A New Start
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge
Good day, fellow crafters. Today I present to you a creation for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge that I just completed. The design theme for this challenge was “A New Start” and we were encouraged to use products from Brutus Monroe, which for me were my focal elements. I hope you find enjoyment in my submission.
To create the background panel for this card I began with a piece of cold-pressed watercolor paper that I secured to my worksurface and an Altenew watercolor set. I used a watercolor fan brush to wet down the paper and added water to my pigments. Once my pigments were saturated fully, I carefully blended out a beautiful early morning sky. I then set the panel to allow it to dry fully.
The next step was to create the pieces for my focal image. Since I have been on a bit of a fairy kick lately and part of the challenge is to use a Brutus Monroe product, I settled on a stamp from the the Fairy Fantasy stamp set, featured left, from their collection. Using black ink I stamped the fairy image onto some white cardstock and then with Copic markers I carefully colored it in. I then fussy cut around the image and set it aside.
Since I wanted to give a small sense of scale for this card, think the size of Tinkerbell, I opted to repeat the same process and use the flower bloom stamp for the fairies to appear to be sitting on. While that looked good, I felt that to get the scale right I needed something more. I then remembered that I had the Small Grass die from Impression Obsession, so I used that with some green cardstock to create the grass around the image.
The next stage was basic assembly. To start this phase I used the Honey Bee Layering Vintage Labels, featured right, and my Gemini die-cutting machine to trim my watercolor panel down to size. I then used a double-stitched rectangular die from My Favorite Things to cut out a beautiful purple mat. While I was die-cutting I also used the Hero Arts rectangular nesting die set with black cardstock to cut out a cover mat. I then used double-sided tape to adhere the cover mat to a white card base and then repeated the process with the purple mat.
The next thing to add to this card was the sentiment. I decided on an appropriate one based on the challenge of “A New Start” from the Fairy Fantasy. I used my Misti stamping tool to align it over my watercolor background panel and then inked it with VersaMark watermark ink and stamped the image. I then used WoW! Black Embossing powder and my heat tool to heat set the sentiment.
The last stage was the final assembly. Using Bearly Art liquid glue, I assembled all of the pieces on top of the purple mat. To give the fairies some dimension I bent the wings slightly and then used some of the grass, which I also bent, to prop them up. I was happy with the way they looked but decided that the wings needed something. So for extra visual appeal, I used Craft Smart Glitter Glue to cover them which gave an awesome shimmer. See the gallery for a close-up shot. Lastly, to finish the card up I used some Nuvo Crystal Drops from the Metallic selection called Silver Lining. With that, I called the card complete.
Note: Please be aware that I don't have any sponsorship arrangements with the suppliers mentioned in this post; I simply appreciate and frequently use their products. To support the creation of more content like this, I've included affiliate links for some of the featured supplies. Utilizing these links won't incur any additional costs for you, but it does provide a small benefit to me, allowing me to continue sharing my work with you.
