My Other Creations: Polka Dotty Notebook

This week's theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog is Winter Stamping.  I decided to deconstruct one of my favorite dies, Tim Holtz's Snowman, and turn those fluffy white snowman circles into stamped-on polka dots for the cover of my notebook.

Using white watercolor paper, I started by cutting out two sets of snowman circles.  I love the asymmetry of these! 

Next I used Ranger Jet Black Archival ink to stamp some of my favorite text patterns onto the circles.

Out came the Distress Inks, which I rubbed onto the circles with a sponge (though a mini ink blending tool also works great).  I got out my black Gesso and a brush and I outlined the circles after I'd inked them.

I prepared my notebook cover by painting it, inking it, stamping on it and drizzling Distress Paint down it.

I decided to add a thicker layer of black Gesso around my circles, then I attached them to my notebook cover and wah-la!  Snowman re-purposed!  

To make the notebook, I used the Lifestyle Crafts Pocket Scrap Starter Die set to cut out what felt like eighty million sheets of white paper (not for those who fear monotony)!  I used the Cinch machine and a Cinch wire spiral to bind it all together.

Another fun element that I played with on this project was Dyan Reaveley's "Say it How it Is" stamp set.  The sentiment I put on the front of the notebook doesn't exist, but I took words from her other sentiments and invented my own sentence.  My nerdy English side loves to mix and switch words around.

You can make your own notebooks and snowman polka dots if you have these supplies, which are readily available from Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Snowman Die	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Purely Random Stamp Set	Dylusions Say It How It Is Stamp Set	Ali Edwards Away We Go Stamp Set	Paper Artsy HP1211 Stamp Set	Mama Elephant Love Quotes Stamp Set
Stampendous Cling Stamps: Grunge	Dina Wakley Black Gesso	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Lifestyle Crafts Pocket Scrap Starter Set dies	Broken china - Distress ink	Colorbox Rain Forest Ink	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink
Spiced Marmalade - Distress Ink	Squeezed Lemonade - Distress Ink	Picked Raspberry - Distress Ink	Mustard Seed - Distress Ink	Distress Ink Tumbled Glass	Worn Lipstick Distress Ink Pad	Festive Berries - Distress Ink
Ranger Inkssentials Mini Mister	Worn Lipstick Distress Paint	Tim Holtz Distress Paint In Picked Raspberry	Tim Holtz Distress Paint In Spiced Marmalade	Tim Holtz Distress Paint In Broken China	Distress Paint - PEACOCK FEATHERS	Tim Holtz Squeezed Lemonade Distress Paint
Distress Paint - TUMBLED GLASS	Cinch - We R Memory Keepers	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints

I can't wait to see your interpretation of our theme!  Just upload your masterpiece to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog to inspire the rest of us and to enter yourself into the drawing for a $50 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.