SIMON SAYS BE MONOTONE!!!

Hi Bloggers!!!  This week, Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge is all about ONE COLOR....ANY COLOR!!  Sound boring?  Well...it's not!  It's fascinating to see what you can come up with only using one color and the shades of that color.

I LOVE BROWN!!!  So I chose to do my piece in shades of BROWN on an extra large tag.

 Kaz of The Little Shabby Shed recently sent me a beautiful large tag she had made for me and I loved the size!  I've not seen them in stores where I live, so I made my own.  It measures 8 1/2" x 4".  This is the first one of these that I've made.  

The very first thing I did to my blank manila tag was to use Tim Holtz' DREAM Movers and Shapers die cut and cut it in the right hand corner.

I used ALL of Tim Holtz' browns in his Distress Inks line; including the NEW Seasonal Fall color - GATHERED TWIGS.  I am IN LOVE with this brown!  I started distressing my tag from the lightest to the darkest brown Distress Inks:  Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain.  Next, I used Tim's splatter technique to distress the background.  To do this, you simply cup your fingers and spritz some water into your cupped fingers.  Then flick your wrist and quickly spread your fingers, releasing the droplets of water onto your inked surface.  Because Distress Inks are water soluble; the water will begin to react with the ink, leaving a really cool random splatter pattern.  Then just blot  and/or heat tool the tag.

I was watching a Dyan Reaveley tutorial the other day and loved her idea of not using a block underneath a stamp when you're stamping if you're wanting a partial print.  So, I used that technique on my background of this tag.  I added portions of a mesh background from Tim Holtz' Ultimate Grunge stamp set.  I stamped it in Coffee Archival Ink...a rich, wonderful dark brown permanent ink color.   

Next I wanted to give some texture to my tag.  I took a little of Claudine Hellmuth's Gesso and added a few drops of Coffee Archival Ink Refill Re-Inker to "brown it up".  Remember...I can only use ONE COLOR and you can tint the white Gesso!  Then I laid an alphabet stencil on top of my tag and swiped the colored gesso over the stencil with a Ranger Craft Scraper.  (Immediately wash your stencil after using Gesso on your stencil.  You don't want the Gesso to harden on it).  Then I lightly heat tooled the Gesso to set it.  The Gesso stays raised and it feels neat to run your fingers over it.  

I cut a strap out of Plain Grungeboard from Tim Holtz' Hardware Findings die cut and a Grungeboard butterfly from Tim Holtz' Mini Butterflies Movers and Shapers die cut.  The strap was inked with Coffee Archival Ink, dried and then inked with embossing ink.  I then sprinkled Antiquities Rust, Espresso and Mushroom Adirondak Embossing Powders (all brown tones) and heat set them.  The butterfly was inked with Tea Dye Distress Ink and then stamped with a script stamp using Coffee Archival Ink.  The Pen Nib for the butterfly's body is alcohol inked using Espresso Alcohol Ink.  

I found the vintage picture of this angelic little boy in my computer files and edited it to add a few more sepia tones.  I sized the picture 2" x 2" to fit onto a Tim Holtz' Square Fragment.  I first alcohol inked the fragment using Ginger and Caramel Alcohol Inks.  Then I removed the alcohol ink from the center of the fragment by using some Alcohol Ink Blending Solution.  Next I used some Glossy Accents to attach the vintage picture to the fragment.  I cut out a larger square out of kraft paper, distressed the edges with a Tonic Paper Distresser and then inked the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I glued the kraft paper in place, wrapped some brown-ish twine around the tag, tied it off and then glued my vintage portrait on top.  

Underneath my vintage fragment picture, I stamped one of Tim's Sayings ... "In dreams we catch glimpses of life larger than our own."  That stamp is from Tim's Mini Ornates stamp set.  I love that saying and thought it went well with the "DREAM" die cut.  I stamped the saying in Coffee Archival Ink and to add texture, I sprinkled Ranger Clear Embossing Powder over the top of it and heat set it.  

At the bottom of the tag, I used Tim's Filmstrip Ribbon and repeated the vintage photograph of the little boy four more times; sized it and glued it onto the filmstrip using Glossy Accents.  I then glued the filmstrip onto the tag.  To the left of the filmstrip is another of the Pen Nibs that has been alcohol inked with Espresso Alcohol Ink.  

As you can see...using one color doesn't have to be boring!  Be creative in how you use texture, mix colors and blend shades of one color to create a monotone masterpiece!

If you've not stopped by Simon Says Stamp and Show's Challenge yet, you really need to do so!  My Design Teammates have once again outdone themselves to bring you such delicious monotone art!  Check it out!!!

Then create and enter your Magnificent Monotone in our challenge.  You could win a......

 

 from our generous sponsor!  You could also be selected and recognized as one of the TOP THREE entries for the week!  So, get busy!!  I can't wait to see where your creativity takes YOU!