WISHES ARE THE MAGIC IN OUR HEART.......

It is Valentine's week and the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is all about love, our love of stamps! This is your chance to jump in and join in our challenge this week, whether you use a favourite technique or create a project featuring your favourite stamp, simply ENJOY the creative process.

This was a simple challenge for me and one I loved. Using both stamps and adding texture and dimension to my artwork are a favourite of mine. I wanted to change things up a little this week and make the sentiment the focal point and the sentiment from Tim Holtz Good Thoughts stamp set was perfect to combine with my heart hanging. Another thing I love to do is to create a tactile piece of art, something you just want to reach out and touch.  Maya Road Wood Bird Cage and Prima Resin Bird Houses add the all important dimension in my piece.

My heart hanging was inspired by a post from Leandra from PaperArtsy which you can see HERE. However I wanted to put my own spin on the technique, using different colours, embellishments and design.
I began the hanging using the following steps.

1. Apply a coat of Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste over the heart, simply spread with a palette knife and set aside to dry.
2. Once the Embossing Paste is completely dry add the embellishments, affixing with a hot glue gun, or you can press the embellishments into the wet Embossing Paste, I did a mixture of both.
3. Once the embellishments are set in place and all glue is dry I then applied a coat of Irish Cream Fresco Finish Paint. This is an opaque paint and covered the embellishments perfectly. I pounced the paint into all the crevices of my design until all areas were covered with paint.
4. Once the first layer was dry I then added layers of darker colours to my design to give some depth.
5. Once all the paint was completely dry I then dry brushed all the raised areas with PaperArtsy Olive Bronze Treasure Gold Wax to highlight all the wonderful dimension and texture.
6. I also did a touch of dry brushing over the entire heart using Chocolate Pudding Fresco Finish Paint.

I also added a Maya Road Tart Tin for added interest and added a Prima Resin Bird House to the centre before applying my paint.  I also added some pieces from the Prima Flowers Mechanicals range along with some Prima Flowers.

I love how everything appears nestled together and this piece is so tactile, I love it!

I stamped the sentiment onto white card with Potting Soil Archival Ink, bent the paper in areas to add creases to add to the aged feel and then coloured with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog and take a look at my fellow team members artwork, they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated. Tracy x x

Products Used:

Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Good Thoughts Stamp Set
Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste
Potting Soil Archival Ink
Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink
Maya Road Wood Bird Cages
Maya Road Vintage Metal Heart Tart Tins
Prima Resin Bird Houses
Prima Flowers Almanac Vine
Prima Flowers Mechanical Metal Embellishments
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints - Irish Cream, Mocha Mousse, Chocolate Pudding
PaperArtsy Olive Bronze Treasure Gold Wax