A Touch of Grace

Better late than never applies for this post.  I had intended to have this design posted last Friday, but as I worked, it grew and grew.  What started out to be a card for the Friday Stamp Simply heat it up (embossing) challenge developed into a wall hanging.  Okay, now for those of you who are familiar with the Stamp Simply challenges, you may be asking, “what’s simple about that?”  Well, I want to clarify that the stamping and embossing are “simple”, it’s the painting that’s a little more challenging . . . LOL!  And, this IS relaxing for me AND I do enjoy it so much.  And, if one were crafty, one could also use this post in ssnotime78, keeping it white, the front and back panels are white, with a few gold dots .  .  . ahem  .  .  . does that count?

In the photograph above the panels appear to get larger toward the bottom.  They’re not, it’s the angle of the shot, a perfect perspective illustration.  The wall hanging measures 22 inches in length and was very difficult to get in a good shot.  I have taken several close up photographs of each panel and am posting them for those of you who are interested in a closer view.

My husband’s already found a perfect place for the hanging, it will be placed on a wall in our guest bathroom.  Our guest bathroom is decorated in the true southern fashion of palms and southern plants, making it the ideal place for the design.  I’ll edit and include a photograph once I get it hung on the wall.

This is the top panel, the verse is so beautiful, Trust in the Lord . . . Amen!  I apologize for the darkness of this picture.  When I tried to lighten it up, I blew out the color.  I placed the panels on a stand for these shots.  Doesn’t the magnolia look so beautiful!  I can just smell it’s sweet fragrance.  I especially love this piece, I was thrilled with the dimension I was able to achieve in painting the magnolias, they appear so lifelike.

This is the middle panel, Delight yourself in the Lord . . . Absolutely!  We have ferns in our backyard so I just had to include some ferns.  Okay, I’m seriously in love with this panel, the magnolia looks fresh picked from the tree in my front yard.  There’s so much dimension in this flower.  It looks like I placed the flower on dimensionals and placed it on top of the leaves, but I didn’t. The petals themselves look like they are on dimensionals.  Not so, the only parts I did pop up were the four tiny petals in the center of the bloom and the stamen, the rest was painted. The darker values in the petals give the flower a three dimensional realistic appearance.

The last panel, I can do all things . . .  can I get a big AMEN!  These verses are tied together in this piece.  I Trust and I am Delighted and Strengthened in my Trust.  Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing, power and majesty, praise to the King!  When the world seems like it’s spinning out of control, I can turn to Him and know He’s in command and everything will be okay.

I took additional photographs of the panels laying flat against white taffeta.

I posted these last three photographs so that you can see a close up of the buttery soft yellow silk ribbon connecting the panels together. I made a half inch gap between each panel.

The top panel has a loop to hang the panel on a wall or doorknob.  I wasn’t sure when I was making it whether I was going to hang it on a wall or doorknob.  My husband made the choice when he saw it for the first time last evening.  I think he’s become my biggest fan.  The silk ribbons hang three inches from the bottom.  I’m not sure if the ribbon is silk, it may be nylon, it looks and feels like silk, casting a beautiful sheen.

• Stamps:  Me & Carrie Lou, Verve (Bible Verses)
• Paper:  Canson cold pressed 140 lbs. water color paper, Gold Shimmer paper from Papertrey, Ink, DP from The Paper Company (JoAnn’s)
• Ink:  Versamark
• Accessories:  Blender Pen, Tombow Markers, water color brush,  Ranger Gold/Gold Tinsel EP, heating tool, Dazzling Diamonds, Kaiser pearls, Nesties, craft knife, self-healing mat, ruler, Krylon gold pen, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Therm O Web dimensionals, Martha Stewart ribbon, Zip Dry adhesive