Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Anything Goes
Good day, fellow crafters. Today, I'm excited to share my submission for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. This week's theme is 'Anything Goes,' but I couldn't resist embracing a Southwestern inspiration after receiving my new cactus dies, which are showcased in this card, and creating this project. I hope you find my submission enjoyable.
To create this card I first began with the background panel. Using a base of white cardstock, I applied Distress Oxide inks in the colors depicted on the left, with my ink-blending brushes, blending them into a rainbow pattern.
I next utilized a stencil from a stencil pack that I have in my collections that had an elaborate Southwestern Native American pattern. This choice perfectly aligned with my chosen theme. Employing a reverse stencil technique and the Distress Oxide Vintage Photo ink, I tried to replicate the textures of a rug commonly found in that geographical area. I am pleased to present the result, which I believe faithfully captures the essence of this cultural motif.
The next phase was to utilize my new Cactus Fancy Dies (DF157) from Hero Arts to create the foreground elements. To accomplish this I utilized pieces of cardstock from my scrap collection and the die set to cut them out. Once I had all of the pieces cut I utilized the Distress Oxide ink in Black Soot to bring out the dimensions of the die and give the pieces a more defined realistic feel then the more cartoonish look that the plain cardstock gave. Once all of the pieces had been cut and inked I assembled them together in preparation to mount them on the background panel.
Before I assembled the card I next created the sentiment. Per my usual method, I utilized the brown cardstock that I was going to be incorporating as the mat for the card for this step. I chose my message from the Spellbinders Whimsical Butterflies stamp set (STP-069) and then with clear embossing ink I stamped the message in the middle of the cardstock. I then applied and heat set a bright white embossing power with my heat tool. Once the powder had cooled, using my Hero Arts nested tag dies I cut out the sentiment tag. This method is great because it allows you to take otherwise wasted cardstock and still utilize it. For some additional visual appeal I added some flat-back gems to the sentiment tag.
The last phase of construction was to assemble everything. I positioned and adhered all of the loose pieces to the background panel and then gave it and the mat a trim to their final dimension. I then adhered the composite to a cream colored card base and called the project complete.
