Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Watercolor Tags using Poppy Stamps' Twisted Houses Dies and Dina Wakley's Metal Rimmed Tags

Incorporating watercolors is this week's challenge at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I made some circular tags using Poppy Stamps' Twisted Houses dies and Dina Wakley's Metal Rimmed tags.

I started by cutting some houses out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper using my Sizzix Big Shot and the house dies.  Then I used watercolors to paint them.  Once they dried, I added some white paint.

Next I watercolored onto Dina Wakley's Metal Rimmed Tags and then sprinkled some Infusions on.  I added dots with acrylic paint.

I ended up adding some more acrylic paint to my houses, plus some polka dot washi tape, and outlined them with a black sharpie.  I put some paper scraps in the background that I'd stamped text onto and glued down my houses.  I added dark brown acrylic paint to the metal tag rims and painted the strings on my tags a darker color.  These tags were done!

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Prima Confetti Watercolors
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper: White
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Poppy Stamps Twisted Houses Dies
• Dina Wakley Media Brushes
• Altenew Many Dots Washi Tape
• Infusions: Royal Blood
• Dina Wakley Metal Rimmed Tags
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Turquoise, Umber, Lapis
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Pure Sunshine, Tropical Sangria

We can't wait to see what projects you add a watercolor touch to!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Art Journal Page using Dylusions Small Creative Journal and Tim Holtz's Palette Collage paper

Art Journaling is the theme of the week over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I whipped out my Dylusions Small Creative Journal and got to work!

To make my background, I started by brushing some white paint onto my paper, then before it dried, I shook on some Infusions Colored Stain (In the Navy and Rusty Car), which I spritzed with water, then dabbed with a baby wipe.  I also added some watercolor paint into the messy mix.

When that dried, I glued down some Tim Holtz Palette Collage paper and blended it in with white paint.

When that dried, I stamped some circles onto the page using Tim Holtz's Halftone and Rings stamp set.  I painted in some of the circles with Dylusions Cherry Pie paint, then decided to sketch a branch image.  Once my image was done, I ripped pieces of patterned paper (from Dina Wakley's Spark books and Simple Stories' Flea Market paper) into leaf-shapes and glued them inside the leaves of my branch sketch.

Once that was done, I did more bending with acrylic paint.  I also added some outlines to the page in blue using Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks.  I did a little more stamping here and there with Tim Holtz's Faded Type stamp set.  I stamped out the "Peace" sentiment using Tim Holtz's Seasonal Scribbles and glued that on.  I did some more doodling and scribbling and this page was done!

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Dylusions Small Creative Journal
• Paper Artsy Infusions: In the Navy and Rusty Car
• Tim Holtz Palette Collage Paper
• Prima Watercolors: Confetti Set
• Dina Wakley Collage Sparks: Book 2 and Book 3
• Tim Holtz Halftone and Rings Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Faded Type Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Seasonal Scribbles Stamp Set
• Simple Stories Flea Market Patterned Paper
• Dylusions Paint: Cherry Pie
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Olive, Carnation, Turquoise and Ocean

We're excited to see what you come up with for this week's challenge!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Inspired by Music Card using Concord & 9th's Greatest Hits Dies

"Inspired by Music" is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme.  I love listening to music and playing the piano, so I thought this was a banner theme!  I also like retro things (like vinyl), so I was excited to play with Concord & 9th's Greatest Hits die set.

I started by cutting the album sleeve and the record, both out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper.

I glued some of Dina Wakley's collaged words to the background, then a scrap of a collage I'd made.  I also cut out a section of scallop shapes using Studio Light's Scallop Fun die.  I painted the scallops and added them in.  I also painted the middle of my record, though I kept changing the color of that as I went along.

I thought some pale green might go nicely with this color palette, so I added in some Dylusions Mushy Peas paint, along with some white dots.  I also added turquoise to the center of the record.

I finished off the project by drawing around the polka dots and around the edges of the album sleeve with Nuvo watercolor pencils.  Then I used a typewriter to type out a favorite lyric line from Ben Harper: "We've all got stardust in our bones."  I also added the word "hope" to the record.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Concord & 9th Greatest Hits Dies
• Studio Light Scallop Fun Dies
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper: White and Black
• Dina Wakley Collage Words
• Dina Wakley Paint: Turquoise, White, Sedona, Cheddar, Sage, Marine, Ocean, Syrup
• Dylusions Paint: Mushy Peas
• Nuvo Watercolor Pencils: Midtones

How will you be inspired by music this week?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Paint It Tag using Dylusions Paint

"Paint It" is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme and we're also featuring Dylusions products.  It just doesn't get any better for me than using paint!  In fact, if there was a challenge that was to NOT use paint, you'd probably find me curled up in a little ball in the corner of my craft room wondering how I will ever face the universe again!  Yep.  I do love me some paint.

I made a scrappy little book out of a tag folded in half.  I started by mixing water and Dylusions acrylic paint and streaking it down a piece of sketch paper.

Next I doodled some shapes with a pencil, then filled them in with more colors of paint.  I also outlined my shapes with Nuovo watercolor pencils.

While that dried, I stamped some sentiments/text onto newsprint paper using Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set.  I also cut some scallop shapes out of Simple Stories' Flea Market patterned paper and added some paint to those.

Next I got out a black Dylusions tag and folded it in half.  Then I tore my painted collage in half and glued it to the Dylusions tag.  I added white paint, one of the scallop-shapes, and some text up the spine side of the tag book.  I stuck some AALL & Create Mix and Match washi tape to the inside of my paint shapes, doodled some circles on the side, and added some bright orange dots.  I outlined the book with some darker paint and more pencil lines.

For a finishing touch, I stamped out the sentiment "Try" using Whimsy Stamps' Boho Alphabet and added that to the front.

I collected some paper scraps for the inside, folded them in half, and bound them with string to my tag book cover.

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Dylusions Journaling Tags: Black
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Balmy Night, Mushy Peas, Calypso Teal, London Blue, Pure Sunshine, Strawberry Daquiri, Tropical Sangria, Island Parrot, Rose Quartz.
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White
• Tim Holtz Theories Stamp Set
• Nuvo Watercolor Pencils: Midtones Set
• ALL & Create Mix and Match Washi Tape
• Simple Stories Flea Market 12x12 Paper
• Whimsy Stamps Boho Alphabet Stamp Set

How will you get painty this week?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Make Your Mark Journal Page using a Dylusions Creative Journal and Dina Wakley's Sparks 2 Collection

"Make your mark" is this week's theme for our Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  There are all sorts of ways you could interpret this theme, but I think that making your mark means you created marks -- scribbles, sketches, circles or dots -- free-handed style.  The marks are uniquely yours because you drew them yourself.

I started with my Dylusions Creative Journal and glued down some patterned paper from Simple Stories' Flea Market collection.  I also added some AALL & Create's Mix and Match washi tape.  I don't know why I include early photos of my projects, though, because this will all get covered up anyway.  Even so, sticking something on the page helps to get the creative juices flowing, so I guess it's a worthwhile part of the project.  And spoiler alert: the end project looks NOTHING like it did during these next few steps.

I smeared on some white acrylic paint and then added colored acrylic paint.

Some other steps happened next that involved a big mess of purple that I didn't like, so I tried to wipe all of it off.  The whole color palette ended up going a little haywire after that and not at all like I had first envisioned, but it was good to have myself be pushed out of my color comfort zone a bit more than usual.  I also stamped some circles onto my project's background using Darkroom Door's Open Circles stamp.  Then I grabbed Dina Wakley's Sparks 2 patterned paper, tore off a chunk and glued that to my page.

After that, I glued on some other scraps and started making my own marks with paint dots and scribbly circles.  I added even more splotches and scribbles as I went along.

I added more things here and there and tweaked this and that.  I used Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks to scribble around the edges of the page.  I also used Dina's Ledger 2 paper to cut out the sentiment, which I glued to the middle of my page.  I added some more washi tape on, since most of it had gotten covered up, and this page was done!

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Dylusions Small Creative Journal
• Dina Wakley Collage Sparks, Set 2
• Darkroom Door Stamp: Open Circles
• AALL & Create Mix and Match Washi Tape
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, Set 1
• Simple Stories Flea Market 12x12 Paper
• Dina Wakley Ledger Paper, Set 2
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Turquoise, Olive, Lemon, Peacock, Night
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Pure Sunshine, Tropical Sangria
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink

How will you make your mark this week?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Notebook Cover using Whimsy Stamps' Boho Rainbow Dies and Dina Wakley's Ledger Paper, Set 2

We are focusing on rainbows this week for our Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  I made a notebook cover using Whimsy Stamps' Boho Rainbow dies.

I started by cutting some rainbow arches using my Sizzix Big Shot and white Strathmore Mixed Media paper.  I fingerpainted them with acrylic paint.

Next I used black Strathmore Mixed Media paper to cut out a piece that was the same size as the notebook I wanted to cover.  I embossed some white text on the front with a Tim Holtz stamp called Theories, embossing ink, white embossing powder and a heat tool.  I also tore off a scrap to use from the leftover collage I'd made for last week's project.  See what I mean about collage scraps?  They are the gift that keeps on giving!

I glued the big scrap to the middle of my cover.  Next I stenciled some white dots onto my black background using Tim Holtz's Gradient Dots stencil and some white paint.  I smeared on more acrylic paint in bright colors and added another collage scrap (stamped numbers) to my pieces.

I glued everything down and added some scribbled circles and lines.  I finished it off with a sentiment I cut from Dina Wakley's ledger paper, set 2.  Then I sewed my cover to my notebook and this little notebook re-do was done!

Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

• Whimsy Stamps Boho Rainbow Die Set
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper: White and Black
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Sky, Lime, Marine, Gnarly
• Dylusions Paint: Strawberry Daquiri, Calypso Teal, Cherry Pie, Pure Sunshine
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Distress Embossing Ink
• White Embossing Powder
• Heat Tool
• Tim Holtz Gradient Dots Stencil
• Dina Wakley Ledge Paper, Set 2

How will you incorporate rainbows into your projects this week?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.