry. I then stamped swirls on it using Vintage Photo Distress ink. I think I need to work on it a little more (too many swirls and not enough enough color from the coffee), but overall I liked it. I'm on a much more restricted crafting budget than I used to be so I'm always looking for ways to recycle and make my own things so I don't have to spend a lot of money. Since I love shabby and vintage, this is a good technique for me.

For the flower embellishment, I stamped some script on the top flower with the distress ink (which kind of got covered up with the button). I also decorated the button. I used the back side of a plain white button so it would be smooth. I dabbed it with Latte alcohol ink to color it, then I stamped a tiny argyle pattern on it with Timber Brown Staz-On. On top of that, I stamped a tiny fleur de lis with Blazing Red Staz-On. Unfortunately, that pretty much got covered up by the bow. I still count it as a success because now I know my huge stash of plain ol' buttons has tons of new possibilities with my alcohol inks and little stamps. I have a feeling I'm going to go crazy with this one. :) I also made the stick pin and colored the pearl on the end with the Latte alcohol ink.

Even though this card didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, it was a success for me. I learned a few new techniques and ways to stretch those crafting dollars. Plus, I finally got to use my stamps again. Thanks for looking!

Supplies

Stamps: Stampabilities, Hampton Art, Rosebud, Penny Black, Impression Obsession, Inkadinkado, Club Scrap

Ink: Vintage Sepia (VersaFine); Timber Brown, Blazing Red (StazOn); Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger); Latte Adirondak Alcohol Ink (Ranger)

Paper: Scraps from my stash; old book page

Diamond Cookie Cutter die (QuikCutz); ribbon, Prima flowers, button, twine, red fiber, stick pin