Musical Inspiration

I am a sucker for a free gift so when I was shopping yesterday I saw a paper craft magazine with some free stamps based on a musical theme.  I have one other stamp in my own collection of a violin which sits all alone in the storage box. I only bought that stamp because I am a huge fan of a very talented folk violin player. I will often be playing his music while crafting or baking.  While I was in the craft shop I also saw a large rubber stamp of a doily which managed to find its way into my basket too.  The doily is a trendy item at the moment but I don't actually like the real thing so I have compromised.

Musical Inspiration 

Anyway, back to the main point for this blog entry.  I am totally smitten by the mini-card thing at the moment.  Maybe it is because I can make a lot of cards at the same time.  Groups of 4 is also my favoured number. This is partly due to my limited collection of 'not really dried out and pale' Tim Holtz stamp pads in Brushed Corduroy, Faded Jeans, Peeled Paint and Dusty Concord.  I really must get some new ones.  

So, I had some real music score sheets in my stash, and when I eventually found them, I set about covering the fronts of the mini cards.  The pages were naturally very brown and I didn't need to age them much at all.  I used the doily stamp to add some interest to the edge/corner of the card.  I love the way the old paper takes a stamped image.  It is very rough and gives a fractured look.  Funny isn't it how at times we seek perfection in our stamping and any little 'missing' areas make us curse, but that imperfect, poorly stamped effect is exactly what I was after with this group of cards.  

Close-up of Treble Clef

Using two of the free stamps I set about making some 'ribbon' to go across the cards.  The little piece of keyboard is great and the row of floating notes are perfect for this job.  

The main focus of each card is one large element.  The piano, violin and bow, and treble clef, which were from the free gift and my violin stamp were stamped onto a piece of water colour card, shaded using Pro-markers and also the edges were aged a little with some Tim Holtz ink.  A quick run around the edges with a black marker instead of mounting on a piece of black card saved additional weight on these small cards.  Too heavy and they have a tendency to fall over.

All told I think they have worked well don't you?  

I am off to play again now with the doily stamp.  Be back soon with the results - I have an idea in mind already.

End of Part One. x

I have entered this project into the 'Brown Eyed Girl' Challenge http://pinkleart.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/sunday-stamper-week-249-brown-eyed-girl.html