Paper and Fiber Arts: Mixed Media Howdy Card

Many of us purchase mixed media supplies for art journaling but don't use them for much else. It is fun to use them on cards and scrapbook pages, too! This mixed media "Howdy" card is simple to make. And it packs a lot of texture without needing extra postage!

First, I applied Pink Candy Coat onto card stock with a palette knife over the Stacked Circles stencil from Hero Arts. The Candy Coat is a gloppy glaze with glitter and chunks of translucent pieces of something that looks like mylar mixed into the glaze. The picture above shows some of the sparkly bits that dry in place. There is no flaking, even when rubbed. After the piece dried, I blended ink onto the background and onto some of the discarded circle pieces from the Don't Be Square cover die using the Minted ink color from Catherine Pooler. Using a lot of ink in some areas and a light touch in others adds more dimension. Using some white circles from the cover die as well as the inked ones give a random polka dot effect.

To keep the circle and discards from other projects' themes going, I used two large open circles. These were made because I did not separate the Round of Cheers dies from each other. What would normally have been trash was perfect for this card. Yay! After adhering all of the circles down, I trimmed the card front and placed it on a side folding 4.25" x 5.5" white card base. This makes a nice frame without adding extra bulk. The last step in adding a bit more dimension was to cut teeny tiny pieces of foam tape for the 'howdy' die cut to be popped up. The edges of the die cut that extended beyond the card front were then trimmed to size.

This card is difficult to photograph well. It looks better in person. :) But, maybe it will encourage you to try some of your mixed media supplies on a card?