Vintage Memories

I am so excited for you to see this card.  For one, I am so proud of it.  I have never done anything like it and for the first time, I feel like Becca Feekan or Teneale Williams  WOW!  I mean, I feel like a real paper artist.  However, there is a caveat: I have not arrived to their status. I think this was just a fluke.  Fluke or not, I'll take it.  I hope you like it.  I have three views for you, the outside, a closeup, and the inside. (Click on any picture to see it larger)

 

Card Recipe: (all items SU unless stated otherwise)

Stamps:  EnFrancais Background, Elements  of Style,

               Flower of the Month (circa 2001!),

               Crackle BG stamp by Cherry Pie art stamps

               French Foliage

Paper:    Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Melon Mombo

Ink:         Early Espresso, Crumbcake, 

               Various SU markers

Other:     Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities

               Spellbinders Parisian Accent dies

               Antique Brads

 I called this Vintage Memories because I like to think this is a card that was very old and it was in a some sort of fire.  The main focal point, the rose, could be the back of a watch pendant, a necklace pendant, or just a pin.  It has weathered and crackled with age and from the heat of the fire.
Anyway, sounds kind of romantic doesn't it?  I am definitely a romantic at heart!
By seeing all the above listed supplies, can you tell it took me a VERY long time to make this card.  I can't even begin to tell you where I came up with the idea for it.  It just came to me in bits and pieces.  I knew I wanted to do something extremely vintage which I have never done before.  I had just bought this crackle background stamp from Cherry Pie Art Stamps and I knew I wanted to use it.  I also needed a small, feminine flower and searched through my stamp catalog.  The Flower of the Month Stamp is old and I bought it from someone selling their old SU stamps.  This is the first time I have used any of them and I really like the way it turned out.
Technique Tips:
     -  Sponge, sponge, sponge.  That's how I got the edges of the melon mambo and the very vanilla to look like they had been burned.  I used the early espresso.  I also sponged the inside of the card and the accent on top of the oval.
     -  The accent on top  of the oval is actually part of a whole other accent piece.  You can see it HERE!  It's the circle with the accents at each end.  I just cut it in half and trimmed the edges so it fit behind the oval.
     -  I used a vintage brad to look like a watch fob or just another piece of the pin/pendant.
    -   I used the raindrops/teardrops from the French Foliage set to make it look like water damage.
     -  The EnFrancais background and the crackle background was stamped on the card stock after being stamped off once on scrap paper.  I actually used crumb cake ink for the crackle and stamped it directly over the already colored flower.  It is so light that you really can't see the lines running through the flower.  Even if you did, it would look like real cracks running through porcelain or such.
Whew!  I think that is all I can think of. If I forgot anything, you can email me and I'll be more than happy to answer your questions. 
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July!  Be safe!

Blessings to you all,

Terri