Festive Mardi Gras in October!

What fun I had with this AB spread in Gretchen's book entitled "Celebrations!" There are so many things--big and small--that we celebrate. Having just visited Venice, the city of Carnavale, I really wanted to do something with masks. Why not a pop-up mask? So very moi!

For this spread, I used a manila folder as the base for my pop-up. I used Mardi Gras color Lumiere paints to create the background. On top of that, I layered "happy" and "sad" mylar face cut-outs in the same Mardi Gras colors. Lucky for me, it's Halloween season and it was not difficult to find a purple sequined mask for my showpiece. I added the gold trim to finish the edges and then built a feather "crown" by anchoring feathers into a piece of cardstock I secured above the mask. I think I got a bit carried away with the height of the feathers, because the feathers stick out of the book when you close it! I really struggled with the idea of whether to add strands of Mardi Gras beads, but there was no way the book would close if I added them to my spread. Somehow, I don't think Gretchen will mind...