A Cameo Appearance...

Can you believe it's Monday already? But the start of a new week means that it's time for an exciting new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week the challenge is called "A Cameo Appearance". Will you be inspired by a TV show when some actor you like (from another show) pops on an episode or like me, do you love vintage cameos. Whatever inspires you, we would love you to join us in our challenge...

...and this is what I created, a vintage style cameo book frame, inspired by the romance of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. As always, I hope you love what I've made!

I love Tim Holtz's Worn Covers and thought it would work so well with this piece but I didn't have one so, decided to make one of my own. To begin with, I used chipboard and Manila card to create the book cover as a base for me to work on.

I then painted the outside and inside of the cover, using Stormy Sky and Antique Linen Distress Paints. Once I was happy with the colour, I then cut more Manila card to size and applied the same colours of Distress Paint to my craft mat, spritzed the paint with water and then "swooshed" the card through the paint, picking up the colours on the mat. I heat dried the card and then embossed it using the Regal Flourishes Texture Fade. To highlight the raised areas of the embossing, I lightly inked them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then added a touch of Treasure Gold. The edges of the card were then distressed and inked before applying each piece onto my cover.

The next step was to create the inside and for this, I inked the surface of some cream card with Old Paper Distress Ink, to give an antiqued look, added a few splatters of ink over the top before distressing and inking the edges of the card. I then die cut two Ornate Frames and the Mini Silhouettes from chipboard, painted all the die cuts with Black Soot Distress Paint before I inked over the top of them with clear embossing powder and heat embossed so that they became beautifully glossy.

I added some card behind each of the frames that I once again embossed with the Damask folder from the Damask and Regal Flourishes Texture Fade and then stuck the frames inside my cover and attached the silhouettes facing one another.

I now needed to decorate the outside and for this I wanted to make some paper flowers. I used the Tattered Florals and the Tattered Flower Garland Strips die to die cut all the various sized petals that I would need to make each individual flower. Once all the die cutting was complete, I spritzed all the petals using Squeezed Orange Dylusions Spray Mists and then heat dried them. After I inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, I then layered each of the coloured petals together to give me six various sized dimensional flowers.

The centres of each flowers are made using an old punch from my stash, which makes the most perfect shaped stamens. I then inked them and added them to the centres with a pearl.

I added the flowers to the front of my cover and then used the Garden Greens die to die cut Grungepaper leaf flourishes. The flourishes are inked with Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress Ink and then added to the arrangement on the front.

To complete my book cover, I added some twine, a Paris Post Mark stamp which I stamped with black Archival Ink onto inked Manila card and then tucked into the arrangement with a Memo Pin and finally, I added a Word Band tied onto the cover with some dyed Crinkle Ribbon.

So, I really hope you loved my cameo frame book cover and for more great ideas and inspiration, then look no further than the blog to see all the wonderful creations from my very talented Design Team members. Every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. Good luck....

Products used:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Garden Greens

Tim Holtz Sizzix Tattered Florals Die

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Tattered Flower Garland Strip Die

Tim Holtz Sizzix Damask & Regal Flourishes Texture Fade

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die Ornate Frame

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die ~ Mini Silhouettes

Tim Holtz Rubber Stamp ~ Paris Postmark

Dylusions Ink Spray ~ Squeezed Orange

Distress Inks ~ Walnut Stain, Old Paper, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint

Distress Paint ~ Stormy Sky and Antique Linen

Treasure Gold Classic Gilding Wax

Idea-Ology ~ Memo Pins, Word Bands

Black Archival Ink

Manila Card

Grungepaper

Crinkle Ribbon

Punches, pearls and twine from my craft stash

Thank you so much for your visits today and I'll see you all very soon!!

Bye for now...love Emma xx