Gatsby Party

I love school.  I loved school when I was in school and I love it still.  I love to learn new things and I love a teacher that loves what they do so much that the students fall all over themselves sopping up everything the teacher has to offer.  My daughter has been lucky enough to have more than one of these teachers thus far in school.

Today, her history teacher is hosting a Gatsby Party.  Each student chose a character from the 20’s and had to research this person and go to the party as this person.  Aside from dressing the part and acting the part, they also had to bring a food that was popular during the 20’s.  We made a 1920’s vintage icebox cake.  But did you know, that’s when peanut butter and jelly sandwiches became popular?

So what does that have to do with today’s creation?  I thought, “Let me take a look at art deco designs and see what I can do with my supplies that would give a similar feel.”

I found this door during my search and used it as my jumping off point.

This is what I came up with — not a copy but an inspired by:

For this card, I actually started at the top.  I was certain I wanted to use Brushed Gold cardstock and the Arrows embossing folder (132187).  I used a little Crumb Cake ink on a dauber to create some shadows on my embossed piece.  Next, I layered it on a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  After referencing the door above, I added a layer of Brushed Gold over the embossed piece at the bottom.  I punched 1″ squares in Basic Black and trimmed around the hole to create the black frames.  After layering them on, I decided they were too bold and repeated the process to create Brushed Gold frames.  Still feeling like it needed something, I played with the triangular pieces I had cut from the Brushed Gold layer at the bottom of the top layer.  After adding a little Crumb Cake ink to the edges, I adhered them so that they mirrored the zigzag cut.  Next, I added a layer of Brushed Gold that was split in two.  I thought this mimicked the feel of door panels.  Finally, the whole piece was layered on a Basic Black card base.

Thanks to the history teacher for his great lesson.  Not only did it inspire my daughter, but it inspired my art.

Leave me a comment and let me know what inspires you.