Earl Greyer at the Papercut Cafe

 Hello Monday my friends! And welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. Thank you for joining us for the  Beautiful Blooms Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

It's been wonderful having Monica with us this month, sharing her gorgeous makes! Be sure to keep checking back to see what she is creating at My Bonnet Bee.

This week the challenge is: FOOD AND/OR DRINK

I had so much fun combining new Tim Holtz dies with an image I cut out of a tea catalog, to create a proper gentleman's tea time. Earl Greyer and his gentleman friend are off to the Papercut Cafe for a nice cup of pipping hot Earl Grey tea today.

I started by piecing together the cups from the Tim Holtz Papercut Cafe set. My go to glue for detail glueing lately is the Bearly Art Precision Glue - I love the tiny nozzle for small bits. The Simon Says Stamp Reverse Tweezers were a great aid also in picking up and placing the small pieces of the cups.

 In the journal, my first layer were torn strips of the Tim Holtz Background Papers. Then, I covered this with clear gesso and let that dry.

Next, I stenciled Umber paint with the Simon Says Stamp Large Moroccan stencil and dried that with the heat tool. 

I layered Lemon, Cheddar and White acrylic paints over the background. I decided to blend with my fingers and a baby wipe.

I decided to make more of a focal area in the center, so I went around the edges with more white and some umber paint.

Then, I laid out my images to create my design and glued them in place.

I noticed the steam on the top cup didn't show up well, so I blended some white paint around it to make it pop more.

I like the contrast between the dark silhouettes and the bright paints.

I scrubbed back the paint in some areas, so the background papers would show through. One advantage of using clear gesso is that you can scrub back layers more easily. 

I used patterned paper for the cups for added interest. (Tim's Background Papers)

I had just received a tea catalog in the mail, and thought the tea canister image would be a nice addition to my page. I like the contrast between all the colors and patterns and the gentlemen.

Well, now I am ready to go to my favorite tea house after working on this! Since it's snowing, I'll just have to brew a cuppa at home. 

As always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away a $25 voucher to shop at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp Store 

Supplies:

Dylusions Creative Journal

Tim Holtz Sizzix Papercut Cafe dies

Tim Holtz Sizzix Gentlemen dies

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Backdrops Volume 2

Tim Holtz Classic Kraft paper

Simon Says Stamp Large Moroccan stencil

Dina Wakley Acrylic Paints - Umber, Lemon, Cheddar, White

Bearly Precision Art Glue

Simon Says Stamp Fine Detail Scissors

Simon Says Stamp Reverse Tweezers

Ranger Clear Gesso 

Sizzix Big Shot Foldaway

Heat It tool

So now it's YOUR turn, Happy Crafting! Maura

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