ODE TO SUMMER!!

What a great Monday morning!  

It's summertime and the sun is shining!  It's just the perfect day for  
 Simon Says Stamp and Show's Monday Challenge 
this week themed "Ode To Sunshine!"

 

I created this little wall hanging and decorated it with all sorts of things that remind me of summer; including a picture of my twin grandsons at Myrtle Beach last summer.

Want to make something like this for yourself?  Here is how I did it ...

1. Begin with eight pieces of chipboard cut into 10" x 2" strips.  Cut the corners with a CropADile Chomper 1/2" corner radius. Glue the strips together to create 4 strips.  This gives them more thickness and makes for a prettier project.  Cut two 1" by 8 1/2" strips of chipboard to create the back "rails" that will hold your fence piece together.

2. Paint all of the pieces with white gesso. Let dry or heat set. Also, my pieces are not put together yet.  I am just showing you in this photograph how they will line up. (You may not want to do this gesso step, but I wanted a white base to start with so that my colors would be truer).

3. Paint a base coat of Fresco Finish Mermaid and either heat set or let air dry.  Then follow with a layer of Fresco Finish Crackle Glaze where ever you want the fence to crackle.

4. Add a top layer of Fresco Finish Snowflake and let dry.  Then distress the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

5. Add the supporting "rails" to the back side of the fence by spacing the upright fence pieces evenly on the 8 1/2" rail.  Use your Tim Holtz Design Ruler and measure 2" up from the bottom and down from the top and draw a line across the fence pieces.  Add 1/2" Scor Tape to each fence piece.  Make sure the fence pieces are even and straight then add the rail across the tape.

6. Mix Gathered Twigs Reinker with a little bit of Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste.  Randomly place the Crafter's Workshop Mini Ledger Stencil on the fence front and scrape the colored paste through areas of the stencil.  Heat set or air dry.

Making the wooden frame around the picture: 

7. I first created a black and white photograph out of a color photograph of my twin grandsons on the beach.  I then sized the photograph 2 3/4" x 3 3/4".  Then I glued it onto a piece of kraft cardstock and cut it out, leaving a little edge that I could glue my sticks onto.

8. I gathered a few twigs together and began wrapping them with a dark colored wire.  Then simply lay some 1/4" Scor Tape or hot glue onto the kraft edge around the photograph and glue the sticks in place.  I glued down the top and bottom pieces first and then added the two side pieces.  

Making the flower pot and flowers:

9. I needed a half flat flower pot so I used a little clay pot that I had as a mold and using Paperclay, I created a little half pot.  Mold the clay in place with just a little water on your fingers and then let it completely dry.  When dry, I painted the pot with (appropriately enough) Adirondak Terra Cotta Paint.  I then dry brushed a little white Gesso onto the pot to soften the bright color.

10. To create the big pink peony, I first shaded some white card stock using Permanent Red Tint, Magenta and White Pan Pastels.  For the leaves, I used Chrom. Oxide Green Pan Pastel.  Then, using Sizzix Susan's Garden Peony, I die cut all of the pieces.

Here you can see all of the pieces used to create the peony with the Pan Pastels added to make the flower look more lifelike.

Susan's tool kit is so important when making the Susan's Garden flowers. Everything you will need is in the kit.  Here, I am creating depth on each of the petals on a foam mat and one of the tools.  All of the instructions are included with each flower and you can also go to the Sizzix website and download the PDF files and view "how to" videos for each flower.  I also made a big sunflower that is included in the pot.  I simply die cut the sunflower out of golden colored cardstock and added a few highlights with Pan Pastels before putting the flower together.  (Use a spray sealer to seal the chalk onto the petals before putting the flowers together).

11. To create the bright yellow-ish custom colored ribbon that I wanted to use on my piece, I used simply cut some of Tim Holtz' White Crinkle Ribbon and laid it onto my non stick craft sheet.  Then I used primarily Mustard Seed Distress Ink by laying it, pad side down directly onto the craft sheet and pulled the ribbon underneath it, adding the color.  Then I randomly added some Wild Honey Distress Ink onto the ribbon, sprited it with water, wadded it up and heat set it.  Wah-lah!  Instant golden yellow ribbon! 

Creating the die cut butterfly:

I discovered something that makes a really cool effect for a die cut butterfly.

12.  Take some white tissue paper and spritz whatever color of ink spray you want on it.  Then gently raise up the tissue paper and heat set it.  Add more spray if you want deeper color.  Set aside.  Then die cut your butterfly.  In this case, I decided to create what resembles a Monarch butterfly.  So, I used the Memory Box Vivienne butterfly die cut twice using black cardstock.  

Use Glossy Accents lightly on the underside of the die cut and lay it onto the colored tissue paper. Cut around the outside edges of the butterfly. Then add Glossy Accents to the underneath side of the die cut butterfly on all of the die cut areas. Take the other die cut butterfly and stick it directly behind the first one, sandwiching the tissue paper in between the wings.

Glue on the body/antenna and cover with Glossy Accents and let dry.

Now put it all together and create your Ode To Summer masterpiece!

The top half of the fence with the Embossing Paste detail and the sweet Monarch Butterfly. 

The half "terra cotta" flower pot with the beautiful peony and large sunflower.  (I added a piece of styrofoam and a little excelsior grass and plastic greenery along with the yellow bow to the pot).  The pot and styrofoam were hot glued onto the fence.  

Closer picture of the flowers.  So fun to make!!!

The bottom of the fence with "Post Card" heat embossed using Antiquities Rust Embossing Powder.  This place looked sort of bare and sometimes something as simple as a stamp can fill up the space beautifully.

And finally...the wired twig frame with my sweet grandsons.  I added a little piece of yellow ribbon to the frame and hung it in place, draped over one of the pickets in the fence.  I also added some smaller daisies and a mini rose that I had left over from my "Good To Be Green" project.  I also made a little bee from Wendy Vecchi's  Busy Making Art stamp set. I stamped him onto Specialty Stamping Paper and colored him with a Detailer Water Brush and Scattered Straw Distress Ink on the body and Broken China Distress Ink on the wings. I added some acetate wings with Glossy Accents and glued him into place.

Crop a couple of holes at the top, tie it up with ribbon, add a shabby bow and you're all set!  I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial on making this dimensional ode to Summer!

Now it's YOUR turn to create something summery and join the fun on our challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show's Monday Challenge.  
You could be the lucky winner of our weekly random 

$50.00 credit voucher.  We also love sharing our favorite projects with you on a new feature called ...

 All of the Design Team votes on our favorite pieces and why we love them so much.  Then, the top vote getters are featured.  You never know...YOU might end up in the spotlight!

Here are all of the products available at Simon Says Stamp that were used in this project:

*Ranger DYLUSIONS INK SPRAY SQUEEZED ORANGE Dyan Reaveley DYC33936	*Paper Artsy Fresco Finish CRACKLE GLAZE Acrylic Paint 1.69oz FF22	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology DESIGN RULER Clear 12 Inch	*Sizzix SUSAN'S GARDEN TOOL KIT 658437	*Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue Dimensional Adhesive
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD GATHERED TWIGS Ranger FALL	*Tim Holtz REFILL Distress Ink GATHERED TWIGS Reinker Fall Edition	*Ranger Adirondack PAINT DABBER TERRA COTTA Acrylic	*Paper Artsy Fresco Finish SNOWFLAKE Chalk Acrylic Paint 1.69oz FF15	*Paper Artsy Fresco Finish MERMAID Chalk Acrylic Paint 1.69oz FF44
*Wendy Vecchi WHITE EMBOSSING PASTE Studio 490	*Ranger Glue N' Seal 4 OZ MATTE Inkssentials	*Claudine Hellmuth GESSO Studio Primer Paint Ranger	Susan's Garden Sunflower	*Sizzix MINI PETALS Thinlits Die Set 658409
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD MUSTARD SEED Yellow Ranger	*Memory Box VIVIENNE BUTTERFLY Craft DIE 98265	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI LEDGER 6 x 6 Template	*We R Memory Keepers Cropadile RADIUS Corner Chomper Yellow	*Versamark CHAMPAGNE DAZZLE Watermark Ink Stamp Pad from Tsukineko VC252
*Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps POSTCARDS cms099	*Ranger RUST Antiquities Embossing Powder Industries EAJ00655	*Scor-Tape 1/2"" Crafting Tape	*PanPastel MIXED MEDIA 2 Pastels Palette Set 30076	*PanPastel SOFFT KNIVES & COVERS Pastels Paint Draw Blend 65100
*Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink	*PREORDER Tim Holtz Idea-ology CRINKLE RIBBON TH93020	*Wendy Vecchi Cling Rubber Stamps BUSY MAKING ART Studio 490

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