Exhibit A ~ Collection of Specimens: No. 3616

Hello friends and happy Monday!

Hope you've all had a wonderful weekend and as the new week begins, we also have a new challenge theme over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and this week, it's all about ADDING SOME TEXTURE! So, however you choose to add texture to your projects, we can't wait to see what you create and hope you will join us and play along!

For my project, I created a Mini Clipboard and used plenty of mediums to create texture throughout my piece ~ from the crackled and stencilled background to the clip itself, it's all started with a bare canvas and then had the addition of some of Tim Holtz's amazing distress products!

So, let's get started and here's how I created this project!

 

To begin with I added some texture to the Mini Clipboard itself. I removed the clip from the board and then primed the surface with a layer of gesso. Once dry, I applied a good layer of Distress Crackle Paste over the surface and set the clipboard aside to allow for the medium to do it's thing and the crackle to appear.

Once the magic has happened, I then applied a very light wash of Speckled Egg Distress Paint over the crackled surface, allowed for this to dry before accentuating the crackles by applying some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon over the surface and using a damp fingertip, just rubbed the colour into the cracks. Any excess can be removed with a paper towel.

Moving onto the next layer, I cut a panel of watercolour card, slightly larger in size than the Bouquet Layering Stencil which I will be using. I laid down the stencil onto the centre of the card and applied some more of the Crackle Paste through it. Once I'd carefully removed the stencil, I started to add my Distress Glazes which will create the subtle colour that I wanted for my background. These glazes are translucent but create a beautiful sheen to the raised areas of crackle paste and blend together seamlessly.

So whilst the paste is still wet, I used a tiny spoon to sprinkle the glazes over the top, applying Weathered Wood, Peeled Paint and Fossilized Amber, to add colour to the detail of the layering stencil. Once I was happy with the coverage, I set the panel to one side to dry.

When the paste is set, I went back to my panel and used a heat tool to gently heat the glazes until they are molten. Don't overheat but you will see a slight change in colour, they become ever so slightly darker when they're melted and of course, they create a glaze.

To create more of a vintage feel to the panel, I then spritzed it with a light mist of water before applying Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stains over the top. Be gentle when heat drying the background and any excess colour or moisture, can be dabbed away with a dry cloth. If you need any more, colour just repeat until happy.

So, I now have my background and after cutting the panel down to size, I inked the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and machine stitched a border around the outside, leaving some of the threads to hang loose.

I then matted and layered my panel onto gold metallic card, followed by a layer of green card from the Classic Kraft Stash, before adhering the panel onto my crackled clipboard.

Moving on, I now started working on the clip and after attaching a Machinery Head idea-ology piece onto the centre of the clip, I began by applying a layer of Vintage Photo Distress Paint over the entire surface. After allowing for the paint to dry, I then started to build up the colour and the texture and started by applying some Translucent Grit Paste directly onto the painted metal.

Once again, you need to allow for the paste to dry before applying the next layer of paint but once this is rock hard, I then took a paintbrush, dipped it into Black Soot Distress Paint and then removed the majority of paint onto a paper towel before dry brushing the remaining paint over the surface of the metal clip. Between each layer, I gently heat dry the paint before moving onto the next colour, which is a touch of Evergreen Bough, that I smeared onto the surface with my finger. Again dry the paint and them using the same dry brushing technique, apply another application of Vintage Photo, mixed with a little Ground Espresso. I finally took my Rusty Hinge Crayon and ran this over the surface to complete the rusty, crusty look.

I attached the clip back onto the board and tied a piece of twine around the neck.

Now for the beautiful butterfly...

For this I used the Specimen stamp set and using the stamp platform, I stamped the image in Black Soot Archival Ink onto watercolour card before watercolouring it with a selection of blue, green and brown Distress Inks.

Once I was happy, I fussy cut around the outline and then mounted it onto my board using foam pads, attaching it over some loose pieces of threads.

Beneath the butterfly, I cut a strip of Mixed Media Heavystock card and inked this with Old Paper, Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. I then stamped the Collection of Specimens wording onto the card, machine stitched the edges and added a Index Clip to the left hand side. This clip was altered using teh same colours of Distress Paint as I used on the main clip. I then attached the strip to my clipboard, again using foam pads for some dimension.

On the right hand side, I added an Optical Lens. I altered the metal with some more of the Distress Paints and then applied some Mushroom Alcohol Ink to the glass before attaching a Field Note Ephemera piece to the back of the glass, using Collage Medium to secure it into place.

I attached the lens to my board and completed it with the Exhibit A and Fig 10 remnant rubs taken from the Specimen set.

We're nearly there and all that's left is a few details and added 3 Hardware Heads, altered with Distress Paints to the bottom left hand corner...

...before finishing with some more remnant rubs, applied to the top left hand corner.

Finally, I placed a dressmaker's pin through the butterfly as my finishing touch!

So, that completes this week's project and I hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this piece and all the ways and different mediums that I've used to add texture.

As always, if you've been inspired by anything that you see here on my blog, please just tag me on my social media or leave a message so I can pop by to take a look ~ I always love to see your work!

Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $25 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. 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 ~ stay safe and keep well.

Love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Bouquet Layering Stencil, Specimen
Distress Paint: Ground Espresso, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Speckled Egg, Evergreen Bough
Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap
Distress Embossing Glaze: Weathered Wood, Peeled Paint and Fossilized Amber
Distress Crayons: Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain

Distress Inks
Alcohol Inks: Mushroom

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Machinery Heads, Hardware Heads, Field Notes Ephemera, Specimen Remnant Rubs, Index Clips, Optical Lens

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Paste, Transluscent Grit Paste

Surfaces: Mini Clipboard, Distress Watercolour Card, Classic Kraft Stash, Metallic Kraft Stash, Mixed Media Heavystock

Glass Media Mat

Big Shot

Heat Gun
Pin, twine and threads from my own stash