Controlled Mayhem

Controlled mayhem. The phrase comes from one of the stamps in Graphic 45's Le Cirque range and it's a really good description of a circus! Today I'm sharing a card with matching gift tag. Just to prove I do actually use my promarkers, the coloured images on the card are stamped and hand-coloured :-)

"Controlled Mayhem card and gift tag"

It's hard work cutting out all those wheel spokes!

"Controlled Mayhem Card"

The background is inked with distress inks. The trapeze artist, ringmaster and audience are stamped with distress ink and brushed over with perfect pearls for plenty of shimmer. Other characters are stamped on card using memento ink, coloured with promarkers, cut out, shaped and finally mounted in place with pinflair. The sentiment is stamped straight onto the card using archival ink.

"Controlled Mayhem Card"

The angle on the above picture makes it easier to see the stamping without all the glimmer. I love the movement of the trapeze artist from the repeated stamping. She is swinging across the card.

"Circus Mayhem Tag"

I wanted to get a real sense of circus mayhem on the gift tag without using the sentiment. To achieve this, lots of layers of stamped images are used. The lion, lion tamer and audience are stamped in distress inks, then heat- embossed in clear. The background is decorated with the same colours as the card (the clear embossing resists the inks), then the trapeze artist and clown are stamped and covered in perfect pearls. The ringmaster is stamped in black archival to bring him forward, and finally a few characters & words have are cut from scraps of Le Cirque papers and added with dimensional glue. Some water is added to "faux bleach" the audience faces.

"Circus Mayhem Tag"

This second view avoids the glimmer of the Perfect Pearls. I like the ambiguity of the lion tamer - is he taming the lion or the trapeze artist? 

Ingredients:

Graphic 45 Le Cirque 8" x 8" paper pad

Graphic 45 cling stamp set: Le Cirque 1

Graphic 45 cling stamp set: Le Cirque 3

Distress Inks: Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo

Memento ink: Rich Cocoa

Archival Ink: Black

Perfect Pearls: Gold

Promarkers
Adhesives: PVA, Pinflair dimensional glue
Cardstock: white 300gsm (tag), white 160gsm (background), black 300gsm (card blank)

Entered for the following challenges:
That Craft Place - Anything Goes
Just inspirational - Anything Goes
Willow Sketchie - Anything Goes
Do You Stack Up - Distress
Truly Scrumptious - All Creatures Great and Small
Pollycraft - Teenage Dream (running away with the circus!!)
Bunny Zoes Crafts - Celebrations