Gretchen Barron: Faux Embossed Silk Meets Frayed Ribbon!

I must say, when I go down to my stamping room, especially in the wee hours of the morning, what happens in the creative process is truly an amazing thing. This is MY time -- to play, to try new things, to work through my frustrations and grief and pain, even to pray. For me, when I really give myself over to the creative process, it becomes a truly spiritual moment. This is exactly what happened this morning as I sat down, really with no idea of what I wanted to create. I had an idea to try the Faux Silk Technique of a few weeks ago, using the new Sweet Stem Embosslet from Stampin' Up! (available when the new catalog is released on January 19th). I thought the embossing might add a nice touch and give dimension to the Faux Silk Technique. This is the card I came up with! As you can see, the creative process also took me to revisit the Frayed Ribbon technique that I've shared on previous posts. I had no idea where I was going with this when I sat down this morning but I really like what came out. Stamping is such great therapy for me and when it produces something that I can share with others, it becomes even more rewarding!

You can see here how I applied the Embosslet shapes to the Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper, using an Anywhere Glue Stick. I crumpled up a bit of tissue paper (a great way to recycle what would normally be thrown in the trash) and then smoothed it out over the glued-up DSP (click on photos for larger images). After smoothing carefully, especially around the embossed pieces, I trimmed the edges and adhered them to the back side of the DSP with SNAIL adhesive.

I created the tassle using the Frayed Ribbon Technique and wrapped the top with Silver Metallic Cord (still available in the Holiday Mini Catalog until January 18th) and embellished with a clear bead from the Pretties Kit. I attached this to the heart image, from Love You Much, with a silver eyelet. The heart was stamped onto DSP with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder. I attached 1" Double-Stitched Chocolate Chip Ribbon and 1/4" Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon and then attached the embellished heart using Stampin' Dimensionals. The sentiment is from Warm Words (I'm so glad this set is NOT retiring), stamped with Chocolate chip Craft ink and embossed with Clear Embossing Powder.

The entire Faux Silk piece was then mounted on a layer of Chocolate chip cardstock and then mounted on the larger layer of DSP using Stampin' Dimensionals. The edges of the DSP were inked with Chocolate Chip Classic ink.

This final picture shows some of the dimension of the card.

Well, I need to go for now. Stop by again soon to see where my next creative time will take me. I hope I was able to offer some inspiration for you today as you give yourself to your own creative process!

Blessings, Gretchen