Be Thankful...

Hello friends and welcome to another brand new week over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog! This week the team are showcasing Indigoblu products and combining them with our Thanksgiving theme where we are all about be thankful...

For my project this week, I chose to use an Etcetera Tag and decorate it with beautiful, gilded autumnal leaves, die cut using the Layered Leaf die from Tim Holtz and covered with Mega Flakes by Indigoblu.

 

To begin I took the small Etcetera tag and applied a coat of gesso over the surface. I heat dried the paint to quicken my drying time and then layered my paints over the top, starting with Antique Linen and blending it with a little Picket Fence. Once I was happy with the depth of colour, I then added some Frayed Burlap over the top, blending it with a semi dry wet wipe.

I then heat set all the paint before moving onto the next layer of tissue tape, which I tore and applied onto the left hand side of my tag ~ this will create my base layer. I then used Chipped Sapphire, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo Distress Crayons over the top of the tape to add some colour, again blending it out with the wet wipe and my fingers.

To add more depth, I then went in with the Dot Fade Layering Stencil and applied Jet Black Archival Ink through the stencil onto areas around the outside of the tape.

For the final layer, I needed some texture and applied Grit Paste through the Crossed Stencil from the Mini Layering Stencil Set 30 and once this was completely dry, I just accentuated the paste by running the Vintage Photo Crayon over the top and blending it out with the wet wipe.

I added Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge Crayons around the edge of the tag and a final layer of Black Soot Crayon, all blended with my finger so that I don't have harsh lines of crayon before flicking a small amount of Black Soot Distress Paint across the surface. I attached the hole reinforcer at the top which I had painted with Steampunk Copper Alchemy Paint and highlighted using Rich Copper Alchemy Wax which gave it a beautiful sheen.

Heat dry the tag thoroughly and set aside.

Now to move onto the leaves and for these I used the Layered Leaf die to die cut two pieces of card, which I had covered with a double sided self adhesive tape sheet ~ apply the sticky side down onto the card and leave the backing in place until the card has been die cut.

Run the sticky-backed card through the machine to die cut two leaves. 

Now for the fun part, applying the flakes and for this, I empty my pot of flakes into a larger contained with a removable sealed lid. Then, take one leaf and remove the backing sheet before dipping the die cut into the flakes, covering the leaf completely. At this stage, don't panic...it doesn't look great but I assure you, the magic is about to happen.

Place the leaf so that it's over the pot of flakes ~ this means that once you start removing the flakes, they will fall back into the pot and not escape everywhere ~ and then using a dry brush, (I use an old toothbrush) or a sponge, remove the flakes to reveal the detail.

Repeat with the second die cut leaf before embossing both using the co-ordinating Texture Fade in the die.

To accentuate the veins on the leaves, I just rubbed my archival ink pad over the top, to just pick up on the embossing.

With the remaining sticky back card, I then just die cut an extra few leaves using the Fall Foliage dies and then repeating the gilding process to cover the die cuts in the flakes.

Shape each of the leaves for a more realistic look and then arrange and attach each leaf over a bed of sisal fibres over the top of the tape area on your tag. I like a lot of dimension on my pieces and as you can see, I've arranged them so they don't lie flat against the tag, they do stand proud.

I then added some ephemera pieces and designer tape to complete the arrangement, tucking them underneath the leaves.

Moving on, I took one of the Christmas Paper Dolls and lightly coloured it with Distress Marker Pens before attaching her to my leaf arrangement, using a piece of wood from my own stash as a base for her to stand on and placed a wood slice behind her, so that it would be a substantial background base behind my little girl.

I then added some moss around her feet and some cut flowers from the Bouquet Findings.

To finish my tag, I added some Clippings Stickers and a Quote Chip to tell the story and some metal embellishments.

Finally, I tied some rope through the hole at the top of the tag.

So, that completes this tag with those wonderful quotes which I've used to tell the story of this little girl.

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:

Indigoblu Mega Flakes
Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Fall Foliage, Layered Leaf
Layering Stencils: Dot Fade, Mini Stencil Set 30

Distress Paints: Black Soot, Antique Linen, Picket Fence, Frayed Burlap
Distress Crayons: Chipped Sapphire, Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Rusty Hinge

Idea-ology: Quote Chips, Clippings Stickers, Christmas Paper Dolls, Snippets Ephemera, Arrow Adornments, Mini Sprocket Gears
Mediums: Collage Medium, Gesso
Surfaces: Etcetera Tag, Be Creative Double Sided Tape Sheets
Rich Copper Alchemy Wax
Steampunk Copper Alchemy Paint
Ranger Craft Sheet
Splatter Brush

Big Shot

Heat Gun
 Sisal fibres and rope from my own stash