French Gothic arch in progress

A few days ago I started working on a Gothic arch piece, which will feature French proverbs with their English equivalents (which sometimes, of course, is not a word-by-word translation).

I started with cutting out the shapes - a manila folder became the 4-panel base; I painted the edges with gesso and then with pearly champagne acrylic with some gold accents. The backgrounds for each panel are cut out from the Chateau en Lavender stack I acquired during a recent trip to Joann's.

Then I heat-embossed some more golden accents and dyed the proverbs in strong tea to make them look historic. Ah, there is also some plant life stamped faintly in the background. I just love when the details are layered and you can discover some surprises when looking at the piece.

A few more steps to accomplish - adding some more details (I'm thinking flowers, burlap, a little bit of metal, maybe lace) and the Gothic arch will be ready for its French-loving recipient!