Monday 24 June 2013

Queen of all she surveys

The theme over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Stripes".   I love stripes!  I suggested this theme because stripes have a strong, graphic boldness, yet at the same time they offer a lot of varied possibilities - crisp, distressed, horizontal, vertical, diagonal - there are so many ways to go with them!

I started out with a plain manilla 6x3 tag (something else I love, they're a great surface for stamping and ink work).  I stamped the face and then stamped it on some post-it notes and cut them out to use as a mask, which I applied to the face.  With the face protected I used an ink blending tool to apply various distress inks around the tag and then stamped the text, the black scratches that just peek out to the right of the crown and the black dots.  I also splattered with a little water to give some light spots in places.

The crown was a notepaper stamp, over stamped with text scallops and the curvy chessboard design.  I coloured it with promarkers and some picket fence distress stain, applied with a waterbrush then cut it out and fixed it in place.  The letters for "BOSS" were cut from the subway sign stamp, coloured with promarker and fixed in place.

The crown was much wider than the tag so I cut off the excess from the left side and used some of it as a collar for Queeny - that's what I've decided I'm going to call her from now! :)  I removed the mask and used promarkers for her heart and beauty mark and coloured the lips with some Fired Brick distress ink rubbed onto my craft mat, spritzed with water and applied with a waterbrush.

My first thought was to restamp her face on some coloured paper and tear it into strips to apply onto the tag, when I realised that basically that's what the post-it notes I'd used as a mask already were!  I tore strips from the mask and fixed them to her face in the appropriate places.  I love how the strips have the text on them in some parts and were coloured by some of the ink I applied to the tag.  I especially love the line you can see where the two post-it notes were joined together, I think it's a great detail and I love happy accidents like that! :)  Finally I edged her face with a grey promarker to give a little extra depth to the piece.

There you go, that's about it!  This is one of my favourite pieces of recent times, I hope you like it too! :)

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!

21 comments :

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

This is old world meets funky! I LOVE it so! Her striped crown is AWESOME! I love the striations in her skin as well! What a gorgeous tag Dan!

misteejay said...

Great tag Dan. I love the way the stripes have worked on the face.

Toni xx

Sid said...

Great colour and bold effect on this tag Dan !!

Candy C said...

Dan...this tag is TOO COOL! I also loved reading your step by step. That face is fab! I have never thought about using my mask as part of the design but NOW I will! :) I also love your bold colors...I think a signature of your work. Beautiful job! <3 Candy

Shoshi said...

Love the tag, Dan. An unusual theme too. Like you I love stripes, which is probably why I am such a fan of tabby cats!

Meihsia Liu said...

Hi, Dan, this tag is fabulous! I love the beautiful bright colors and all the gorgeous stamped details. Such a wonderful design! :)

Maura said...

I do! Love it! Your colors are wonderfully crisp and bold. Great suggestion, those stripes, and you did an amazing job incorporating them into your tag. I do like how the DT figures out so many different takes on the challenge.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the AWESOME tutorial! She is FAB <3

Craft Addicts - Tracy Evans said...

I love how,you used the mask as part of,your design Dan. Imlove the boldness of this piece and the stripes work so,well with the facial image. Love her crown too. Tracy x

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

Wow!! Cool piece, Dan! I love the combination of textures and colors!

*mwah*
Steph
Simon Says Stamp!

Suzanne C said...

Fantastic idea for the challenge! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Love the image and the word Boss! Fun and quirky design!

Karen Schroeder said...

Wow! Fantastic tag...absolutely love it!

Karin said...

Wow this tag is fantastic!!

Michelle said...

I really admire your stamping. You manage to create such unexpected patterns. I love it!

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

I love the contrast between the yellow/green background and the striking primarily red portrait. Blessings!

Linda Kunsman said...

I love the boldness of this despite that beautiful face!!

DragonSlayer - Sarah said...

Love this! That face stamp is great, but the background colors just make it pop! Thanks for sharing! :-)

Carole said...

Wonderful take on the challenge Dan, bright, beautiful and definitely pleasing to the eye!

Words and Pictures said...

I think it's completely fabulous - the stripey face is amazing, and she still retains her beauty even under this funky treatment!
Alison x

Sandra said...

Such a fun tag, Dan! Love your funky style! Hugs, Sandra

Judy Biggerstaff said...

You certainly made this one yours, love the stripes in the crown. Her face is so beautiful, great tag, Dan.

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