e-Team Picks Challenge....... 'Monochrome'

How quickly the time goes by! Still I suppose that's no bad thing when it means it's time for another e-Team Picks Challenge, over at the eclectic Paperie. The lovely Annette has chosen 'Monochrome' for this challenge and you can hop over to the eP blog and see her gorgeous work here. I've made this tag as my DT offering, using some of my favourite 'can't live without' Distress Inks, namely, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Gathered Twigs and Antique Linen. I started off by doing a bit of wrinkle free distress to a size 8 manilla tag. Once this was dry, I stamped the background with a Unity Stamp Company stamp, designed by Donna Downey, called 'Hollyhocks'. This is a fabulously huge stamp, I just love it. Although it's quite a contemporary design, I think it works with the vintage elements I've used. I used Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs. I dried this off and then went over the surface with Picket Fence distress stain. This helps the image to 'sink' into the background. I've been playing with this method a lot just lately.

The next stage, was to blend Antique Linen DI over the whole surface this starts to bring the image to life, further blending at the sides with Vintage Photo DI and Walnut Stain at the edges and the background was done. The beautiful young woman's face is a stamp by The Stampsmith. I stamped it in Sepia Archival Ink and clear embossed the surface. I cut the image  out, using one of the oval Movers and Shapers Dies. To give it some dimension, I used a large ball tool with a soft mat to gently curve the surface before embossing. I then mounted it onto another oval die cut which I embossed with a patterened folder and then heat embossed the raised surface by swiping with Versa Mark and clear embossing powder. I then blended Walnut Stain DI onto the surface.

The metal embellishments have been treated with a rust kit called Instant Rust. It's not quite instant as you have to wait several hours between coats, but it does create a wonderful real rusty finish.

The final step was to add the sentiment. This is from a set called Art and Possibility also by Donna Downey for Unity Stamp co. Such sound advice don't you think? x

If you would like to play along with the e-Team Picks Challenge you have until the 4th of July to post your entry. Hop over to the blog where you'll find the challenge guidelines and plenty of inspiration from my fellow team mates.Who Knows, you may even be the lucky winner of a $15 prize to spend in Kim's wonderful eclectic Paperie online shop, where  you'll find some fantastic products guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing. Here are some of the products, stocked by Kim, that I've used on my tag.

Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Walnut Stain	Distress Ink Pad - Gathered Twigs	Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen	Distress Stain - Picket Fence
Unity Stamp Company - Hollyhocks (Donna Downey)	Unity Stamp Company - Art & Possibility (Donna Downey)	Inkssentials Surfaces #8 Manila Tags	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Crinkle Ribbon 10 Yards
Distress Stain - Vintage Photo	VersaMark Stamp Pad	Archival Ink - Sepia Jumbo Ink Pad	Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder - Clear