Monday 19 June 2017

Lost In Paradise...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week our thoughts are turning to summer and our theme is called Let's Take A Vacation ~ as always, we would love you to join in and play along and we can't wait to see how you will interpret the challenge!

For my project, I thought of many different ways that I could interpret this challenge, there were planes, trains and automobiles or maybe a scrapbook layout of a previous holiday but the one thing that was really calling me and as a stationery lover and someone who can never have too many notebooks ~ I decided to create a travel journal, ready to fill with stories of adventures and wonderful memories. I loved the idea of old maps and wanted to incorporate these into my cover, so used one of the papers from the Memoranda Paper Stash to create rolls of maps that I layered underneath my 3D flowers and just loved how they look and the depth they created!

 

To begin with I primed the cover of my notebook with a coat of gesso and allowed the cover to dry thoroughly. Once dry, I started to layer my paints, starting with a blend of Antique Linen and Old Paper. I then dried the surface before adding the next layer of Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone, again blending the paints together using a semi dry baby wipe. I heat dried the surface before adding some depth to the paint using the same colours of Distress Crayons.

Once I was happy with the colour, I added some torn Tissue Tape to the central area of my book and then applied a small amount of gesso which I just scraped over the top of the paints and tape. I outlined the edges of the tape using the Black Soot Distress Crayon, blended it out with my finger to soften the harshness and then applied some Grit Paste through a combination of the Industrial, Speckles and Screwed Layering Stencil. 
Once the paste was dry, I dry brushed over the top with some Tumbled Glass Paint, allowed it to dry before using the Pumice Stone Crayon to lightly kissing the top of the paste, blending it out with my finger. To complete the background, I added some Black Soot Paint Splatters and used the Calligraphy stamp from the Etcetera set to randomly stamp onto areas of the background.

Finally I added some Black Soot Crayon around the outside edges and some Gold Rush paint scratches.

I can now set the book aside and move onto the map rolls and the flowers ~ for the paper rolls, I chose the 'map' paper from the Memoranda paper stash and cut 6 panels to measure approx 5 x 16cm.  I then misted the paper with water to break down the fibres before curling it around a pencil, securing the ends with a line of glue to hold it into place. Cut one of the rolls in half to create 7 rolls in total and then I actually wanted all different sizes, so I cut the rolls to give me the various heights. Tear both ends of each map roll to create a more vintage effect and then to complete the rolls I added a touch of Rich Copper Alchemy Wax around the edges.

I attached my rolls to the the cover of my book using Collage Medium to hold them in place and added a few Travel themed Snippet Ephemera pieces around them, again securing the ephemera with Collage Medium.
For the flowers, I wanted three flowers, with a double layer of the larger petals and three palm fronds and cut enough pieces from card to make these up. Taking the petals, I painted each petal with Wild Fuchsia Acrylic Paint from Prima. The reason I wanted to paint them was because I wanted them to be quite robust and the layer of paint will create this for me. Whilst the pink paint is slightly tacky to touch, I then added a small amount of Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint over the top, just to take some of the pink away and create a real slice of paradise! I allowed them to dry and then dry brushed the ends of the petals with Gold Rush Alchemy Paint. 
Layer the flowers to create dimensional blooms and then colouring the stamen with Black Soot Distress Paint, attach to the centre by adding a small, domed amount of Glossy Accents. Then sprinkle black micro beads over the top and allow to dry. Once each flower is dry, you can tap away the excess beads.
Colour the fronds with Twisted Citron and Peeled Paint Distress Paints and then ink the edges with a little Potting Soil Archival Ink. I used a hot glue gun to attach the flowers and fronds over the top of some cut cheesecloth which I stained with Tumbled Glass and Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stains.
For all the metal pieces that I used to embellish my project, I coloured them with a combination of Gold Rush and Steampunk Copper Paints, to create a lovely rusty finish. I added a hitch fastener and hung the Plane Souvenir Adornment from it...
...and then clipped a hinge clip to the side of the book.
I then stuck all my Stars Adornments around the central section, adding some paint around them to create the appearance they have gone rusty on the paper.
Finally, I added a metallic word sticker, "Travel" and attached the Typography Findings and a singular star to spell out the word "Jour*al" using Collage Medium. 
I painted each of the letters in a combination of Light Patina and Blue Gold Paint and then added the 'rusty' elements over the top with the Gold Rush and Steampunk Copper Paints.
I really hope you love the finished book cover and that you've been inspired by some of the ideas the I've used! Of course, all these ideas can be used individually on any given project, the flowers would look wonderful on a card and the maps would look great on a scrapbook layout...

As always, if you do need any further inspiration, 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 StampYou have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....




Thank you so much for stopping by today and see you again very soon!
Love Emma xxx


Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Die: Tropical
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Stamps: Etcetera
Heat Gun
Notebook and cheesecloth from my own stash

21 comments:

  1. Oh WOW!! what a pretty journal Emma! the flowers are spectacular and the background is fabulous! LOVE it :-)

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  2. And it is another WOW from me, you certainly created a very elegant journal and your hibiscus flowers are absolutely stunning! I think I would just have to keep this to look at, rather than use, it is truly that beautiful... Anne xx

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  3. This is beautiful! Especially the background. Love the soft greys and the texture made with stencils. The maps rock! Hugs, Marzena

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  4. Oh my, Emma, this is gorgeous! You're a genius at everything and all the elements and pieces on this work so well together as always. Beautiful!

    Cathie ♥

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  5. WOW ... background Queen strikes in Paradise too !! LOL
    This is absolutely gorgeous; flowers are Beautiful!!! The layers OMG ... just AWESOME ! That color palette just beckons you into paradise !!!

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  6. This is beautiful Emma, love the colours and textures xxx

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  7. Amazing! I love every single element!

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  8. My goodness, this is STUNNING! Every detail is so well thought out and works so well with the next. Thank you for the inspiration!

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  9. STUNNING journal, Emma! The flowers just POP off the page and the dimension of the whole piece is just phenomenal! Well done!!

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  10. such a beautiful book cover-I love the flowers.

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  11. Oh my, such gorgeousness, Emma! Love this!! It is a beautiful book, and I really like how you rolled up the maps and put them under those eye catching bright and bold flowers! Beautiful! hugs, Maura

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  12. What a fantastic journal Emma, I carefully took a look at every photo you shared, so many details. I love the background, there are so many little things to look at. The rolled maps are awesome and so is the way you wrote travel jour*al! Love it!

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  13. Wow!Creative & Stunning!

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  14. What a stunning notebook! I'm a sucker for notebooks as it is, but this one is really gorgeous! As always, I have to smile at all the little details you incorporated like the plane charm and how you made the scrolls out of map paper. Genius, as usual!

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  15. Oh wow Emma! This cover is stunning, you are so good in making flowers, these are amazing! Love the scrolls too. So much details! Hugs, Sandra

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  16. Wow, this amazing Emma..Gorgeous,I love it.. xxx

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  17. Fantastic journal Emma! I love your idea of the rolled up maps and they are a stunning dimensional elements. Those flowers look amazing too!

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  18. stunning Emma...those flowers are just so beautiful and love the rolled up maps...hugs kath xxx

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  19. Wow! I would frame this! So pretty, Cathy x

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  20. This is such a beautiful piece Emma, and I love that flower, it just sets everything off. I hope the heat has gone now, blinking weather, a hindrance to crafting

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  21. I don't know whether i dare say it again for the risk of sounding like I'm a stuck record .... I share your love of stationary too Emma. Lol.
    So you've probably guessed already how much I LOVE your jour*al. It is absolutely fabulous and has a real WOW factor! Design and execution faultless and inspiring .
    Apologies for being a little late
    Big big hugs xxx
    big

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Thank you for all your comments and messages, they are all appreciated and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon...
Emma ~xx

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