Friday 1 February 2013

Simon Says Stamp and Show...Seeing Stars (and two comets!)

This week Simon Says Stamp and Show's Challenge is "Seeing Stars". I racked my brains long and hard before it hit me. Did you know there are two bright comets expected this year? Comet C/2011 L4 should be visible in March, and Comet C/2012 S1 in November. The latter is expected to be one of the brightest comets seen for many years, and should be visible to the naked eye for a couple of months. With that inspiration in mind, I set to work...

"Seeing stars...and a comet"

Two panels of white card are sponged with layers of distress ink. The smaller panel is stamped and decorated with Perfect Pearls. The larger, darker panel splattered with water droplets and dried with a heat tool, obtaining a faux bleach effect to resemble a night sky.

"Closeup"

You can see the droplet effect in the background panel quite well in this closeup photograph.

"Townscape"

A couple of townscape diecuts are made from old cat food boxes. The individual houses are decorated with metallic distress stains, then fixed to the front of the card with glossy accents. Distress markers are used to colour inside the windows, then each of the windows is filled with glossy accents and left to dry.

"Comet"

The "comet" is a gold star button from my stash, with the loop removed from the back to let it stick down flat. It's "tail" is made up from individual beads (from a necklace that broke the first time I wore it - knew those beads would come in handy for something :-)).

The "eye in the sky" could be Patrick Moore looking down and admiring the comets from a different angle this year. R.I.P. Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore CBE, FRS, FRAS (4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012)

Ingredients:
Tim Holtz Sizzix On The Edge "Townscape"
Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous stamp set "City Central"
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Inks "Tumbled Glass", "Stormy Sky", "Faded Jeans", "Chipped Sapphire", "Broken China", "Walnut Stain"
Tim Holtz Rangers Metallic Distress stains "Tarnished Brass", "Brushed Pewter", "Antiqued Bronze"
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Markers "Chipped Sapphire", "Barn Door", "Mustard Seed"
Perfect Pearls "Blue Patina"
Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black
cardstock: white 160gsm, black 300gsm
star, beads
adhesives: PVA, glossy accents, Pinflair dimensional glue

Entered for the following challenge:
Simon Says Stamp and Show...Seeing Stars

30 comments:

  1. This is really lovely, great colour combo.

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  2. I love your inspiration behind this Maddy. . The way you have coloured the sky looks wonderful, the houses with the coloured window are gorgeous and I do like the idea of the eye being the late great Sir Patrick Moore.
    I hope you have a lovely weekend
    Hugs Sue

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  3. Fantastic card, and everything Sue said too lol!!
    Anne x

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  4. This is amazing. The background with the waterdrops are fantastic and the houses just super.

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  5. Wow this is so clever! Love the sky you've created x

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  6. Wow! Fabulous project, with so many awesome details to adore! Thanks so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp and Show :)

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  7. What an amazing piece of work - so original!

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  8. Stunning work, love the eye in the sky so clever. Love Alison xxx

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  9. stunning creation love all the detail x

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  10. super card izzwizz so clever love your work ... just doing a bit of blog hopping ... thank you for visiting me ... have a great weekend ... happy crafting and love sandy xx

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  11. Maddy...your card is so clever. I love the mottled border you've done around it. That is a very cool detail. Love the eye stamp up in the corner. How clever of you to use the On The Edge Townscape like this! I like it! I also love how you've made your background for the sky and the shooting star! Thanks for sharing your card with us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. <3 Candy

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  12. stunning peice of work. sue xx

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  13. Great card Maddy. Thank you for the info on the Comets - my son loves astronomy so I am going to tell him about those! We even called our dog Comet. I love the way you did the windows on your little houses. A great technique for that stained glass look. x

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  14. A gorgeous creation, love the stamped eye.

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  15. Great idea and the work you have put into it really pays off, it has made a really effective card. Lots of info in your post too!

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  16. Beautiful card...a work of art...lovely colours and detail...jx

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  17. I was so sad when I heard Sir Patrick Moore had died. This card is fabulous. I love the colours of the sky and how you used water droplets to create the bleached look. And I actually heard about these comets from Corey. He likes to keep his eyes on the sky quite a bit. He likes to make sure we aren't expecting any massive meteor showers that may come hurtling towards earth and about to destroy us! We all know what happened to the dinosaurs....well, after the story I told you today....the Devil did it, lol. Lee x

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  18. wow! what a lovely card...your techniques are so clever.. :) x

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  19. Beautiful card. Very artistic. Phyllis x

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  20. Very unusual card, looks great

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  21. This is just stunning, you really are clever! Happy Lapeblogging and have a fabulous week lovely :-) Elaine-xxx-

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  22. Wow this is so detailed, you have put so much work into this card, it is brilliant...Love it..happy blogging x

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  23. What a fab card, love the idea and the eye too.

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  24. Wow, this is a stunning piece of work. Love the splashed water effect and its started me wondering if I could use this technique with my encaustic waxes. Going to have fun trying it.

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  25. Brilliant card and love the eye
    carol x

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  26. Wow stunning card.
    Just doing a bit of docrafts blog hopping.
    Kaz.xx

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Thanks for leaving a comment, it's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself :)