Freedom...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge ~ RED, WHITE AND/OR BLUE! As you all know, tomorrow will be Independence Day in the United States and to celebrate there will be huge processions, Stars and Stripes flying, fireworks and generally lots of people having fun! We would love for you to join in the party by creating something using one, or even all of the red/white/blue colours and we're already looking forward to seeing whatever colour/s you choose to use!

As always on the first week of every month, the DT are showcasing one company and today it's Sizzix. Sizzix produce a huge range of Die Cut Machines, Craft Dies, Embossing Folders and so much more and even though you don’t have to use them to join in, we hope you love what the team have designed to inspire you with the challenge theme!

For my project this week, I wanted to create something to wish all my American friends a very happy 4th of July and it's all about layers, layers and more layers which I combined with Sizzix dies and Tim Holtz products....

 

It's time for a brand new challenge and here's how I created my project!

To begin with I took out the Correspondence Paper stash from Tim Holtz which is perfect for this challenge as there are so many papers in the red, white and blue theme. Once I'd chosen the papers to create my layers, I cut the panels to size, distressing the edges of each layer. The largest panel measures 18.5 x 21.5cm and I've then matted this layer of paper, which I stitched around the outside with navy blue thread onto a piece of navy blue card, leaving a border around the outside. The next panel of paper from the Correspondence stash is 16 x 19.5cm. For this layer, I distressed the edges of the paper and then applied a smear of Collage Glue Stick along the edges, allowing the glue to become slightly tacky before using the Vintage Gold Transfer Foil Sheets, shiny side uppermost, to add a touch of gold around the edge. I then matted it onto red kraft core card stock before being mounted centrally onto the previous, larger layer. 

The final layer measures 14 x 17.5cm and again, I machine stitched around the outside to create a border and matted it onto blue card. I used foam pads on the back of this panel for dimension before mounting it centrally onto the previous layers.

I now had my background panels and moved onto the next layer, the stitched oval. I used the largest and second largest Stitched Oval die in the pack and placed the smaller one inside the larger one to create a frame from red kraft core card. Remove the frame from the die and sand the card to create a worn effect. Using the largest die, die cut a piece of the blue stars paper from the pad and then attach the frame over the top of the paper. I used Collage Medium to attach the frame and then once it was dry, I ran the Black Soot Distress Pen around the inside join of the frame to create a shadow.

Using more of the Collage Medium, I attached the frame to upper section of the layered panels of card and paper and then applied small dots of Autumn Red Nuvo Drops around the outside of the frame and allowed these to dry.

Below the frame, I left enough room to add my die cut letters, spelling out the word ~ FREEDOM! The letters are cut from chipboard and then painted with Dina Wakley's Night Acrylic Paint. I used a small amount of Steampunk Copper to highlight the edges of the lettering by just applying the paint with my finger. I then attached the painted letter using Collage Medium directly onto the layered panel, placing it underneath the oval.

For the next Sizzix die on the list, I used the Scroll Bigz die and used just one of the scrolls on the die but die cut two scrolls which I mirror imaged. The scrolls are cut from gold kraft card and then alcohol inked with to create a more vintage feel. I placed each scroll just above the Freedom wording, either side of the oval and then added red, white and blue Nuvo Drops to accent them, together with two star adornments, altered with gold paint.

I attached the beautiful paper doll image over a bed of sisal fibres and placed her in pride of place, onto the centre of my frame and lightly coloured the image with Distress Marker Pens, before adding a small Mirrored Heart to her sash, which I altered with Mushroom Alcohol Ink.

Finally, the stars and for these I cut two of each size in the blue, red and silver. I then added the dimensional stars around the oval, three on each side.

To complete the panel, I used a Quote Chip and attached two small Hex Fasteners onto either side of the chip before laying it over the top of some cheesecloth dyed with Weathered Wood Distress Spray Stain.

As a finishing touch, I added some ephemera pieces from the Snippets pack, some Gilded Remnant Rubs, a hinge clip painted with the Night paint and a number token which I lightly sanded to created a brushed silver effect.

I really hope you love the ideas that I've packed into this project and you enjoyed how I combined the dies to make one complete vintage style panel packed with dimension and layers!

As always, if you do need any further inspiration, 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. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for stopping by today and wishing all my American friends and very safe and happy Independence Day!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Die: Scroll, Dimensional Stars, Stitched Ovals, Deco Alpha

Distress Spray Stains: Weathered Wood
Distress Marker Pens
Tim Holtz idea-ology: Paper Dolls, Quote Chips, Mirrored Hearts, Hinge Clips, Number Tokens, Snippets, Loop Pins, Star Adornments, Hex Fasteners
Surfaces: Correspondence Paper Stash, Metallic Kraft Stock, Classic Kraft Stash, Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets
Mediums: Collage Medium, Mushroom Alcohol Ink, Dina Wakley Night Acrylic Paint, Collage glue Stick
Nuvo Drops: Autumn Red, Night Sky, White
Prima Marketing Acrylic Paints: Steampunk Copper

Ranger Craft Sheet

Mini Blending Tool

Big Shot

Heat Gun
Cheesecloth from my own stash