Love Is All You Need...

Hello friends...

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and feeling refreshed and you're all ready to join us and play along with the brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge which this week is called ~ Typography! We want you to show us some letters within your projects and the DT can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting all your blogs...

For my project, I felt the love in the air and with Valentine's Day approaching, I decided to create this vintage style panel full of romance. The initial inspiration for this piece came from the Beatles song, All You Need Is Love ~ my Mum is a huge John Lennon fan and she'd been playing the song and it just got stuck on repeat in my head and so, this project was born!

So, let's begin and here's how I made my panel...

 

To begin with I cut a Media Board to measure 18 x 24cm and started work on my background. I began by adding the lettering.

For this I used two of Tim Holtz's dies, Deco (my all time favourite) to cut out "ALL YOU NEED IS" and the Cutout Script to die cut the 'LOVE' lettering from chipboard. I then adhered my lettering down the side of the panel using Matte Collage Medium. Once it was in place and the adhesive had dried, I applied a coat of gesso over the entire panel and heat dried it.

If you don't own any of the XL Bigz dies, then don't worry as you can still create this effect using the Thinlit dies and cutting the lettering from card a couple of times and then layering it to create the dimension but obviously the Bigz dies do the job for you, as they cut through chipboard like a dream and it makes your life much easier!

I then took a combination of Distress Sprays ~ Victorian Velvet, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo and starting with the palest of the neutral colours, I spritzed Antique Linen over my board and lettering. If you feel you've applied too much spray at any point, don't panic ~ just dab it away with a kitchen towel. I then applied the remaining colours, one by one, over the top and just built up the intensity in some places, leaving others to be paler.

Once I was happy, I heat dried the panel ~ I did apply some Distress Crayons to create a little more depth on the background, using the same colours as I'd used in the sprays but it just helped to intensify the colour.  I then added some Crackle Texture Paste over the surface and when the paste is dry, I just scribbled Hickory Smoke Distress crayon over the crackled areas, spritzed lightly with water and allowed the colour to sink into the crackles, dabbing away any excess water. At this stage I also added some script ~ not too much on this piece as I wanted the lettering down the side to really be the star of the show.

To give more definition to the letters, I dry brushed gesso over the top before taking my Pumice Stone Distress Marker Pen and outlining each letter, smudging the ink with my fingertips to blend out any harsh lines. I then flicked some Black Soot Distress Paint using the Splatter Brush over the surface of the panel.

To complete the panel, I used Pumice Stone and Ground Espresso Crayons around the edge before wrapping some twine around the right hand side, fanning it out to create some texture and interest.

Now to bring this panel to life and tell the story and I chose to use one of the new photos from the new Paper Dolls pack, which I believe this is shipping very soon.

I colour tinted the image...

...and then arranged it with some of the new Botanical Layers, which once again will be shipping soon, so you don't have too long to wait!

To create dimension on this piece, I placed the layers onto different depths of foam tape, this builds up perspective on the piece that I wanted to achieve. You'll also notice that I placed a piece of broken ruler into the arrangement, which gives a base for the Paper Dolls to be attached too.

I attached a final layer of Botanical in front of the couple, attaching it over a bed of moss and sisal fibres, which just give a little more movement.

Now for the finishing touches, and these included a Clippings Stickers in the top left hand corner and one of the new pink labels in the bottom right hand corner. I then placed a stitched button onto the label.

I also added some Melange Pebbles, painted with metallic acrylic paints to give some shimmer and shine and I added these to my arrangement.

 So, that completes this week's project which I hope you've enjoyed and has inspired you with some ideas of your own. How wonderful would this be for a newly married couple or maybe an anniversary gift and I love how the die cut lettering creates dimension but doesn't overwhelm the project.

Don't forget, you can find more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog 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 taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies: Deco, Cutout Script

Distress Spray Stain: Victorian Velvet, Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen and Vintage Photo
Distress Paint: Black Soot
Distress Crayons: Hickory Smoke, Pumice Stone, Ground Espresso

Idea-ology: Classic Labels, Clippings Stickers, Ruler Findings, Paper Dolls and Botanical Layers shipping soon

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Texture Paste

Surfaces: Media Board, Chipboard
Melange Pebbles

Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Tim Holtz Guillotine

Heat Gun
Splatter Brush
Big Shot Plus
Palette Knife
Twine, moss, sisal fibres and button from my own stash