Mixed Media Mojo Guest Design and NBUS!

I am SOOO honored to have been asked to guest design this month over at the Mixed Media Mojo challenge. I love mixed media cards the most. As we all know, the more ink I can slather on a card and the more bits and bobs that get cut and glued, the happier I am with my finished card. What can I say, I like chaos (as long as it's beautiful in the end). 

The theme over at Mixed Media Mojo this month is "New" with the optional twist to use 15. 

For the new part, I busted out some of new products that I hadn't opened yet. 

This is actually the first card that I ever made using the STAMPlorations Trendy Leaves set and the Amy Tangerine wood veneers. I know I posted some cards this week that also used these, but this was the very first card I made with them - I just had to wait for Mixed Media Mojo to post before I could!

I actually have had these stamps in my arsenal for over a month without using them because I have been so obsessed with Christmas cards. Which really makes them perfect because I am showing off my NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff)! If you haven't been introduced to the one-woman-wonder that is Darnell Knauss, you need to go immediately to her blog and binge read. I promise you'll be laughing and inspired! She runs the self-coined NBUS challenge whenever she reaches a landmark in bloggy followers - and the third challenge is OPEN!!

So I have the "New" part covered, but I also wanted to play around with the "15" twist. 15 can mean anything you want it to - 2015, 15 items, 15 techniques... for me I went looking for a photo of myself when I was 15. I couldn't find the one I was looking for, but while digging around I found this gem! It's my yearbook from 15 years ago. It's completely made out of paper and has survived a flood. so it got this wicked cool tie-dye marbling technique going on on the front cover. 

It served as the PERFECT inspiration for my "15". It even had some very apropos signatures inside, my favorite of which was this one:

That's right folks - I was cooky even back then! Ha!

But back to the card. I started by smooshing Distress Inks (Picked Raspberry, Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed) onto a craft sheet and spritzing with water. 

Then I used the dipping technique and dropped my paper into the ink. I dried with a heat tool between each time I dipped. 

The sheet on the left was dipped three times, and the sheet on the right was dipped twice. You can see that you get more and more depth which each layer you dip. 

For an extra "15" element, I used page 15 of an old Shakespeare tome and stamped some of my  leaves onto it before fussy cutting them and layering them. I also stamped some leaves directly onto the background, to create depth and texture. 

After I had my leaves in place, I used a concentric stencil from Spellbinders to paint on some random coppery circles (drawing from my inspiration image). 

I added the wooden veneer and then embossed the word "Fabulous" from the CityGirl set over at STAMPlorations. And then I glued!

I'm also going to support the following challenges:
Mixed Media Monthly challenge - Something New for the New Year
STAMPlorations - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Card challenge - NEW

So go check out Mixed Media Mojo and play along this month! And also check out Darnell's NBUS challenge! 

Thanks for stopping by! Leave me a comment and follow my blog and I'll be sure to return the favor! A big thank you to the five of you who just started following. It made my day!!