Smaug's Lair

This dramatic card is one that I made for a friend's birthday recently.  We are all huge fans of Tolkein's Middle Earth tales, and I wanted to make another tribute to his work.  My inspiration is from 'The Hobbit', when Smaug the dragon is awakened from his slumber in the Lonely Mountain.  There is even a pile of gold under him!  The stamps and embossing folder used are from Sheena Douglass; Ancient Arches stamp and embossing folder, and Once there were Dragons stamp set.  Distress Inks Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut; gold gilding wax; gold and bronze pearlescent paints; gold Rox.  I started with an 8" square white card and blended walnut DI around the edges.  I took a piece of smooth white card and stamped the ancient arches image with onyx black Versafine ink, then heat embossed it with clear powder.  I also stamped and embossed the dragon and the sentiment in the same way and set them aside for later.  I trimmed the stamped panel to size and blended distress inks onto the card, starting with the lightest colour first and graduating the colours to finish with the darkest.  Next I took a piece of dark brown card and embossed it using the Ancient Arches embossing folder in a machine.  I rubbed gold gilding wax gently over the raised image, then buffed it with a soft cloth.  I trimmed the embossed panel to size and then both panels were matted  onto contrasting card and layered onto the base card.  I painted the dragon in bronze and gold, and the flames with the same inks as before.  When dry I cut them out and shaped them with a ball tool.  I die cut the sentiment, embossed the panel then blended DI around the edges.  I then layered the sentiment panel onto the card front with dimensional glue, and attached the dragon and flames in the same way.  I am really pleased with this design. it's pretty much just as I wanted it to be.  The second design in my 'Homage To Middle Earth' series.