"Common Sense" Wall Hanging or Scrapbook Page by Linda Hess

This week I saw the best Facebook post!  A saying that a friend posted jumped right out at me "Common Sense is a flower that does not grow in everyone's garden!"  I have had a, let's say "challenging" relationship with someone (one that makes a person roll their eyes and think "REALLY??") and this saying made me smile.  Why not use it for a piece??

I began by hitting Microsoft Word and creating the copy and size that I wanted for my piece.  I decided right away that I wanted the saying to be big & bold, so I made it as large as possible.  I also wanted it to be eye catching, so I altered the typeset throughout the piece.  I copied it on regular printer paper although it could be printed on vellum or fancier scrapbook paper.  Once printed, I cut a curve to the edges, checked the size and made adjustments for it to fit on the page.

The background page is a piece from my stash.  On the back it is marked "Creative Imaginations" and "#4616 Blue Blocks".  I love the waterbrush look of this paper!  On top of this I glued a piece of handmade paper from a previous tutorial.  I preserved the rough edges because they give a organic look to the piece that accompanies the pressed flowers.

Speaking of pressed flowers, I used "petals" on this piece that I pressed before the holidays when the "burning bushes" were in full color.  I pressed leaves using the Garden Press (http://arnoldgrummer.com/garden-press.html).  So EASY!!  A bit of tacky glue is perfect to attach the petals to the page.  To attach the seed bead center, squeeze on a blob of glue and sprinkle on the seed beads.  Press into place.

Final touch, a couple of leaves (decorative accents) with tacky glue. 

Once dry, the page can be placed into a shadow box frame and hung on the wall OR placed into a scrapbook.

I hope you have enjoyed this simple project.  See you next time :-)