Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Notebook Cover using Studio Light's (Art by Marlene) Alphabet Dies and Dina Wakley's Collage Sparks

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is to use your favorite color.  Mine is absolutely, without doubt (and you'll see it in pretty much every project I ever make, in addition to seeing it painted on my house walls and fingernails) is Robin Egg's Blue, or any variation of those yummy turquoise tones.  I made this notebook cover with hints of those colors, utilizing Tim Holz's Salvaged Patina paint (soooooo gorgeous).

I started by pulling a page from Dina Wakley's Collage Sparks, Set 1.  I am a huge fan of using other artists' supplies to get your own juices flowing.  Here's the page of Dina's artwork that I used in my project:

Next I cut a section of this page to fit on the top of a little memo notebook I had in my stash.  I added some paint to change the colors a bit.  While that was drying, I cut out letters from Studio Light's Alphabet die set (Art by Marlene) to spell out the word "grit."  I painted the letters in dark turquoise.  I also made some stenciled polka-dot paper using Tim Holtz's Salvaged Patina paint and his Halftone stencil.

I ended up making a scallop border with the polka-dot scraps and some other doodled-on leftovers I had.  I sewed the collage page to the cover of my notebook, then glued the scallop border onto the bottom.  I glued the "grit" letters onto the front and added some hot pink dots as a final touch.

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

• Dina Wakley Collage Scraps, Collection 1
• Studio Light Alphabet Dies (Art by Marlene)
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Olive, Cheddar, Night, Ocean, Stoked
• Dylusions Acrylic Paint: Salvaged Patina
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper

I'm excited to see your favorite colors 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!  We hope you've been enjoying STAMPtember, too!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Take Flight Tag using Whimsy Stamps' Witchy Whispers Die

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is "take flight."  A witch teaching bats how to fly seemed appropriate!

I started with a tag that I cut out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper and a Sizzix Tag Collection die.  I cut an oval-type shape out of Dina Wakley's Ledger 2 paper and glued that to the background just to fill some space and get some ideas going.

Next I added paint, some stenciling, and some scribbly-doodling.

I cut a witch out of black cardstock using Whimsy Stamps' Witchy Whispers die.  I cut some bats out of Tim Holtz's Count die set and added those to the scene.  I glued them on and typed out a sentiment on a typewriter.  I added some black splatters with Media Gloss Spray and this tag was done!

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

• Whimsy Stamps' Witchy Whispers Die Set
• Tim Holtz's The Count Die Set
• Sizzix Tag Collection Die Set
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper
• Dina Wakley Ledger 2 Paper
• Altenew Halftone Stencil
• Distress Watercolor Pencils, Set 1
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Night, Eggplant, Sky, Lime
• Dylusions Paint: Laidback Lilac, Periwinkle
• Dina Wakley Media Gloss Spray: Black

Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win $25 to the Simon Says Stamp store.  And don't forget to check out all the STAMPtember goodness this month!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stamp It Card using Simon's Big Bold Birthday Set and Tim Holtz's Halloween Sketchbook

 Welcome to STAMPtember 2023!  I always look forward to the crafty stamp collaborations that come around this time of year over at Simon.  And this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is to Stamp It!  One of my favorite stamping techniques is to mix and match stamps from different sets and designers to create new scenes.  So for my project, an October birthday card, I combined Simon's Big Bold Birthday stamps and dies with Tim Holtz's Halloween Sketchbook and Studio Light's One Way Ticket stamp sets.

I started with the background.  I cut a rectangle out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper using Avery Elle's Pierced Rounded Frame dies.  I painted it with acrylic paint, then I stamped some circles onto it using a Studio Light (Art by Marlene) stamp set called One Way Ticket.  While my background was drying, I cut out the birthday sentiment and balloons using Simon's Big Bold Birthday dies.  I stamped the bat guy from Tim Holtz's Halloween Sketchbook stamp set and fussy-cut him out, too.

The only thing left to do was glue everything down and stamp on the "HAPPY" part.  This October birthday card was done!  

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

• Simon Says Stamp Big Bold Birthday Stamp Set and Dies
• Tim Holtz Halloween Sketchbook Stamp Set
• Studio Light One Way Ticket Stamp Set
• Avery Elle Pierced Rounded Frame Dies
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• Dina Wakley Paint: Cheddar, White, Lapis, Sky, Olive, Lime, Peacock
• Dylusions Paint: Cherry Pie

We'd love to see how you stamp it 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.  And don't forget to check back often for all of this month's STAMPtember goodness!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Shine On Witch Card using Distress Watercolor Pencils

 Welcome to another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week our theme is Sparkle and Shine.  I decided to draw a "Shine On" witch card using Distress Watercolor Pencils.

I started by sketching out the face using Distress Watercolor Pencils, then blended it together with water and a #6 Dina Wakley brush.  I used Black Soot and Wild Honey for the basic outline sketch, then added in some shading and green tones (since she is a witch) with Hickory Smoke and Rustic Wilderness.  I added red to the lips with Candied Apple. 

Next I cut a hat out of black paper and added color to it with acrylic paint.  I gave my witch some braids using Crackling Campfire, Black Soot and Wild Honey.

For the background, I used some watercolors from Prima and also stamped a few circles from Darkroom Door's Open Circles stamp set.  I did some more sketching with various colored pencils and added acrylic paint to the edges.  I decided to add some text paper to the background (Dina Wakley's Ledger 2 paper), which was, of course, harder to do once I'd already had the witch glued down!  But we made it work.  I added a yellow glow around the witch using a Mustard Seed pencil, then I typed the Shine On sentiment on a typewriter and added that to the hat.  My watercolor witch was complete!

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

• Distress Watercolor Pencils, Set 1 and Set 3
• Prima Confetti Watercolor Set
• Darkroom Door Open Circles Stamp
• Dina Wakley Ledger Paper, Set 2 
• Dina Wakley Media Brushes
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint: White, Turquoise, Ocean, Olive

We're excited to see what you come up with this week!  Upload your Sparkle and Shine creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.  And get excited because STAMPtember is right around the corner!  Wa-hoo!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Delicious Drinks Card using Papertrey Ink's Brew to Go Dies and Witches Brew Stamp Set

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is "delicious drinks."  Do potions fall into that category?  I can't say for sure, since I've never had one, but I would think it would depend on the type of potion as well as the skills and/or intentions of the potion-maker.  Regardless, here's the card I made that features one of my favorite die and stamp sets of all time by Papertrey Ink: Brew to Go and Witches Brew.

I started by cutting out the die elements and stamping onto them.  I added a green tint with Distress Ink, but the bolder greens and blacks are paint.  I also heat-embossed some white cobwebs onto the cup using Tim Holtz's Trick or Treat stamp set.

I went to work on the background.  I used a circle punch to pop some holes out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper and painted that for a textural kind of element.  Then I painted the background rectangle for my card.  I used Scribble Sticks for the doodled circle lines.

I tore up the punched-out part and glued that to the background.  I added on some strips of Dina Wakley ledger paper to the top part of the card for some subtle variation.  I splattered Dina Wakley's gloss spray onto the card and onto the top of my potion, then glued my potion drink to the front.  I outlined the edges in black paint and this card was done.

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

• Papertrey Ink Brew to Go Die Set
• Papertrey Ink Witches Brew Stamp Set
• Tim Holtz Trick or Treat Stamp
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, Set 1
• Dina Wakley Ledger Paper, Set 1
• Distress Ink: Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover
• Sizzix Big Shot
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
• White Embossing Powder
• Distress Embossing Ink
• Heat Tool
• Dina Wakley Gloss Spray: Black, Lime
• Dina Wakley Paint: White, Black, Night, Sage, Fir, Olive, Turquoise, Eggplant, Tangelo, Lemon, Sky, Fuchsia
• Dylusions Paint: Strawberry Daquiri, Tropical Sangria
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper

I'm excited to see what delicious drinks show up in your creations this week!  Upload your projects 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 Blog: Altered Notebook Cover using Favorite Paint/Collage Technique

For this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, we're invited to use our favorite technique.  I like to make scribbly painted pages, then tear them into scraps and collage them back together.  That's what I did to create this notebook cover:

I start by putting drops of paint onto sketch paper, then spreading those paint drops around with water and a brush.  Here's how it looks at this point:

Because I know that I'm going to be adding more colors back on top of these colors, my next step is to add some white over the colored paint.  When I add white, I can add another color on top of the white and have it be bright again and not just muddy.

After the paint dries, I doodle around with Scribble Sticks, Distress Crayons and colored pencils.  At this point, it looks like a crazy chaotic mess, but I remember that I'm going to tear this up anyway.  It may look too busy as one whole piece, but when it's ripped up, I want there to be marks on each smaller piece.

For more patterned paper to rip up, I stenciled a bunch of dots onto deli paper and white cardstock using Tim Holtz's Bubble Wrap stencil and Dylusions spray.

Lastly, I made a third piece of scribbly paper using another stencil, watercolor pencils, paint and newsprint.  I even did some stamping on this one.

With all my background scribbly papers done, I started tearing them up and gluing them to the cover of a small notebook.  If there were edges I didn't like between where the different collage sheets were overlapping, I blended them in a bit with white paint.

For the focal point, I cut out a slide shape using a Tim Holtz die set and I also cut a scalloped-border piece.  I stamped and cut out a sentiment, also from Tim Holtz.

I assembled all my elements together and sewed the notebook cover collage onto the notebook.  My notebook revamp was complete!

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

• Tim Holtz Theories Stamp Set
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks, Set 1
• Stencilgirl Grate Full Stencil (by Seth Apter)
• Simon Says Stamp Scattered Stars Stencil
• Distress Crayons: Set 2, Set 12
• Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Pencils: Set 3
• Dylusions Spray: Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue
• Dina Wakley Paint: Night, Sky, White, Turquoise, Olive
• Dylusions Paint: Cherry Pie, Mushy Peas, Pure Sunshine
• Tim Holtz Specimen Die Set
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink

We're anxious to see what some of your favorite techniques are!  Upload your projects to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!