Tea Dance ~ Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hey everyone!!

The weekend seems to have flown in a blink of an eye but I hope you all had a good one and ready for another creative week ahead!

Today, we have a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge starting and this week is all about Coffee or Tea! 

With the popularity of coffee and tea themed stamps, die cuts and more, it was only a matter of time before we took this on as a theme! You're welcome to tea stain your paper or leave a coffee mark on your page. Use Tim Holtz's new coffee or tea dies or maybe just be inspired by your own favourite beverage! The choice is yours and whatever you decide, we can't wait to see what you create!

For my project, I was inspired by the tea dances in the 1940's and created a vintage panel using Tim's gorgeous Tea Time die and piling up those tea cups to use as the main focal point, together with some vintage ephemera spilling out!

To begin with I took a piece of chipboard and cut it to measure 3.5" x 7". I initially added some Tissue Wrap to the background but that became hidden by the layers of paint but if you look hard it enough, it is just visible and it acted as a good base for what would be coming next!

I started by applying Distress Paints directly to the board and blended together Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, Weathered Wood, a touch of Spun Sugar and Picket Fence. When I was happy with the background, I dried it off with a heat tool and added some torn pieces of Tissue Tape to act as a base for my tea cups to sit on, so they would appear grounded.

Next, I took the Splatters Layering Stencil and applied paste through the stencil onto random areas of my background before allowing the paste to dry and then loading up a paintbrush with watered down gesso, followed by Black Soot Distress Paint and gently flicking across the panel. Dry the panel thoroughly.

Mix some copper micro beads into some of the Soft Matte Gel and apply to the bottom section of your panel, using a palette knife. I also applied some so they appear to be spilling out of the cup. Whilst the gel is still wet, I sprinkled some crystal glass glitter over the top. I thought this looked like crystals of sugar and gave a great texture.

Finally, I inked around the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

Now, we start die cutting and I cut three cups and the saucer using the Tea Time die from chipboard. I added a base of gesso to the chipboard and then painted the cups using Distress Paints ~ two in Evergreen Bough and one in Spun Sugar.

After inking the edges, I piled all the cups up and added dots of Liquid Pearls to the pink cup. I then added the little tag popping out of the second cup and used a Remnant Rub for the wording.

I attached the cups to the panel using foam pads and popped some ephemera tickets inside. I then added a photo booth image which I had distressed slightly around the edges before using a sanding tool to create scratch marks. I popped this into the cup and added a mini paperclip.

I added a wrap and bow of twine around beneath the base of the tea cups, attached a heart charm and two resin roses which I vintaged up by adding some alcohol ink over the top and popped two decorative pins into the bow.

To complete the panel, I added a die cut word which I die cut from black card and then heat embossed with clear powder for a glossy finish and popped a remnant rub into the corner before mounting the panel onto a piece of Black Soot Distress Card.

Finally, I matted some Wallflower paper from the paper stash onto a piece of kraft card and machine stitched around the edge before distressing all the edges of the card and paper.

As a finishing touch I used my fingertip to apply paint to the edges of the kraft card.

I really hope you've enjoyed this project and the inspiration behind it and even though I made this piece as a small home decor panel, it would work so well on the front of a card too!

As always, 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 Dies: Tea Time, Friendship Words Script 

Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Cracked Pistachio, Weathered Wood, Black Soot, Evergreen Bough, Spun Sugar

Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap

Mediums: Ranger Texture Paste, Gesso, Opal White Liquid Pearls, Clear Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Splatters

Finnabair Art Ingredients: Copper Micro Beads, Soft Matte Gel, Pearl Glass Glitter, Hazelnut Alcohol Ink

Idea-ology: Ephemera Pack, Tissue Tape, Heart Charms, Resin Heirloom Roses, Photo Booth Vintage Photos, Mini Paperclip, Remnant Rubs

Surfaces: Kraft Card, Core'dinations Card, Wallflower Paper Stash, Tissue Wrap

Hemp Twine

Ranger Craft Sheet

Heat Gun

Big Shot

Palette Knife

Sanding Tool