From Sea To Shining Sea...

Hello friends..

Welcome to a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where this week our theme is...Tic Tac Toe! Click HERE for all the information for this challenge and to see the fabulous grid that the lovely Maura has created for you us all and all you have to do is choose a line and use all 3 items in that line but if you're feeling really adventurous, then why not go for a full house such as I did! Whatever you decide, I hope you have some fun and come and join us!

As I mentioned for my project, I chose a full house and went with all 9 items to create my underwater themed panel full of texture and dimension and hope you love what I created...

To begin with I took a piece of watercolour card, approx 8" x 11". I wanted to use this style of card because I knew I was going to use a lot of water and mediums and also, I wanted a texture to the background and this card was perfect.

I started by adding some colour using Broken China and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks. For this, I misted the card with water and then applied the ink pad directly to the surface, spritz again with water and then move the card around, letting the ink run and drip. I heat dried the card thoroughly before adding some torn tissue tape, attaching it over the top of my inked background and placing it on the centre of the card. I then added some stamping, inking up the Type stamp from the Newsprint and Type Tim Holtz stamp set and stamping randomly onto the background.

Now for the messy part and adding all that gorgeous texture and shimmer. For the first layer, I applied some Texture Paste through the Herringbone Layering Stencil. Once dry, I then spritzed Broken China Distress Spray Stain (blue) and Gold Foil Color Bloom Spray over the top of the paste. Once again, dry each individual layer, if you don't it will end up as a muddy mess.

Using a dry brush, add a small amount of Gold Rush Alchemy Paint over the top, followed by a light application of Blue/Gold Opal Paint. Again dry the paint thoroughly before flicking small amounts of Twisted Citron, Black Soot Distress Paint, Gold Foil Spray and Gesso across the surface.

When all the pain is dry, dip the bottle lid from your Distress Paint into the Gold Rush paint and add the rings of paint to your background.

Apply some Gold Foil Transfer sheets around the edge of the card for a little more shimmer and shine and also add just specks of foil to the raised areas not the background. I just love how this textural background turned out, it's a shame to cover it!!

But, it had to be done and I do love building up those layers bringing the pieces to life and telling the story...

I started by die cutting my images from cardboard using the Sand & Sea Bigz die. Apply a layer of gesso over the top of the cardboard before adding your mediums. For the sea horse, I added some Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste and once the paste was dry and had crackled nicely, I applied some Festive Berries and Mustard Seed Distress Paint over the top, blending the colours together. To complete my seahorse I added a pearl for his eye.

For the remaining die cuts, I coloured these with Pumice Stone Distress Paint, adding a small amount of Picket Fence around the edges, together with a little Hickory Smoke. 

I then applied a mix of 3D matte Gel and Mini Art Stones to the starfish and also onto the edges of the sand dollar. Whilst the medium was still wet, I sprinkled a little glass glitter over the top and just allowed it to completely dry before attaching it to the centre of the sand dollar die cut.

I used the Wildflowers die and the Holiday Greens die to die cut some fronds from gold metallic kraft card stock...

...and then spritzed some cheesecloth with Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Spray Stain to add a pop of colour.

Now all that's left to do is attach all my elements to the background and for this, I started by attaching a piece of driftwood and then balancing and layering the rest of the pieces onto this, attaching each individual element with a hot glue gun.

I also added small pieces of moss, tucking these into any gaps that were showing.

For the finishing touches, I attached some sequins from the Minty Fresh Embellishment bottle kit by 28 Lilac Lane...

...and added a small talk sticker, matted onto gold metallic kraft core card.

Finally, I added some doodles around the edge of my finished piece and mounted it onto black card to frame it.

As always, if you need any further inspiration for this challenge, then you need look no further than our blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for all your visits today and hope you all have a great week ahead

See you again soon...love Emma xx

Products used:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies: Sand & Sea, Wildflowers, Holiday Greens
Tim Holtz Stamps: Newsprint and Type

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Twisted Citron, Festive Berries, Mustard Seed 
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain: Twisted Citron, Broken China

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap, Broken China, Peacock Feathers
Embossing Pastes: Ranger Texture Paste, Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste

Idea-ology: Small Talk Stickers, Symphony Tissue Tape
Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Herringbone

Surfaces: Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets, Metallic Kraft Core Card, Ranger Watercolor Paper

Buttons: 28 Lilac Lane Embellishment Bottle ~ Minty Fresh

Prima Alchemy Paints: Metallic Gold Rush, Opal Magic Blue/Gold

Mini Art Stones

Prima 3D Matte Gel

Jet Black Archival Ink

Gold Foil Spray Mist

Ranger Fude Ball Pen

Gesso

Ranger Craft Sheet

Scissors

Heat Gun

Blending Tool
Moss, driftwood and cheesecloth from my own stash