Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

...how does my garden grow???

Hello, Everyone!!

Today, I'm sharing my project for the Gauche Alchemy meets Viva Las Vegas Stamps blog event.

I found my inspiration while trolling the Viva Las Vegas Stamps website. Have you been there??? Oh, MAN!!! That place is a virtual stampy feast for the eyes!

When I saw plate 1403, I knew my project was soon-to-be, garden-tastic!!

Cut to me wandering the aisles of my local Dollar Tree, where I found a FAB set of pressboard plaques. The fact that they were sportin' some birdies, only made it that much easier for me to glue, paint and FIX!!!

Here are the deets:

I covered the plaques with some Gauche Alchemy ephemera...



...and lightly whitewashed over it with some gesso. I still wanted a bit of the print to show through.



Each plaque got a Staz-On garden...



...and a bit of glimmery color.



OK. A LOT of glimmery color!!



I colored in my flowers a little more precisely with more mist and a paint brush.



SPLATTERS!!! These splatters were created with a clear mist. It kinda pooled the existing color to add a fun bokeh effect :-)



A little spray sealant should keep my finished garden colorful and just how I left it.



I decided to fill my garden with little 'garden gnomes'!! I chose 'wee' photos of each of my 'babies' and sized, print and cut them out.



A little trim-a-roo of more epehmera and my gnomes were dressed!



Masking tape...



...more flowers...



...resin paper and Gauche Alchemy ouchless cardboard give added texture to my scene.



A little beeswax sealed everything in. And TOTALLY smells good!!! Kinda like caramelized honey---YUMM!



The word on each plaque is a small glimpse into each of their personalities as 'wee' ones.



Glitter makes everything better. This particular glitter is mica flakes.



Some Copic coloring...



...and outlining with my fave Bic Mark-it pen to add color and definition.



And here are my finished plaques!!!





I truly love these plaques!! They're colorful, and best of all, they allow me to keep my babies with me. Tiny. Forever.



Now, hop on over and check out the rest of this weeks projects on the Viva Las Vegas and Gauche Alchemy blogs. Commenting gets your name into the pot for some Gauche goodies or a solid POUND of Viva Las Vegas rubb-ah!!!

xx,