Sweet 'n Sassy Mixed Media Valentine

Hello Friends!
Today I am sharing a mixed media card that I made for my son for Valentine's Day.  Thankfully, he does not read my blog!  :)  Over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog, the challenge is based on these song lyrics-"This is where the cowboy rides away."  I was not familiar with these lyrics, so did a little Google search to learn a little about the song.  Turns out it is about a cowboy riding away from a failed romance.  Well, these lyrics are really appropriate for my son.  No, he has not walked away from a romance, but he has finally turned his life around and walked away from poor choices and a dead end life.  He is back in college and making some great decisions.  And  we finally have a wonderful relationship again, so making him a Valentine card was high on my priority list this year. 

Yes, this card clearly has a grunge look, but that was intentional, since it is for a young adult male.  I followed a mixed media tutorial on SCS a couple of weeks back, which can be found here.  I started with an adorable Sweet 'n Sassy image from the new Valentine Critters set.  The image was watercolored with reinkers-I found that I was able to get some good texture on the dog using watercoloring.  He was cut out with a circle die and layered on a Deco Labels Die cut follow by a  Heart die cut that was embossed with a wood grain embossing folder.
For the background, I sponged a piece of cardstock with gesso, then randomly stamped images from the Grunge Elements set and the Music Background image.  Once dry, I painted a thin layer of blue acrylic paint over the entire background.  More gesso was added in spots over the painted layer.  I added texture with a stencil and white bathroom caulking.  This was allowed to dry overnight.  Once dry, I sponged some Walnut Brown Viva 3D Stamp paint over areas of the background. The sentiment was stamped; I added a dp banner and then the image panel.  
If you feel like getting a little messy, mixed media is a great thing to try!

Card will also be entered in  the 613 Avenue Create Anything Goes Challenge this week
and in Shopping Our Stash with the challenge being 'Winter Blues".

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a blessed week!

Lee Ann  :)

Supplies Used-
Stamps-Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Valentine Critters, Music Background and Grunge Elements
Paper-Stampin' Up Naturals Ivory, Brown Sugar and watercolor paper, Echo Park dp
Ink- Stazon Black
Other- gesso, blue acrylic paint, Viva Decor 3D Stamp Paint, MFT Circle and Fishtail Flag Stax Die-Namics, Stampin' Up Deco Label Dies, dimensionals, white bathroom caulking, aqua painter, SU Brown Sugar, Real Red, and Coastal Cabana reinkers