Hi friends, as some of you may know the month of May is observed as Mental Health Awareness month. I know in everyday lives, mental health is often overlooked. We give lots of importance to eating well, exercising etc for physical well being, but the silent troubles of our mind often don’t get taken care of. Things like stress & anxiety when left unattended, can lead to more serious problems which can manifest even in physical diseases.
Last year (2020!!) was an especially rough one. This year also, there are lots of people still struggling and my heart breaks for them. I sincerely hope that in spite of everything that is going on around us all, each of us gets to take some time to nurture our minds, feed our souls and at least relax for a little while.
For me, crafting is my stress reliever. If nothing else, simply doodling with a pencil and paper can put me in a better mood. It helps me work through my thoughts and resolve things in my head. I also love gardening. Just seeing something grow, come to life makes me put things in perspective and let go of stress for a while. I hope that you have a hobby like this too and that you do get some time often to spend doing what you love to do.
In this same spirit, many talented crafters are joining hands today on Instagram for Mental Health Awareness hop. We have amazing inspiration and so many prizes to be won. I am honored to be part of the hop as well as a sponsor. I hope you do participate and take the time to get inspired, play along and win. You can check it out on my Instagram profile here @varadasharma.
Let’s check out my card here, shall we?
Key Ingredients:
Steps:
Arrange images using Microsoft PowerPoint and print these out. I made the Mandala image slightly lighter than black (using a trick I showed here) and then printed it on dark blue cardstock. For the Lotus, I arranged several flower and leaf images, grouped them and sized them to fit an A2 sized card. I printed this on Canson watercolor paper.
Cut out the background using largest rectangle die from Spellbinders Hemstitch Rectangles die set.
Fussy cut or use an electronic cutter to cut out the Lotus cluster. I used my Brother ScanNCut. I am loving this toy a lot!
Color the floral cluster using your favorite coloring medium. I used watercolors – a few markers from Ooku marker set and a couple colors (only for the slightest hint) from Gansai Tambi watercolors. I also went over these with a couple Prismacolor pencils. (Don’t worry, all these supplies are listed below).
Heat emboss the sentiment. I used ‘Thank you’ from a clear stamp set that I designed with Maker Forte – Build a Butterfly Set 1. For heat embossing, I went with my favorite fine gold embossing powder by Simon Says Stamp.
Foam mount the Lotus cluster on top. Add chunky glitter to the flower center and also add gold confetti + some more chunky glitter around the flower.
Finally adhere the finished panel to an A2 cardbase and call it done.
Supplies List
For your convenience, I am sharing links to the supplies I’ve used for these cards – click on the picture or link to go directly to the product. Wherever available, I have used affiliate links, which means when you make a purchase, I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) which I use to run this blog. I truly appreciate your support!
Don’t forget to check out the amazing Instagram Hop on my profile here @varadasharma.
Hugs! ~Varada
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