Paris in 'Abandoned Coral'?

Hi everyone and welcome. Thank you for the amazingly positive reaction to my first attempt at journalling HERE. Spurred on by the lovely comments and bitten by the bug I've been getting stuck in again, though sometimes it's a bit trial and error. Here's another spread - not quite Paris in Springtime (but then my DH and I visited this amazing city in the Summertime anyway, a good 20+ years ago!!!) It was a wonderful trip and I'm crossing fingers we can repeat the experience some time soon. In the meantime...

I was inspired by several things including: a photo of the place we stayed; the fact that the colour of the awning in the photo looks just like Abandoned Coral (so I made this a primary project colour); the need to get some ink onto one of the new Tim Holtz Cityscapes stamps; and one of Brenda Brown's journal pages HERE. There is also a new challenge theme over at Stamps and Stencils where they are looking for 'Three of a Kind'.

This took quite some time to complete (in fact I completely scrapped two earlier versions) as it just kept going wrong once the paper had been added and initial inking applied. What went wrong? Muddled ink splattering in the main really, which lead to a confused and over-complicated background - moral of the story is "keep it simple"! There were some techniques I wanted to 'log' for future use, like the mixing of embossing powders and ink for those rusted metallic parts, and paint blistering on the letters. And the Cityscapes stamps are brilliant for creating a border or horizon line, ideal if you are a scrapper or journaller. In amongst a busy composition I kept some 'visual triangles' going, including the repetition of the Eiffel Tower - so you should spot three of them - and the words picked out in Cracked Pistachio.

Well that's a second spread in the bag (and there's another to share soon) and I have to say I am enjoying the freedom this form of crafting gives you. This one will be entered into the following challenges;
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Don't abandon the Coral
Stamps and Stencils Challenge - Three of a Kind
Country View Challenges - Simply Scenic

Time to disappear again to get ready for an exciting day of demonstrating for IndigoBlu at Domino Crafts in Wolverhampton tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there! If you can't make it don't forget, there are a number of IndigoBlu shows currently being broadcast over at British Craft Network online tv (so you only need an internet connection to see them).
Whatever you're up to this coming weekend have a great one and take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx