This weeks theme on the
Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is "Depths of Distress". A few days back I was watching news reports about both the Eurozone crisis and the collapse of parts of the banking industry in various places around the world and it started one or two wheels turning in my head, but then I eventually thought no more of it. When it came time to think about this week's challenge I had this idea of making an updated version of the Japanese proverb of the 3 Wise Monkeys - "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". Luckily, in my
house mansion, apart from my craft room, an entire wing of my spacious estate is devoted solely to stamps of animals and 3 of the rooms contain my entire collection of monkey stamps in various positions :)
A-n-y-w-a-y... long story short, on my way to my stampatorium I kept getting lost between my golf course and private day spa. Without access to my collection of monkey stamps, I had to abandon the monkey idea completely! That's when I thought back to the banking stuff I had been watching on tv and although they'd used different terminology, it wasn't a huge leap to realise that one thing the interviewed bankers kept implying was that they'd seen no evil, heard no evil and spoken no evil. So there you have it, three '50s type bankers, complete with stylish modern accessories representing an update to the ancient Japanese proverb!
I spritzed the background card with a little water then dabbed on spots of Distress Stain all over it. When it was dry I went over it with a few layers of white Distress Stain to soften the colour and stamped the Tim Holtz numbers stamp on top, finally finishing with more white Distress Stain. I also wiped it with a baby wipe to make it a little more grainy.
I cut out the suits and hats from a sheet of Kraft Resist paper and coloured them with Distress Ink (you could also use Distress Stain but Distress Ink pad and blending tool give a much stronger contrast in the glazed areas of the Kraft Resist). The shirts and ties were cut freehand with scissors (I didn't even draw them first, I just kept snipping until they looked right. I know, I know, crafting without a safety net - I live life on the edge!). The ties were coloured with Barn Door Distress Ink.
I stamped the clowns from the Big Top stamp set and cut out the central face from each image and coloured them with Promarkers. The accessories were cut from black cardstock and I cut the ipod from black and white card and added twisted wires for the headphones. I cut a half inch from the bottom of the two background figures so that the added height of the middle figure would make it look like the group was looming threateningly over the viewer. The two background figures were mounted on black foam to raise them above the background, then the middle figure was further mounted above the duo behind. I mounted the whole piece onto black card and then onto the front of a white greeting card blank.
So there you have it, a bit of crafting, a bit of Japanese religious history and a bit of topical commentary on society - what more can you want? lol
Apology: It has been brought to my attention that some parts of my story in the first two paragraphs are out-and-out lies - specifically in the parts that mention my home. I've read and re-read it but try as I might I can't find anything wrong. Still, I'd be failing in my duty, dear reader, if I didn't point it out to you!
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! :)
Originally, I was going to colour the letters but after stamping them I decided I really liked the in-your-face starkness of the black and white characters and left them as they were. It also makes for a great contrast with the richly coloured background, so RESULT! :) In case you were wondering, the font is Rockwell Extra Bold, though I think I stretched it vertically a little before cutting it out on my Cricut.
I started out by stamping the number background in black and then coloured it by playing whach-a-mole on my card with some colours of Distress Stains. After cutting out the letters and the shadow layer, I stamped on the letters with the Going Somewhere, Dance Card and Steampunk stamp sets. The whole thing was matted onto black card and then onto my white card blank. I think if you're going to say "thank you", you might as well say it as loudly as you can, and I think this card certainly does that! :) 
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! :)
