A masculine congratulations card for my husband on a new job -- to "dream" big!
The artichoke background was stamped in Versamark, using the large leaf stamp from PaperTrey Ink's Text Boxed and the top & bottom edges distressed. I created a kind of brick pattern with the large stamp. The celery strip across the center was stamped in artichoke ink with the small leaf stamp from this set. The edges were distressed and the strip adhered with 6 antique brass brads.
The focal image was stamped on watercolor paper with artichoke dye ink, after spritzing the paper with water. This will cause the ink to run & puddle a little, giving the desired mottling effect with a little feathering around the edges of the image. The edges of the trimmed image were sponged with chocolate ink and mounted with dimensionals to the artichoke mat. Then the image was matted with an additional layer of celery cardstock stamped in chocolate chip ink with the round dotted stamp intended to be a flower center. I like the look this gave -- a little like reptile skin! Hardware & ribbon were added to this layer and it was all mounted with dimensionals to the card.
The "dream" was stamped in chocolate chip on the artichoke background and then clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen applied over it, for a little sparkle, but it's catching a little glare in the photo.