I am 2nd

This is the art piece I gave to my daughter for her 21st birthday. She had been begging for a cardboard art piece for 2 years. I had to wait for inspiration and this picture became that inspiration for me. There is a story behind this photo. My daughter, Haley,led her best friend, Haylee, to Christ. Haylee is a photographer and wanted to document a photographical testimony but could not be the photographer and the subject at the same time. She had Haley pose as herself to make her documentary. This photo symbolizes having her sins washed away. The other photos in the series can be seen on her Facebook page ( I'm having trouble linking it here, I will try below).
I have learned by trial and error over the last two years about working with cardboard. I learned it should be mounted on something stiff to keep it from warping. In this piece I mounted it on a plaque from Michaels that had a pretty edge. In the past I mounted on a thin sheet of plywood but it didn't have a pretty edge. So, make sure what you use as a mount is going to give you your desired effect before you glue everything in place.
To begin I painted the base green to match my daughter's bedspread. Then I started on the cardboard. I tore it larger that the base so the base didn't show when looking at it straight on. Then I ripped most of the top layer off leaving some large areas for writting a Bible verse. I decided I wanted a couple of open areas where the base peeked through so I ripped those next. Once I had it looking like I wanted I started painting it. I used 3-4 shades of green and teal because besides matching her bedspread I wanted it to be somewhat like water. You have to allow drying time between layers of paint to minimize the warping. Once it was dry I set it aside for a couple of months, glancing at it periodicly, trying to decide how I wanted to put it all together. Finally I decided I needed a Dymo label maker for the Bible verse and I bought clear tape so my Bible verse would be white writting on the green background. I used crackle accents on the letters for "2nd". I attached all the letters with glossy accents. I attached the cardboard frame for the picture with hot glue. I went over all the water drops and rivulets on the photo woth glossy accents. I puddled the glossy accents inside the bottom of the frame and had it rub over the frame and drip down like the water was running out of the frame. I also had glossy accents coming from all the letters like water. I added a ribbon trim to the bottom, tucked just under the cardboard and I let the glossy accents drip down on it in a few places.
I hope you like the piece, my daughter said it was my best piece yet. Any questions? Thanks, Ms.Cheryl