This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is "Shimmer and Shine." I added a shiny silver-embossed edge to my trio of cards that pay homage to clever adventurous women.
I started by stamping images from Tim Holtz's Pathwork and Mixed Media 2 stamp sets onto Strathmore Mixed media paper.
Next I smeared on acrylic paint.
I wanted some texture, so I cut some panels out of an old book and Tim Holtz's Crosshatch die. I glued them on to my backgrounds.
This was a little TOO much texture/patterning, so I toned it down with more paint. When the paint dried, I stamped on a circle from Dina Wakley's Text Scribbles stamp set. I then stamped and fussy-cut the elements I wanted to add to the front.
I didn't want to lose all sense of the plus-sign design, so I outlined some of them in black. All of the women are from Tim Holtz's Photobooth Vintage Photo set and the words are from his Noble Gents set.
I heat-embossed the edges with silver embossing powder before I glued everything down. I left the embossing a bit "texturey" rather than blending it completely.
At this point, you may notice that none of my original stamping is even visible. Why bother stamping stuff that I end up painting over? I've asked myself the same question. I think it just gets the old gears turning-- I stamp something to start the process even if that stamping disappears later on. To me, it's a starting point that is much less intimidating than white paper.
I do love images from the past and I hope these cards give a little bit of the spotlight to these women and what their stories may have been.
These are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:
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I'm excited to see how you add some shimmer and shine this week, so don't forget to upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. You'll inspire others and will be eligible to score that sweet $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!
