Easter Deco for April's Love To Craft Challenge #45

Wow, it's April 1st - no foolin'! :-) A new monthly challenge begins over at Love To Craft Challenge Blog. Here is my design team project, an 8x8 Religious Easter Deco:

I had a religious Easter Deco planned since last year, but I had trouble deciding on the details until I honed in on a few symbols I wanted to include if I could find them among what I already had. I wanted Jesus's crucifixion cross and shroud. I got that plus his crown of thorns in Sweet n Sassy's digital stamp Old Rugged Cross.  I also wanted palm leaves and I found a good palm die in Tim's Tropical Thinlits dies. I used scraps for all the die cuts.

 I used a Graphics 45 8x8 chipboard backing and adhered a sheet of Cosmo Cricket's Summer Love collection to it. I then broke out the Crafters Companion Sheena Burst of rays to stencil with yellow acrylic paint and a makeup sponge wedge. I die cut my Quickutz Revolution Washington alphas and Spellbinders tiny cross and adhered them. Also the ribbons all around the edge, and then that gorgeous purple flower trim that I have been hoarding for too long. Last step here was die cutting several Tim Tropical Thinlit palm leaves and adhering a few layers at the bottom.

 The Sweet n Sassy digital stamp Old Rugged Cross was printed out on Springhill card stock and then I did a technique I learned from Technique Junkies called Pencil Over Marker. I colored the cross a light brown and the shroud a light purple with ProMarkers as a base coat. Then I colored with my still new to me Polychromos pencils, using 3 shades brown on the cross and 3 shades of purple on the shroud. I did use a dark gold metallic gel pen on the thorns in the crown.

 I fussy-cut the image and used dimensional foam tape to adhere to the deco on top of some die cut palm leaves. I then went to town layering paper flowers. My aim here was to also remember the importance of the palm leaves and to sort of show that as those palm leaves, that were discarded after Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, eventually turned to ashes (that Christians symbollically dot their foreheads with on Ash Wednesday), there was new life and growth springing forth.

This is my favorite way to color with pencils because I always find "bald" spots, but when I color with alcohol marker first, the color is down everywhere and I can shade with the pencils.

 With Easter coming up in less than 2 weeks, I am glad to have made my first Deco for it. I also want to make a secular Deco with an Easter basket, eggs and bunnies...maybe a bit humorous. We will see if I get to it this year or not. This one will go nicely with my other Spring-related creations.

 Close-ups...

 The back this time: the G45 chipboard was already wearing this pattern and white on the other side, so I left this side alone.

 I moved it to the foyer to take this, with the front door window sunlight hitting it. Makes the purple look pink, doesn't it? I may keep it hung here a while. It goes well with the wallpaper.

Thanks for visiting me today. I continue to pray for us all, XOX

CHALLENGE PLAYLIST:
1.   A Vintage Journey March Challenge: Celebration Time Come On!
2.   Sparkles Monthly March Challenge #126: Easter
3.   Outlawz Festive Fridays 3/20-4/2: Easter/Spring Theme
4.   Colour Crazy Week 11: AG with Colouring -- I used Polychromos colored pencils over ProMarkers to color the cross and shroud. It is called the Pencil Over Marker technique.
5.   Time Out Challenge #158: Lots or a Little Purple -- I didn't play the optional twist this time.  

6.   Creative Fingers #182: AAG
7.   Sisterhood of Crafters Challenge: Spring
8.   613 Avenue Create #231: AG + Opt. Colored Pencils -- I played the option by coloring the cross, shroud and crown with Polychromos colored pencils over ProMarkers.
9.   Try it on Tuesday: Beauty of Nature
10. Take a Word Challenge: Botanical
11. The Creative Crafters #26: AAG
12. Creative Confetti Challenge: Let's Go Digital! -- The Cross image is a digital stamp I resized in PSE and printed out and hand colored. 

13. Passion for ProMarkers Week 536: Lace & Flowers -- I used ProMarkers to colour the Cross and I have paper flowers and flowered lace on the side edges.

14. Stay Crafty with Hero Challenge #2: Never-Seen-Ink --  Supplies I have had for years used for the first time on this project: Old Rugged Cross digital stamp, purple flowers brocade, palm tree leaf die, Sheena Burst stencil, QK Washington alpha dies