A is for... ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hey everyone!

Hope you've all had a wonderful Easter weekend, so far and thank you to everyone who visited my blog and the Simon Says Stamp blog yesterday to view my Easter Bunny tutorial (if you missed it you can see it HERE) ~ I really do appreciate all your kind words and the lovely comments you've left me!

Well, it's been a busy weekend here on my blog and there's no let up today because it's Monday and that means that we have a brand new challenge starting over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week is all about ~ "A is for..."

So how will you be inspired by the letter A? Apples, amethyst, April flowers and art come to mind right away or will you use American Crafts products or Avery Elle? Perhaps you have an art stamp! Whatever you choose, we can't wait to see what you'll create!!

For my project, I had to choose my favourite subject at school and one of my greatest loves in my life ~ ART and I created a canvas using one of my favourite Tim Holtz quote stamps, together with my all time favourite (and much used) colour palette including the gorgeous Cracked Pistachio!!

So to begin, I prepped the base of my 7" x 5" canvas by adding a coat of PaperArtsy Chalk paint over the surface. I love this colour of paint because it's a beautiful soft white and creates a really gorgeous background colour without being too bright white!

Dry this layer of paint before blending some colours of Distress Paint over random areas of the canvas and around the edges, I used a light wash of Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers and Frayed Burlap but made sure that when the paint is applied you leave the majority of the white background still showing. Dry the canvas surface and then flick Barn Door and Black Soot Distress Paint over the entire canvas. I also added drips of Barn Door down the sides.

When the paint is dry, apply Texture Paste through the Faded Dots Layering Stencil, moving the stencil around the canvas. Attach small torn pieces of Tissue Tape as the finishing touch and set aside.

Moving onto the next stage, begin by stamping the quote with Jet Black Archival Ink onto the smooth side of watercolour card. I used Distress Markers to colour the quote. Cut the card down to size and then die cut the top edge using the Torn Notebook On The Edge die from Tim Holtz. At this stage I also added a line of small holes to give the look of perforation.

Matt the artwork onto a piece of torn corrugated card ~ I gave the corrugated card a light wash of Picket Fence Distress Paint and mount the layers onto the canvas.

Add a hinge clip and some Sprocket Gears to the canvas.

Finally, I took two old pencils from my desk and painted the pencils with a coat of Gesso before apply a combination of Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough and Picket Fence each of them.

I wrapped a piece of Tissue Tape around the middle of the pencils to hold them together and then tied some twine around them before attaching them to my canvas.

All that I need to do now is display the canvas proudly in my craft room and take not of that wonderful quote when sketching! Something that is really hard to do when you're a perfectionist, lol!

 I really hope you've enjoyed how this tutorial and love my canvas. 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: Life Art

Tim Holtz Dies: Torn Notebook On The Edge Die

Inks: Jet Black Archival Ink

Distress Marker Pens

Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Barn Door, Black Soot, Peacock Feathers, Evergreen Bough, Frayed Burlap

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paint ~ Chalk

Mediums: Ranger Texture Paste

Layering Stencil: Faded Dots

Idea-Ology ~ Tissue Tape, Mini Sprocket Gears, Sprocket Gears, Hinge Clips

Embellishments: Hemp Twine

Surfaces: Watercolour Card, Corrugated Card, Canvas

Ranger Craft Sheet

Palette Knife

Big Shot

Heat Gun

Pencils