Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge

Hi everyone, it is absolutely pouring down while I type this. Its 4.30pm Thursday afternoon, extremely dark, wet and cold. Thank goodness for our log fire and my thick socks. Unfortunately my little craft corner is so cold, I feel the chill in my feet. We had insulation put under the whole house but it hasn't made any difference in my part. Think I might have to invest in a little heater to put under my desk instead of dragging my craft stuff over in front of the fire!!

I mentioned recently that I had been catching up on Jennifer McGuire's YouTube videos. She is one clever woman, coming up with new techniques all the time, making me wonder 'why didn't I think of that???'. One of her recent ones was about Die-Cut Masking Techniques. She showed how you can die-cut from masking paper and create all sorts of designs. I had a look through my dies and thought I would give it a go:

Masking and I have a bit of a 'love/hate' relationship, especially masking and stamping to create a scene. I usually get the aspect wrong and smudge other images. This one I thought would be a bit easier.....

I die-cut The Stamp Market 'Circle Card Cover Die' from Inkadinkado Masking Paper and pressed it down on a big piece of white CS. I was just going to blend one colour over the whole thing but I realised I could use all the extra pieces to mask and use different colours. So using a mix of Distress Oxide inks, masking and the odd bit of scrap paper I was able to colour each area separately. Its not perfect and took a long time but removing the mask at the end was magical!!!

I found this perfect sentiment (from The Stamp Market 'Just Wonderful') that I tried heat embossing with different metallic powders but I couldn't get a solid look. So I stamped it twice with Versafine Onyx ink and immediately clear heat emboss with Simon Says Stamp embossing powder.

After fussy cutting the sentiment I realised I could have die-cut it with a similar size circle die (will do that next time...). I used a slightly bigger circle die (from Couture Creations) to die-cut the panel. I adhered the panel to the card front and then put the die-cut piece back on white foam. I then did the same with the sentiment, along with Neat and Tangled sequins.

I'm linking this to the Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge where their theme is 'Create your own Background'.

I'm freezing cold so will gather up my colouring supplies and do that while sitting in front of the fire. I have no idea what to make for dinner. Our kitchen is only partly renovated so freezing cold as well, so don't really want to stand out there for long.....might be a Pizza Hut delivery type of evening.....

Take care
Shona