Sketches with a Twist April

I'm really enjoying the monthly fun at Sketches with a Twist. April's sketch is below, and the twist was to use some mesh (any old mesh hanging around the house).

I have to admit, first I tried misting through the mest, but hated the color combo with the photos I wanted to use, so I ripped that apart and opted to use the mesh itself. It is from an onion bag, in case you don't recognize it.

I inked my chipboard letters to give them the brown color with Walnut Stain distress ink, and the orange alphas are DIY thickers with embossing powder. If you are going to emboss DIY thickers, be ready for the fact that they shrink a bit. I think I lost about 1/4 of the size, and they started to curl as well, so you just have to be light and easy with the heat gun on them.

I used Tattered Angels and acrylic paint on the butterfly, and added some twine. I also added the third photo to this sketch in an oval. The papers are from MME paisley stack.

Sketches with a Twist - My Soldier

Sketches with a Twist brings fabulous monthly sketches and a little twist to the sketch. This month's sketch is below, and the twist was to use 3 identical embellishments (hard!)

The chevrons (which I love, but they take so long to make!) inspired me to use photos of my friend, a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces, for this page. His face and his guest's are blacked out to protect their identities...

He'd just gotten back from Afganistan in I believe April before my wedding. His division had been hit by roadside bombs twice between Christmas and New Years that year, and two of his colleagues were killed, and he was hospitalized but OK. This was the first time I saw him since he had gotten back and was all tears to see him home safe and in one piece. 

The chevrons are all hand made. I truly don't think they look that uneven in real life!! I hope not or I have some ripping to get going on! I originally planned to use the three Bo Bunny Cambridge brads down the centre between the photos as my 3 identical... but then I realized, they aren't identical!

I made these mini ribbons like you would find on his jacket out of ribbon and bar staples. The ribbons are Fancy Pants (left) and Cosmo Cricket (right)

My three identical elements  are the itsy bitsy star brads holding the twine down the centre of my chevrons. There are actually 10 stars total included :)

Hope you enjoy... and no matter the cause, support our troops. Our brave men and women need all the love, admiration and support that they can get... and that's what they deserve!

xxx