Don't Abandon The Coral ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hello everyone!

I can't quite believe that it's Monday already but that means we have an exciting new challenge starting today over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week it's called ~ Don't Abandon The Coral!!

Abandoned Coral was the second new distress colour of 2015 and is the inspiration behind this challenge. If you don't have this colour then that's ok, we challenge you to use any coral paper, ink, paint or other product and we can't wait to see what you create!

For my project, I love to see black and white with a pop of a third colour, I always think it looks so striking and the vibrancy of Abandoned Coral is the PERFECT colour to do this with! So, that's exactly what I did and I hope you love this piece that I made!

To begin with I started by creating my striped background. For this, I took a piece of greyboard, 6' x 6" and painted the entire board with a coat of Chalk White Fresco Finish Paint from PaperArtsy. Then, once the paint is completely dry I used masking tape and masked off the stripes. For this, I laid down the first strip of tape, then measured the width of the tape, left a gap and then attached a second strip and so on. I then painted the background where the tape wasn't covering the board using Black Soot Distress Paint. Dry the paint completely before removing your strips of tape to reveal the perfect striped background.

I then set that aside whilst I began working on the larger background ~ for this, I used an 8" x 8" board and again painted the entire surface using Chalk White PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint. I then started to create some layers by first using Texture Paste applied through the Dot Fade Layering Stencil and then mixing a small amount of paint with Abandoned Coral Distress Paint and then applying this to random areas of the background by applying it through the Mesh Layering Stencil. Let all your paste dry before adding splashes and flicks of Black Soot and Abandoned Coral Distress Paint.

Edge the entire painted board with a line of Black Soot and set aside to dry before mounting the smaller striped background onto the centre, using foam pads to add dimension.

Now for embellishments and for this, I began by die cutting a piece of chipboard using the Postage Frame Movers and Shapers die and placing the largest of the Sized Rectangle movers and shapers dies in the centre to create my frame. I then painted the frame with a coat of gesso before applying a layer of Antiqued Bronze paint mixed with a little Vintage Photo. Completely dry the painted frame and then apply a layer of Rock Candy Crackle Paint. Allow the paint to dry and the crackles to appear before adding a small amount of Walnut Stain Distress Stain and letting the colour seep into the cracks. Wipe away the excess with a damp cloth.

For the crackled background within the frame, I painted a piece of Manila card with a layer of Black Soot Distress Paint, added a layer of PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze over the top and when dry, I added a layer of Snowflake Fresco Finish. Let the paint dry and the crackles appear!

Die cut the crackled card using the Honeycomb die from the gorgeous Mixed Media dies by Tim Holtz and attach the die cut card to the back of your postage stamp frame. Mount the frame onto the striped background.

Die cut the remaining crackled card using the Garden Greens die and set the foliage aside to add later.

For the large flower, I used the Tattered Florals die to die cut card, coloured with...yep, you guessed it ~ Abandoned Coral Distress Spray Stain!! I assembled the flower by layering the die cut shapes over the top of one another and then added a centre by punching black card using a Martha Stewart Snowflake die. To complete the flower, I added a crystal centrepiece.

Attach the flower to the front to the bottom left hand corner of the frame and add the die cut crackled foliage, some rusty wire coils and some pieces of Idea-ology, including a photo from the Emporium Ephemera pack and some Sprocket Gears. 

To complete the project, I attached twine to an Observations word band, coloured with Picket Fence Distress paint and added this to my arrangement, letting the twine hang just fall loosely onto the board. 

I really hope you've enjoyed this tutorial and if you're inspired to have a go at creating a striped background, then I'd love to see! 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/Sizzix Dies: Postage Frame, Rectangle Movers and Shapers, Tattered Florals, Mixed Media, Garden Greens

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Abandoned Coral, Picket Fence

Distress Spray Stain: Abandoned Coral

Distress Stain: Walnut Stain

Mediums: Ranger Texture Paste, Snowflake and Chalk PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint, Crackle Glaze, Gesso

Idea-Ology: Emporium Ephemera, Sprocket Gears, Word Band, Mini Paper Clip

Embellishments: Twine

Tim Holtz Layering Stencils: Dot Fade, Mesh

Surfaces: Greyboard from my stash, Manila Card, Black Card

Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch

Ranger Craft Sheet

Palette Knife

Heat Gun

Masking Tape

Big Shot