Unexpected Beauty

A long drive along one of the main highways here can be pretty dull, trees, rocks and more trees. There are two times of the year when it's not so boring, Fall and Summer. All those trees look amazing in the Fall, but in the Summer, it's not the trees that liven up the drive.
I was driving along one of those boring stretches of highway, when suddenly I'd come across a bank of Lupins in all their summer glory! There are patches of Lupins growing wild all over the province and they symbolize summer in Nova Scotia to me. I love how you can turn a corner and see a whole field of these beautiful flowers.

I was inspired by these flowers and had to try another mixed media page for my book. I have a wonderful Lifestyle Crafts die that I've had for years, and it always makes me think of Lupins.

So I covered the chipboard with a rough coat of Gesso, and made the background with blue and green Gelatos. It's hard to see the colour variations in the photo, but it is quite obviously a hill and sky in person. ( I am not loving Gelatos, I prefer paint!!!) I used a paper that I've had for years to die cut the lupins. It's a thicker textured paper, without the stiffness of card stock. I wish I had more, it was lovely to work with. I painted the Lupins with Peerless watercolour paints and shaped them with a ball stylus. I wasn't sure if I could get the flowers to hold the rounded form, but they did ! Happy Dance!
I put a coat of Gel Medium on the base, lay the diecuts on, and then covered them in more Gel Medium. I LOVE how they turned out.

I know that most mixed media projects have lots of stamping and stenciling on the background for depth and texture, but I love the flowers so much that I couldn't bear the thought of adding much else other than the leaf diecut and the butterfly. I did use a darker green Faber Castell big Brush pen along the die cut flowers, and although subtle, it does add some depth.
The words are rub-on letters. Some paint splatters might be nice, but I just wasn't brave enough to try it. :(
What do you think? Should it have splatters, and in what colour? White? Opinions are welcome!! I'm new to this and need all the advise I can get.



I'm entering this in the following challenges;
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge : Summer
Allsorts Challenge: How Does Your Garden Grow
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge : Summer Days