Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - We've Got Your Number

Hi Everyone! It’s time for another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. The theme this week is, We’ve Got Your Number, and we’re asking you to put a number somewhere on your project. Simple, right? I love adding numbers to projects. They don’t have to have any significance, I just think they look cool. I chose to create a beautiful garden scene in an old and rusty garden. Below is a tutorial, with photos, on how I created my rusty garden background. Enjoy!

Also, don’t forget to stop by our lovely guest designer for the month of April, Amy, from Amy’s Card Obsession. This is April’s last week with us and she’s been amazing. I love her artwork and plan on following her for a long time to come. Check out her website to see her unique style. You won’t be disappointed.

I start by cutting a 5″ x 7″ piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Board and stencil on the Simon Says Stamp Leaves Stencil with Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste. I set that aside to completely dry.

I embossed a 5″ x 7″ piece of Neenah Solar White 110 lb. cardstock with the Tammy Tutterow Horsehair Embossing Folder and tear it along two of the corners.

I attach the two torn pieces to the dried stenciled leaves panel.

I use the Tim Holtz Trellis Frameworks die to create small pieces that I want to add to the panel. These pieces are cut out from white chipboard. I use the trellis along with the leftover cutout pieces.

I adhere the trellis pieces to the panel in random areas.

After the pieces are securely adhered to the panel, I cut off the excess from the edges.

I cover the entire panel with Dina Wakley White Gesso.

(If you’re wondering why there is a slight pink hue to the background, it’s because I sprayed it with Distress Spray and hated the way it looked so I went over the entire panel again with white gesso. I wasn’t worried about the pink left behind because I was going to cover it with Distress Crayon but if I didn’t want the pink hue left behind I would have just covered it with another layer of white gesso.)

Now back to the tutorial…..I cover the leaves with Peeled Paint Distress Crayon by drawing it on around the lines of the leaves and move the pigment around with my fingertips.

I cover the trellis pieces and rest of the background with Gathered Twigs and Wild Honey Distress Crayons. I color on the pigment in random areas and move it around with my fingertips until I’m pleased with the way it looks.

To get the rusty hardware look, I use Prima Rust Effects Paste on the trellis pieces. See below on how to apply the Rust Effects Paste.

To create the window frame for the panel, I cut out the Tim Holtz Stitched Ovals as shown above.

Here you can see what I have left over after cutting two ovals inside each other. I will save the one on the right for a future project and use the one on the left for this project.

To apply the Rust Effect Paste to the frame, I start with the darkest brown color. I dab it on with a paint brush until the piece is completely covered. (There is no need to dry the paste between layers.)

Next, I dab on the rust colored paste using the same paintbrush in random areas around the frame. (There is no need to clean the brush between applications. You can use the same brush throughout the process.)

Next, I dab on the yellow colored paste to the frame.

For the final step, I return to the dark brown paste and dab that on over all three layers in random areas. You can repeat the three layer process as many times as you want until you’re happy with the way it looks.

I adhere the oval frame with 3D foam tape to the center of the panel and my background is complete.

To complete the project, I create two butterflies, one from the Tim Holtz Detailed Butterflies thinlits dies and one from the Mini Detailed Butterflies thinlits dies. They are colored with Peeled Paint and Broken China Distress Oxide Inks. The flowers are from my stash and the ruler pieces are from the Tim Holtz Dapper Stash that have been distressed around the edges and inked with Black Soot Archival Ink. The sentiment is from the Tim Holtz Paperie Quote Chips with Vintage Photo Archival Inked edges. I adhere the completed panel onto a 5-1/2″ x 7-1/2″ piece of Simon Says Stamp 100 lb. black card stock and my piece is done.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the process I used to create my We’ve Got Your Number project and that you join us for this fun challenge by adding your project to Simon Says Stamp’s Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $50 gift voucher to their amazing store.