Something a little different for me!

Hello my friends!  Today I have something a little different than my usual.  I wanted to make a tag using The Mighty Sea and The Sea from Our Daily Bread designs, but I wanted to explore some different techniques and mediums, and this is what I came up with.  I'm not even sure there is a name for this technique, but it's more of a combination of black magic and faux wood (mine would be without the wood grain but instead it's faux clouds???) LOL

Anyhow..... I'll try to explain what I did.  I began by cutting SU! Kraft card stock into a tag shape.  I stamped the image from The Mighty Sea with Memento Ink.  I used various tear drop inks from Brilliance, mainly white and applied directly to the paper in various places on the sky to give a lighter base to work on later.  I added tans and blues to the other parts of the scene, not covering it, just laying down areas of color.  When that dried I began applying chalks to the scene, layering them on until I got the depth of color I wanted.  The Brilliance ink gives a sheen that shows through even the chalks and adds some drama that I kind of like!  After coloring most of the scene with chalks I spritzed with water and dried.  I stamped the sentiment and added details with Prisma Pencils, then topped some of the white capped waves with a Sharpie Poster Paint pen.  I also have a very old Galaxy white pen that I used to add some lighter shades here and there.  Finally, I mixed two shades of T Holtz Distress embossing powders and heat embossed that on to the sandy shore and the grasses.  This gave lots of texture.  The shell punched border is Martha Stewart, and the little shells are shell beads.  The twine is just plain old twine from the hardware store.

I wanted to create a stormy scene and use this sentiment on a tag for my husband as he is going over seas soon with his new job.  I wanted to give him a reminder of how God DOES work in mysterious ways.  As most of you know, he was laid off last year and we had several long months of praying and seeking His will for the next stage of our lives.  Then, the end of January,  he was offered a job which quite honestly is much better than the one he had in many ways!  During the time he was laid off, we did feel like we were in a storm... one of life's big storms, yet we always had peace that God knew what His plans for us were, and waited for Him to move.... and He did!  Sometimes when we are IN the storm, we might be temped to ask God "why" or even get angry with Him or doubt His goodness, but we must always remember that He has plans for us and they are plans for our good, and not to harm us (Jer. 29:11).  Sometimes as Laura Story's song "Blessings" states... life's greatest disappointments can be our greatest blessings in disguise!  That is because God DOES work in mysterious ways.... but always in His PERFECT ways!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

• Bloggers -  By the Seashore,
• Fabulous Friday – Brads or Eyelets (eyelet),
• Hotshot Crafts – 3W – Week 1, One for the Boys,
• Inspire Me Fridays – Link Up Party,
• Stamp Man -craft type  Texture, C.R.A.F.T. -  No designer papers,
• Sassy Studio Designs - Use kraft cardstock,  
• Our Daily Bread designs - Scene it