Holiday Destinations ~ Through a Window to Venice

Hi everyone and thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my previous post showing you the view looking out across the canals of San Marco in Venice (well my version anyway!) I promised you the 'flipside' so without further ado...

As you can see from both posts I made the most of the dappled sunlight pouring through the windows to evoke the feeling of being bathed in a glorious Venetian day. It's a similar design to the card from yesterday but I wanted to capture the crumbling brickwork and plaster on the exterior of the building.

You'll be wanting some 'how to's I'm guessing - cover your white CS in DS Picket Fence, emboss with a brickwork folder or stencil (I REALLY NEED Wendy Vecchi's brick stencil as it would be even more versatile than my embossing folder - wonder where I can get it from... ) Now run DP over the raised areas with a brayer, and when dry go to town blending in DI's (you'll find a list of colours at the bottom). Now take your life in your hands and soak the CS in water using a mister; it's not just a case of getting a mottled effect, you want to really get those colours blending together and reacting with the Picket Fence. Allow to dry completely and hey presto, and beautifully faded effect. If the colour is still too strong you can add more DS Picket Fence at this stage. Finally scrape thin patches of white texture paste on top.

Next to construct the window. Shabby shutters are a doddle when you have white corrugated card. Swipe a bit more texture paste over the surface and cover in DI's (in this Peacock Feathers/Stormy Sky). I added some CS edges using pieces cut out from the centre of the window frame for the last card, and of course what would a Venetian window be without Venice Lace curtains!

The trick with this style is to map out where you are going to place your focal points and add the bits and pieces in clusters around/underneath them. More lace, some more new washi tape and then a splosh of script stamping (Archival Ink goes over almost everything). Oh yes, and I needed even more texture so time to flourish my new Dylusions stencil (aren't diamonds very 'carnivale'?) And now for the windowbox.

What do you think to my fancy copper filigree one?! The cool part about Linda's filigree metal pieces is that they are strong but thin enough to be cut with scissors, so I went at a corner and hey presto! Add some die cut flowers coloured with DI's and the scene is complete.

Hope you've enjoyed my trip to Italy. It's a bit of an obsession now so there'll be more soon. In the meantime check out the goodies used at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Seriously, Linda is pretty much giving away stencils at the moment as Friday Focus items and there is still a little time left to go for the 15% discount on Artistic Outpost stamp sets too. And then there's the Venice lace, the corrugated card, the Distress Products... see you there soon! And after that I would highly recommend a trip to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to see my teamies brilliant samples - you could even enter the challenge yourselves to be in with a chance of winning/being picked for a $25 shopping spree. Now there's reason enough.

Take care of yourselves, hugs Jenny xxx

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Brushed Corduroy	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain - Picket Fence White	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Frayed Burlap	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Tea Dye	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Rusty Hinge	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Bundled Sage	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Fired Brick	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Pine Needles	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Stormy Sky	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Peacock Feathers	Dyan Reaveley′s Dylusions Stencil - Diamond Border (9x12)	Corrugated Cardboard - White (6 sheets)	Venise Lace Trim - 1.75 Inches
4 Piece Antiqued Copper Triangle Filigree Pieces	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Weathered Wood	Ranger Archival Ink - Jet Black	Ranger Archival Ink - Sepia	Ranger Inkssentials Non-Stick Craft Sheet