Kraft+ Kraftboard ~ May Challenge

Books

WOW!  Can anyone tell me where the month of May has gone?!!  I have just a few days left to enter into my favourite blog challenges ~ so much to do, so little time!

I wanted to make sure I did have my entry for the Kraft+ May Kraftboard Challenge.  This is such a wonderful challenge blog, with a marvellous DT and awesome sponsors.  Here is the totally fantastic Kraftboard for the month of May!

This Kraftboard is simply divine!  It provided me with the inspiration for the selection of my photo and topic of my page - BOOKS - as well as providing me with my favourite colour to work with - GREEN!

When my best girlfriend and I went to America last year (wow, almost one whole year ago!), we travelled to New Orleans.  What a city!  We found these amazing little second-hand bookshops in the French Quarter.  These places had to be seen to be believed.  Floor-to-ceiling stacks of books ~ everywhere!  And there was that beautiful smell that only comes with old books ~ sort of musty and earthy, especially in the heat of a New Orleans summer!  (You probably wouldn't want to go in there if you were claustrophobic!)

I have started with a piece of Core-dinations Kraft cardstock.  It is a 'warmer' shade of Kraft that I felt would go well with my photo.  I tore a small edge of each side to distress and inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink.  I then rolled and teased up the corners.  It has been matted onto a piece of dark brown cardstock.  My photo has also been matted on that same dark brown cardstock.

Using some DecoArt Crackle Paste and the TCW Mini Bricks stencil to create the brickworkon the background.  Once it was dry, I used some Making Memories acrylic paint in Chartreuse and rubbed it into the crackled paste with my fingertip.  I also used some Zing! Embossing Powder in Leaf on the background.  I didn't have a specific stamped image to use, so I just heated the Kraft cardstock from underneath, then applied some loose embossing powder and reapplied the heat from underneath so it would melt.

I scrunched up a page out of an old novel and then applied Tea Dye Distress Ink, then tore it into strips and used it to add layers and depth to my page behind my photo.  I also used a few small pieces of lime-green coloured cardstock that had been hand-torn as well.

To replicate the string around the books in the Kraftboard, I used some dark brown hemp cord, cut to random lengths with knots tied at each end.  This lies under the photo and comes out the sides randomly.  My final touch was a white tag that has been distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink, with the details of the bookshop:  Rue Orleans, French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana.  I added some journalling to the bottom of my page and it is done!

I'm off to create something else now!  Thanks for visiting!!

Deb.xx