Monday 27 May 2013

Into the Woods


The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "into the woods".  Those of you who are regular visitors here may remember I had another "into the woods" themed post a few weeks ago.  It's my favourite musical, so I was excited when I saw what this week's theme was.  I immediately sat down and watched the show again, looking for inspiration.  Although all the characters in that show head off into the woods at some point, Red Riding Hood is the one that I most associate with a trip through the woods, so she is my inspiration for this piece.

Of course, your piece needn't be as literal an interpretation as mine - anything woods or wood related, no matter how loosely, is fine for the challenge!  I had originally planned to make a single tag for this, but given the size of the face stamp I used there really wasn't enough room left to show much of the woods, so I went with a two tag spread.

I started by applying Chipped Sapphire distress ink to my tags with an ink blending tool and then stamped and coloured the house.  The tags weren't quite tall enough for my purpose so I added a pieces of green cardstock from the Lost and Found pad to the bottom of the right-hand tag to bring it level to where Red's face would end.

I punched a circle of white card to act as the moon and fixed it in place, then I stamped multiple copies of the tree from the Winter Sketchbook stamp set at various angles and coloured them with a black distress marker.  The path was cut from another piece of Lost and Found card and fixed in place.

The face was stamped on another manilla tag, meaning I didn't have to colour the skin, though I did add some colour to the cheeks, lips and eyes (also colouring the whites of the eyes with a white pen).  The hood is made from 2 pieces of card from the Lost and found pad, shaded with promarkers.  The face and hood were fixed in place on the tags then I printed the text from the computer, cut it out, distress and mounted it in place.  (The font is called Blackadder if any of you like it and want to use it yourselves).

I love large stamps, particularly of faces, they're so versatile, you can stamp the whole thing or cut it up and just use a small part of it.  The girl's face on this piece has such a neutral expression, I think it allows the viewer to project their own idea of what she might be thinking or feeling onto her.  I can relax now and leave you lot to do that last little piece of work yourselves! :)

Supplies I used included:

Our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp is offering a $50 gift voucher as the prize again this week, just make something for the challenge and you could the winner! The winner will be chosen at random from those who enter the challenge, so why not give it a try? At the very least why not head over to the Challenge Blog to see how the other members of the design team have interpreted this weeks theme! :)

Don't forget, Simon Says Stamp have a great Facebook page too!  Check them out here!

14 comments :

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

This whole wooded scene rocks!!! I love the dark set, and Little Red is just amazing!!! Using 2 tags as the base is just too cool! You have the best ideas! Amazing amazing ART!

misteejay said...

Dan this is super - very atmospheric. Great card.

Toni xx

Candy C said...

Dan...your dual tags really worked into such a cool Into The Woods piece! Love your Red Riding Hood creation from Tim's Classics #5 lady. How creative you are to come up with such a cool scene combining things I would have never thought of! Love it! <3 Candy

Hels Sheridan said...

as ever Dan you have created a masterpiece... and Into the Woods is now my fave musical after you introduced it to me... tis a brilliant theme... did you chose it? Hope you having a goodly day! xx

Maura said...

I really like the way you bring different stories into your work.

Sandra said...

Love the little red riding hood scene! Beautifully done! Hugs, Sandra

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

Fantastic piece Dan, love the scene and the atmosphere you have created with this piece . Her stare is perfect here especially with the backdrop on the two tags. Tracy x

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

Neat interpretation of the theme, Dan! I actually thought of Little Red Riding Hood when I read the title too!

*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!

Words and Pictures said...

Love her as Red Riding Hood - fabulous diptych!
Alison x

The Scrapbook Lady UK said...

that's fabulous.... how have I never found your blog till now??? jenx

Carole said...

Wonderful work Dan, and Little Red really brought everything to life. Loved it.

Thanks so much for dropping by and saying hello. Your words made me smile, thank you Dan.

Rowan Tree Printables said...

Dude. This is so atmospheric and gorgeous. I love the texture so much!

Unknown said...

Wow, I LOVE this, your artwork is awesome Dan. I looked at that face a few times before I recognised it, it's amazing how much the red riding hood transforms it and your colouring is wonderful. Love the whole spooky scene. Thanks for sharing. Maddy x

Suzanne C said...

You and Tracy make this stamp so tempting but I know I would purchase to aspire to your use of it and to fail. :) Love this fun and quirky Little Red Riding Hood!

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