Look At The Stars, Look How They Shine For You...

Hello friends and welcome to the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! This week, our theme is called ~ IT'S WRITTEN IN THE STARS and we can't wait to see how you will interpret this fun challenge!

As you all know we are celebrating STAMPtember over at Simon Says Stamp and today we are all super excited about the new STAMPtember® Stamp And Stencil Exclusive designed by Tim Holtz! These sets are available for a limited time and once they have sold out they won’t be replaced...so, you need to get yours while they are in stock because you don’t want to miss out!

So back to this week's challenge and for my project, I was inspired by the lyrics from my favourite Coldplay song, Yellow and I took the line from that song to create my Etcetera tag using dies from Tim Holtz and Sizzix to make my starry night scene and the words of that song written in the stars.

It's time for a brand new challenge and here's how I created this piece...

 

To begin with I cut a panel of canvas paper to measure the exact size of the smallest Etcetera tag. You can work directly onto the tag's surface but I wanted to have just a little texture to my background and the canvas paper will give me this.

Now to begin the layers to build up my galaxy and to start I laid down some black gesso, covering the surface of the paper. Once the gesso was dry, I then went in with some colour and started with Blueprint Sketch Distress Paint, applying the paint over the top of the gesso and blending out the colour with a semi dry baby wipe. I then added more layers by using Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry, Brushed Pewter and Black Soot ~ each time blending out the layers in horizontal strokes to create the blend of colours I wanted. Once I was happy with the overall effect, I then heat dried the paper and spritzed it with some Tarnished Brass Mica Spray to create the glittery effect of a galaxy.

 

I attached the finished background to the Etcetera tag using Collage Medium and added the ring around the hole which I painted with the black gesso and Blueprint Sketch before heat drying and adding a touch of wax to create a shimmer. Set the tag aside to work on the elements.

Starting with the stars, I used the Stacked Stars die to die cut some chipboard. I wanted three glittered stars with between two and three layers on each. I painted the chipboard with a layer of Sterling Acrylic Paint from Dina Wakley and then once the paint was dry, I applied some 3D gel over the top. I then sprinkled the stars with a mix of Pumice Stone Distress Glitter, silver micro beads and Silver Glass Glitter. Allow the glitter to set, leaving it overnight means that it will be rock hard once you start working on them and layering each section. The smaller stars are all die cut from metallic kraft stash, gold and silver, using the Crescent Moon and Stars die.

For the little people I used one of my favourite Halloween dies from Tim and I am so pleased that he's done this in a thinlits version which is slightly larger than the original die. I used the little people die to die cut some very thin chipboard ~ I cut three pieces of chipboard which I then stuck together to create a substantial die cut piece.

I then started to create my enamel effect by pouncing a Versamark ink pad over the top of the die cut and then sprinkling a mixture of embossing powders which include, Liquid Platinum, Gold and Black powders.

Once you have heated the first layer with the heat gun and the powders have melted, continue to apply the Versamark and the embossing powders to build up the layers, I probably applied 6 layers to get this thickness.

For the final element of this scene, I needed the wording and for this I used a combination of the Alpha Deco die and the Thinlits Thin Words die to die cut the lettering from Metallic card and a silver Deco Sheet. As you can see, I layered the Deco wording over the top of gold metallic, to create a shadow effect.

Now for the fun part, putting this project together and I started by attaching my wording, using Collage Medium to adhere each letter into place. I then added the little people using foam pads to add some dimension. To ground the figures, I used some cheesecloth, dyed with Antique Linen and Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stain and then attached using Collage Medium and also added a twig. I also added some Art Stones, attached with the 3D gel medium and painted with Unicorn's Hair Acrylic Paint.

Finally, I attached my layered stars, again using Collage Medium....

...and adde some highlights of gold foil to the edges, by running a Collage Stick along the edge of the tag and pressing down the foil sheet, shiny side uppermost to transfer the foil.

And that completes my starry night tag, full of glimmer and shine and lots of sparkle to create this little scene!

As always, if you do need any further inspiration, then 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 see you again very soon!

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies: Trick or Treat, Stacked Stars, Deco Alpha, Crescent Moon & Stars, Alphanumeric Thin
Distress Spray Stain: Pumice Stone, Antique Linen

Distress Paints: Black Soot, Blueprint Sketch, Brushed Pewter, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord
Mediums: Collage Medium, Grit, Aged Brass Alchemy Wax, Ranger Foam, Black Gesso, Sterling Acrylic Paint, Collage Stick, 3D Gel
Glitter: Sterling Glass Glitter, Pumice Stone Distress Glitter, Silver Micro Beads
Embossing Powder: Liquid Platinum, Gold, Black
Art Stones: Mini and Mega
Surfaces: Metallic Kraft, Vintage Foil Transfer Sheets, Deco Sheets, Etcetera Tag
Prima Alchemy Paint: Unicorn's Hair
Ranger Craft Sheet
Sanding Tool

Big Shot

Heat Gun
 Chipboard and canvas paper from my own stash