KINGS AND QUEENS...and maybe a Jack.

I hope everybody had a great weekend!  Winter CHA is underway and I'm sure the showroom floor is just brimming with the latest and greatest new products that will soon be hitting the stores!  I know I, for one, am so excited about all of the new Tim Holtz and Ranger products...among others!

Check out SIMON SAYS STAMP for all of your crafting needs.  They will be carrying all of the new as well as your current favorite things!

THE SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW challenge theme this week is: KINGS AND QUEENS.  What a great subject!  Stop by the challenge blog and see all of the really creative, fun ideas my Design Teammates have posted for you this week!  

My piece for this week is a sample that I made for Ranger that was not chosen for CHA.  But, that means that I get to share this one with you!  It's a 6x6 chipboard piece that focuses on the use of Distress Stains.  I titled it "MAGIC"; reminiscent of clowns doing card tricks and other magical, mysterious things you would see at a circus or carnival.

Besides the King of Clubs and Queen of Hearts, I added the Jack of Diamonds to my piece.  He is part of the set of playing cards on Tim Holtz' Poker Face Texture Fades.  I didn't want to offend him by not including him this week.  (smile)

I began by distressing a piece of manila cardstock with Scattered Straw and Broken China Distress Stains.  I did this by rubbing the Distress Stains next to each other on my craft sheet and then spritzing them with water in my Mister Bottle.  Next I dragged my manila cardstock through the color and heat tooled it dry.  I repeated this process until I achieved the blended color that I wanted on my background.  Then I cut out a 6x6 piece and glued it onto the 6x6 chipboard using 1/2"  Wonder Double Sided Tape.  Finally, I dusted the background with Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls Powder, then laid it to the side.

I stamped the clowns and the clock/spinning wheel from Tim Holtz' The Big Top stamp set onto manila cardstock using Jet Black Archival Ink.  I embossed the three playing cards on to manila cardstock that had been distressed with Scattered Straw Distress Stain.   I then lightly brushed over the embossed areas with some Black Soot Distress Ink on a Blending Tool.  I colored the "J,Q, and K" and the diamond, heart and spade using a Small Sakura Water Brush, and applying a touch of Barn Door Distress Stain I added to the brush.

Next, I colored in the clown faces using the Small Sakura Water Brush and the following Distress Stain colors to add detail to their faces and hats:  Scattered Straw, Barn Door, Dusty Concord, Tumbled Glass,Broken China, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey.  

Next I rubbed the edges of the playing cards and the perimeter of the 6x6 board with Distress Embossing Ink and then sprinkled Black Sparkle Embossing Powder over the edges covered with embossing ink.  If I got too much in an area, I simply took a small dry paint brush and brushed away the excess powder before heat setting it.  I heat set the edges so that they would have a "magical, mystical" sparkly contrast to the background.  

Next I inked the Game Spinner and fastener and "MAGIC" - letters from Tim Holtz' Alphabet Soup Grungeboard Letters with the Distress Embossing Ink and covered them with the Black Sparkle Embossing Powder.  Then I heat set them.  I love the contrast between the teal-ish background and the sparkly black letters.  The Game Spinner really stands out against the background on the clock/spinning wheel that has been colorized with Scattered Straw Distress Stain and then some Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls Powder added to the center circle.  Barn Door Distress Stain is painted around the perimeter.  

I chose some decorative Grungeboard brackets from Tim Holtz' Elements collection to attach the clowns to the background.  This also allowed a pocket for the playing cards to be placed.  The Stars are also from the Elements collection.  I inked all of them with Distress Embossing Ink, sprinkled them with Gold Embossing Powder and heat set them.  Then I lightly rubbed some Black Soot Distress Ink over them to dull the shine and give them a more vintage appearance.  Then I glued them all in place...pop dotting the larger star over "MAGIC".  I pop dotted the clock/spinning wheel in place to give it more dimension.  Finally, I slipped the playing cards in their rightful place, among the clowns.  Hmm...I wonder what cards the lead clown has up his sleeve?!?!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something "magical" using "Kings and Queens" as your theme.  Then post your entry to our blog.  You could be the winner of our sponsor's very generous weekly prize of a.....

  

You could also be selected as one of our TOP THREE artists for the week.  In doing so, you will receive our TOP THREE BLINKIE award to proudly display on your blog.  So, get busy and get creating!