Easter Surprise ~ Pastels Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hello everyone!

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and yes, can you believe that another week has flown by and here we are at Monday again!?! But the great thing about Monday's is that it means the start of a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and this week it's all about PASTELS!

From soft shabby chic colours to white washing with gesso, or maybe you might be inspired by Easter to even using actual pastels ~ whatever you choose, we challenge you to be inspired by the softer side of the colour wheel!

My project for this week was inspired by Easter and of course, no Easter table would be complete without a handmade decoration to adorn each place setting!! So, I created a small matchbox style box which I filled with Easter Eggs ready for the celebrations.

To begin with, I made my 12 x 8cm matchbox from kraft card. To be honest, any shape or style of box will be perfect for this project and if you don't want to spend time making your own matchbox, then why not use an empty, discarded matchbox or there are various dies on the market which create similar style boxes, including the Tim Holtz Matchbox Die.

For the next stage, I cut pieces of Manila card that would fit the top and sides of my box and covered the card with a layer of Picket Fence Distress Paint. By adding a layer of white paint to the surface of the Manila card, it allows the true blue colour of the next layer to shine. Once the paint is completely dry apply a layer of Tumbled Glass Distress Paint, mixed with a little Picket Fence to give a perfect pastel blue colour. Heat dry the paint.

Place the Lace Layering Stencil over the top of the pieces of card and using a palette knife, apply Texture Paste through the stencil. Set aside to dry before inking the edges of the card with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and then attaching each piece to your box.

Attach two ring fasteners to either side of the draw section and then line the inside of the drawer with white card.

To create the roses, I used the Jumbo Tattered Pinecone die to die cut two pieces of white card. I then coloured the card with Scattered Straw Distress Ink before adding a blush of Spun Sugar to the edges to create the look of a perfect rose. Make up the pinecone, (instructions are included in the die) and then shape the petals.

For the leaves, I applied some Mowed Lawn and Peeled Paint Distress Stain to my craft sheet, before swiping a piece of card through the ink to colour it. 

I then used Tim's Leaf Stamps from the Daydream stamp set and inked them with Wendy Vecchi's Leaf Green Archival Ink and stamped the leaves directly onto the coloured card. 

I cut out each individual leaf before inking the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. I then arranged and attached my leaves and roses to the top of the box, added some wire coils and some fibres.

For the final touch, I used one of the gorgeous Trophy Cups that I altered with Alcohol Ink before adding a Vial label to the front, complete with Remnant Rub. I added some dried moss into the top of the cup, die cut a piece of inked card using one of the dies from the Labels set and then stamped out the message using the Hero Arts Printer's Alphabet stamps. 

Attach the message to the cup with a memo pin, adding a small piece of Linen Ribbon and then attach to the top of your box.

I wanted to add some little legs to my box and searched everywhere to find some and in the end, I decided to use the small cork stoppers that come in the tops of the Corked Vials. I had some that I had taken out and hadn't used and these were ideal ~ you can just see them in the photo!

 

Finally, add a small crystal and all that's left to do is fill the box with yummy chocolate eggs....

...which completes my little Easter Egg box!

I really hope you've enjoyed how I created this project and 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. 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 Stamps: Daydream

Hero Arts Printer's Alphabet Stamps

Tim Holtz Dies: Sizzix Labels Thinlits Die, Jumbo Tattered Pinecone

Inks: Jet Black Archival Ink, Leaf Green Archival Ink

Distress Stain: Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint

Distress Ink: Scattered Straw, Spun Sugar, Gathered Twigs, Frayed Burlap

Distress Paint: Tumbled Glass, Picket Fence

Mediums: Ranger Texture Paste

Alcohol Ink: Gold Mixative, Pitch Black

Idea-Ology ~ Linen Ribbon, Ring Fasteners, Remnant Rubs, Trophy Cups, Memo Pin 

Embellishments: Prima Say It In Crystal Gems, Prima Wire Thread

Surfaces: Manila Card, Kraft card

Ranger Craft Sheet

Palette Knife

Big Shot

Heat Gun

Dried moss and fibres from a local florist