Create Something Beginning With The Letter 'N'...

Hey everyone and welcome to a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, our theme is ~ Create Something Beginning With The Letter 'N'!

So, what will the letter N mean to you? Nautical? Navy blue? Numbers? The month of November? Whatever you choose, we can't wait to see what you create!

For my project, I was inspired by the words NEVER FORGET! On Wednesday, 11th November, Armistice Day~ we will once again fall silent at 11:00 and with this in mind, I chose to make a remembrance plaque to honour our heroes, past and present!

I wanted to create a panel that really focused on the words Remember and the poppies and decided to keep the background quite neutral in colour but very textural and also create a dimensional, multi layered piece!

...and here's how I made it!

I started with a pre-gessoed canvas panel, 7" x 5" and I laid the Gothic Layering Stencil directly over the top of the canvas and applied Texture Paste through it! When the paste was dry, I then added a layer of Chalk White PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint over the top.

I heat dried the paint before dry brushing the whole canvas with Frayed Burlap, which really made the embossed areas pop! Once the paint was dry, I flicked some Black Soot and Festive Berries Distress Paint over the surface and then, applied small amounts of Treasure Gold Gilding Wax over the top of the raised areas before using my fingertip to apply Picket Fence Distress Paint around the outside. This can now be set aside to dry thoroughly.

For the next stage, I used the Quilt Texture Fade to emboss a piece of Manila card stock coloured with Antique Linen Distress Paint. I then used a blending tool to gently ink the edges and the raised areas. I then matted the embossed card onto black card and mounted the panel onto the centre of my canvas using foam pads for dimension.

To create my gold metallic plaque, I used the Alphanumeric Thinlits dies to die cut the word Remember into a piece of gold metallic kraft core card stock. When using these dies, it's always a good idea to tape them into place, so that they don't move when you pass them through the machine! I sanded over the top of the plaque before matting it onto a piece of black card. I then attached two brad to either side of the plaque.

For the poppies, I used the Tattered Florals die to die cut my lightweight card. I then coloured the poppies on BOTH sides using Festive Berries and a hint of Abandoned Coral Distress Paints. Mist all the coloured petals with Perfect Pearls Shimmer Mist Spray and then scrunch them up. Dry the Tattered Florals with a heat tool before opening them out again, shaping the petals and layering them up. I used three large petals and two smaller ones for each of my flowers and inked all the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

For the centres, I used the Spiky Flower punch and punched black card. I used two punched flowers for each centre.

For the leaves, I used the Fall Foliage dies and inked them with Peeled Paint before spritzing them with the Perfect Pearls Mist.

Now all that's left to do is build those layers and for this I started with a piece of black wire which I coiled into a triple circle and then placed onto my canvas.

I then attached my poppies, plaque and leaves over the top, adding a mirrored star as a finishing touch, together with the metal corners which I inked with Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink.

Finally, just play with the wire to create some kinks and to make it less uniform in it's appearance and that completes my Remembrance plaque!

I really hope you've enjoyed how this piece came together and loved the finished project!

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....

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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 and Texture Fades: Alphanumeric, Tattered Florals, Fall Foliage, Quilted Texture Fade

Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Gothic

Distress Ink: Walnut Stain

Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Festive Berries, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot

Mediums: Texture Paste, Cappuccino Perfect Pearls Mist, White Fire Treasure Gold Gilding Wax, Chalk PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint

Alcohol Ink: Gold Mixative

Idea-ology: Mirrored Stars, Mini Corners

Gold Brads

Surfaces: Metallic Kraft Core Card Stock

Palette Knife

Ranger Craft Sheet

Blending Tool

Heat Gun

Big Shot

Canvas board and wire from my own stash