Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Monochrome!

I am a little bit in love with this!

I am not very brave. I can sit a five hour science exam and really enjoy it but the thought of entering a card challenge has kept me captive for just a little over 15 weeks- because, well, Aspergers. In that time, I have visited the site and drooled over the other people's entries and planned what I would do.

Monochrome is how I roll.

Then the other day, I looked again and thought to myself, this is it! You can do this and because it is Autumn (my very favourite season), the time just felt right. Another undeniable sign from the cosmos came when I saw that the challenge was monochrome! That means black and white to me.....black and white thinking is how Aspergers is on a day to day basis! Cool huh?!

So here, without (much) further ado, is my submission for the SimonSaysStampMondayChallenge! I hope that you like it and will make one for yourself. In case you want to, I have provided some step by steps for you.

So what do we need-
Most of my items are by Tim Holtz. if that changes, I will put a note beside it to let you know.
-Card blank
-A sheet of white card stock spare (Cut this in half to make two pieces. One exactly the same size as your card and one a bit smaller)
-Plain black card stock
-Ivory pearl card stock
-Washi tape in black and white and also a slight tea dyed colour.
-Distress Oxide inks- antique linen, black soot, hickory smoke and iced spruce
-Distress inks- black soot, tea dye, picket fence

-Harlequin diamond shifter stencil
-Halloween stamp set. I am using Mr Bones (#CMS345)
-Halloween quote chip
-Label letters
-Foliage dies. I am using some of the Funky Foliage (#663087) by Sizzix
-Embossing ink
-Black fine embossing powder
-White Nuvo Drops
-Ideology white roses
-Ideology film strip
-Cream cotton lace
-DecoArt Americana metallic lustre- champagne ice
-Your usual card making needs including a good clear dry glue (I love my Nuvo glue) and I have used a sewing machine to sew the card layers together.

I REALLY need to link with some thumbnails! next time 😁

Well that is quite a list! You can swap things out and almost any foliage will work. The same goes for the embellishments. Some tiny little flat back pearls would work as the white details on the spray. Have a look at what you have handy.

I am always shocked in a good way with Oxide backgrounds. The great thing is that no two are the same and the only drawback is that no two are the same.

So the first step is to get some colour on the smaller of the two pieces of card. I have done this with the oxides, beginning with the antique linen and building up colour, using the black soot least of all.

It is difficult to see the black tape here. In the next photo it is clearer.

On the other piece of spare white card, make a frame from the washi tape. 

It was about now that I fell in love!

Use the shifter stencil to make some Distress Oxide diamonds in the greys and black. Then strengthen the black on the edges by inking that with Distress Ink in black soot and also make a small glow in the centre with Distress Ink in tea dye. You don't need very much.

I like to keep the diamonds quite misty and keep changing the colours.

The next step was to go to the sewing machine and stitch twice around the edge with black thread. Don't be too neat and go around twice. Then carefully roll the edges of the card to stop it being too flat.

The pity of it was that that terrific black bit was destined to be hidden by the skeleton!

Rolling the edges makes them interesting and a little distressed. Careful not to tear!

So far, so good! That is the background basically finished and it is time to think about a focal point. I used a pearl card stock in ivory because I wanted the skull to shine out of the card the way bones do. And I embossed him in fine black which means that there is a texture change with the main focus of the card. It is subtle but it works well against the distressed background.

Loving the sheen and the rich colour.

He needed to be fussy cut next!

Now those of you who are paying close attention will notice that I have made a small border in the last photo.

There is just enough brown on the film strip to pick up the colour of the tea dye ink in the centre of the card and compliment it without stopping the card from being monochrome. It warms it up though.

I started out with the lace and glued that on and then went back to add some film strip (loooove this stuff!). The Nuvo glue was great for this because it dries crystal clear.

This step really brings them to life.

I made a whole lot of foliage next from the black card stock. When it was dry, I picked up a bit of picket fence with my finger (think applying eye shadow) and highlighted the topography of the leaves.

Leave the foliage at the very back unhighlighted. It adds to the depth of the bouquet. 

I did go back in with some metallic lustre and highlight further because it was not quite enough.

I used some dimensional foam dots to bring the skull out and give me some room to add the foliage and embellishments.

The various leaves made a spray of foliage around the skull. I then added the white Nuvo drop dots in singles and groups of three. 

Use hot glue to put the roses on. They need to be really secure.

Finally, some white roses just touched with black finished the picture.

Careful distressing with sandpaper is a game changer!

All that was left to do then was to lightly distress the chosen quote chip with sand paper and add a second line with the label letters.

I love the way that sanding takes the 'brand new' look away from the quote chips.

And there you have it! A spooky enough card for anyone and I am super happy with it. Here goes and fingers crossed!

Layers of detail make these cards

The wand just HAD to make another appearance!

Do join in with the challenge - rich coming for me I know! It is super fun and a great way to focus your card making. I may even make another one!

***********************UPDATE***********************
Before I disappear though - there has been an update after the competition was drawn and although I did not win the main prize, my card was picked by the DT to be put into the Designer Spotlight!

I could not believe my eyes!

And do you know what? I value that so much more than a prize draw! This means the world to me and I am now hooked on this. I reckon that I am in for the long haul!

Happy crafting!
Debbie
xx

DIY Tombstones

Halloween with a ghost story! All the ingredients for a great fright fest right there!

Its almost time for Halloween and as most card makers (and other crafters) know,  this is the most fun that you can have at your craft table! All of those ghosties, ghoulies and vampires not to mention a zombie or two are just a blast and you can let your creativity run wild.

There are so many elements to these cards but for today, I want to concentrate on those tombstones.

I love to create cards with scenes sometimes which tell a story. This year, ghosts and graveyards have caught my imagination and that meant tombstones! 

Once you have the idea down, you can experiment with different shapes.

Now you can buy some great dies to make these but that still leaves you with a flat and somewhat uninteresting piece of card or paper a bit of a far cry from a real, aged, dimensional and pitted headstone, the sort that you might find in a very old graveyard.

I spooked myself making this one - there is something very chilling about two children alone in an old graveyard as dusk gathers, one sitting on her own headstone.....

So enter the noble art of the faux finish (another love of mine as my regular readers will attest). This is an easy to achieve effect and it will add an extra something to your work. 
I am starting from scratch for those of you who have not got a tombstone die  and I will show you how to draw a tombstone. If you have a die, please use that and just go from the cutting bit onwards.

So what will we need?
- a piece of grey board (or chip board in some places). Mine is about 1 mm thick. I am sorry but I do not know what this is in old money. I found mine on eBay in packs of 10 A4 sheets.
-white acrylic paint. I am using Snow White from DecoArt Americana
-Distress Ink- I love Black Soot.
-black marker pen
-white gel pen
-some thin alphabet dies and hearts, the sort of thing that you might find on a headstone. I love Thinlits by Sizzix
-a wood grain embossing folder. my favourite is the Tim Holtz 3D one. Seems an odd choice since we are going for stone but bear with me!
-water spray bottle, scissors and a die cutting machine.
-your usual crafting needs

Okay, so here we go! To begin with, draw a simple tombstone shape on your  grey board....

Start simple with a classic shape. You can then progress to other shapes to add variety.

Now that is nice, but it has no dimension at all and we need some of that so make a second line from the top to the right hand side.

You can already see that it has shape and dimension!

Simply draw a line as though you wanted to widen the initial shape.
Now cut it out with a sharp pair of scissors....

The best thing is that you drawing does not have to be perfect! These grave stones get wonky and pitted with age and elements - just say that is what you were going for!

Make a few of these at a time because you can put them away to use later once the main parts are done.

Now you have a piece of flat card and if you are die cutting the shape, this is where you come in. The next thing to do is to add texture.
A wood grain folder may seem like an odd choice to do this with but actually it works well because it is subtle. 
The first thing to do is to spritz both sides of the cardboard shape with plain water and put it into the embossing folder with the usual 'sandwich' of plates.

Make a few at once to save time later 

Now run it through the machine three times. 

Magic is happening!

Next, let's bring out a bit of the texture by inking with Black Soot Distress ink....

It still looks a bit wood grainy but that will disappear in a bit.

Of course, the dimensional bit on the right hand side is not there for the fun of it! Make that bit darker with the black ink. You will see it easier on the next shot.

But where there is a shadow, there MUST be a highlight to compliment it. Put some of the white acrylic paint onto your mat and dab it with your finger to spread it out a bit. Take a tiny amount on your finger (think applying eye shadow) and rub it lightly across the grain lines on the front of the gravestone only.....

It doesn't have to be perfectly on the line either, some blurring of the line will help with the aged appearance.

As you can see from the photo above, this makes the black on the side stand out and gives a lot of texture. Keep adding and layering a bit at a time until you are happy with the effect. Concentrate the highlight to the top and the left hand side.

It is time to add the letters.
Now you will not have much room so I advise sticking to 'RIP' and some nice smaller motifs like hearts and crosses.

I have swapped to my Side Kick but you do not have to.

 I love the Thinlits letters for this. They are deep enough to etch the message into the card and break the paper fibres so that you can dig them out but they do not cut all the way through. The card is still damp too so it makes it all easier.

Run it through your die cutting machine.....

The side Kick is right at home on the glass mat! It HATES my wooden desk top and will NOT stick to it!

Gently remove the letters and motif (some of the P came away with mine but that doesn't matter). 

It may be my eyes but I am sure that this pic is blurry! Sorry about that! You can still see what is needed though.

Now take something sharp and precise. I love my trusty surgical scalpel for this job. The idea is to dig the top layers of the letters out, leaving some card behind.

Channel your inner neurosurgeon!

When you have done this, it is time to do some final highlights and shadows - as you can see, the lettering is nice and deep but not weathered enough so.....

It is starting to look like something!

Go back in with the black marker and make some shadows on the right hand side of the letters. Make some coming down from the top too to show deeper fissures in the stone.

All of my shadows are on the right and the highlights are on the left. This must reflect the general direction of the light to look realistic in the scene. However, I choose this direction because I am right handed. if you are left handed, do the opposite and make sure that you back it up with a light source coming the other way when you assemble the card.

Next to every shadow must be a highlight so go in with the white gel pen and make the highlights. Dot and dab to make them look more like pitted stone. A continuous and unbroken like looks too new.

The marker shadows can be a bit harsh. I went back in with my water brush and a bit of Black soot  to soften it.

And there you have it! Experiment and see what you can come up with. 

RIP is a great go-to and you can put it on most of the headstones.

I have added some grass made from plain black paper to fill gaps.

When you build your scene, always start from the back and build forward.

These gravestones can be stacked in quite thickly and angled to show where they have collapsed with time. Have a play!

Happy Halloween!!
Hugs
Debbie
xx