Unexpected Results and a Giveaway

I've been playing around with my Gelli plate recently and coming up with some interesting backgrounds for my artist trading cards.

I don't have very many texture tools (yet) and have been trying to find everyday items around the house to use to create different effects. I've used bubble wrap, popsicle sticks, yarn and cardboard tubes, among other things.

The one that I got the most unexpected result from was a kitchen paper towel. Doesn't this look really wicked? I was only trying to gently dab off an excess of paint from the Gelli plate but when I pulled up the paper towel, this design was left behind.

To be honest, at first I wasn't sure that I liked the resulting print but I knew if I tossed it, I'd be sorry. It was several days later that an idea how to use it came to mind.

I recently purchased the Dina Wakley Scribbly Women acrylic stamp set (with a 40% off coupon, of course). I stamped one of the images onto each of the cards. A couple of them don't stand out as much as I would have wanted but I'm pretty much committed now.

I did an online search for quotes that I could add to each card. I collected a long list of them but needed to narrow it down to six. It's more of a challenge than you think to find good quotes that are short enough to use on such a small canvas.

I was going to print the words on white paper and outline them with black around the edges but thought that it might be more effective to use yellow paper instead. I had to 'audition' both options before finalizing my choice. I ended up choosing white paper afterall.

Here are the final ATCs. I outlined the words with a black gel pen and went around the edges of the cards with archival ink applied with a sponge blending tool. I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

And now for the giveaway. To qualify, add a comment to the bottom of this post and your name will go into the hat. One winning name will be drawn on Wednesday, June 15th. I will announce the winner on my facebook page but will also contact the lucky person privately to arrange delivery of their prize, a Forever In Time clear acrylic stamp set. The sentiments are ATC size.

Don't forget to leave a comment below for your chance to win. Good luck to you all!

Update June 15, 2016: All the names of people who commented below were entered into Random.org and a winner was selected. Congratulations to Sarah Ruth! Your stamp set will be in the mail tomorrow.