My Other Creations: Mini Notebooks using Dina Wakley's Funky Faces Stamps

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is Star Light, Star Bright.  I love revamping little notebooks to give as gifts for the holidays, so I made two notebooks with a star theme.

I started by smearing Transparent Gloss Texture Paste through a circle stencil onto Strathmore Mixed media paper.  Then I got out my watercolors and painted around the circles.

Next I smeared some acrylic paint onto my panels.

I put a small notebook onto each panel and traced around it.  I cut the panels to size and glued them on the top of the notebooks.  Then I cut some house shapes out of text paper using Tim Holtz's Artful Dwellings die.  I used the positive house cut-out shape on the pink and yellow cover and used the negative cut-out house shape on the purple cover.  I used Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink and Dina Wakley's Funky Faces and Scribbly Circles stamp sets to stamp some shapes and circles onto my covers.  I made some of the areas darker using a black Sharpie.

I'm kind of addicted to Brusho crystals lately, so I sprinkled some along the edges of my notebooks and spritzed them with water.  When that dried, I used another Dina Wakley star stamp set to stamp out the "shine" sentiment, which I cut and glued on.  I cut stars with a Simon Says Stamp die and outlined them using the black Sharpie.  I glued them onto my houses.

I also added some lattice shapes (cut on the Big Shot) that I outlined in black and lined up along the edges of my notebooks.  At the bottom, I added the word "star," which came from a die by My Favorite Things.  I don't think you can read the word that great, but I liked the writing as a decorative element.

I truly believe you can never have too many notebooks...at least, I hope that's the case!  I always enjoy making them.  These are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz Sizzix die: Artful Dwellings	Dina Wakley Funky Faces Stamp Set	Dina Wakley Scribbly Circles Stamps	Dina Wakley Grungy Stars Cling Stamps	Sizzix Big Shot
Kaisercraft Lattice 4x6 die	Simon Says Stamp Mini Stars Die	My Favorite Things Count the Stars die	Loew Cornell WATERCOLOR CAKES 24 Paints	Dina Wakley Lime Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley LEMON Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Ranger TEXTURE PASTE TRANSPARENT GLOSS	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Prima Impasto paint, Crimson
Brusho Crystals	Strathmore Mixed Media Paper

How will you be inspired by stars this week?  I can't wait to see your creations.  Be sure to upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win $50 to the Simon Says Stamp store!

My Other Creations: Art Journal Spread Using Donna Downey's Dandelion Pods Stencil

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme is, "Tear it Up."  I went with a collage approach where I tore up some pictures and patterned paper, then did some painting and stamping and stenciling.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm not sure I love this end result.  I feel like it's a little too all-over-the-place.  But such is the battle with collage.  You add and add and add and even then, you sometimes don't quite reach the end vision you had in mind.  The part of this collage that I like the most is that record-player pic, which had nothing to do with me!

I started out by gluing some magazine pictures to the journal I made in my last post.  I don't know who to credit for the photos, which I love.  The white journal paper was cheap, so I ended up having to reinforce the pages by gluing them down on Strathmore Mixed Media paper when I was done.

Next I painted around the photos with acrylic paint (Dina Wakley and Prima Impasto brands).

It's kind of a blur from here-- I glued down some patterned paper, then sprayed on some Dylusions Ink Spray and added some Brusho crystals.  Things got drippy and messy and I wasn't liking it.  When it all dried, I stamped some circles onto it with Tim Holtz's Halftone and Rings stamp set and painted white inside them.

I wasn't loving it at this point, so frustration led me to cut off and replace 75% of the left page.  I patched in more patterned paper and re-did the painting and stamping to add that part of the page back on.  Then I stenciled over both pages with Donna Downey's Dandelion Pods stencil and black paint.  I painted the insides of the circles green.

I made a Washi tape collage and cut circles out of it and glued them into the centers of the circles.  That made it look better-ish.  I also stenciled some black pixel shapes on using Stencilgirl's Pixels stencil.  I tacked on some more Washi for good measure.  Here's a close-up of the left side.

And here's a close-up of the right side:

If nothing more, this project proves that we end up liking some of our creations more than others!  I do like some parts of this, so I'll take it as a win.

Here are the supplies I used (which I do love) that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Donna Downey Dandelion Pods Stencil	American Crafts Shimelle 12 x 12 Starshine Paper	Crate Paper Carousel 12x12 Paper	Strathmore Mixed Media Paper	StencilGirls Pixels Stencil
Tim Holtz Idea-ology VINTAGE Design Tape	Tim Holtz Idea-ology JOURNEY Design Tape	Doodlebug OFFICIAL STRIPE Washi Tape	Doodlebug Dainty Dots Spring Garden Washi Tape	Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps 2016 HALFTONE AND RINGS CMS260
Brusho Crystals	Dina Wakley Black Heavy Body Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Lime Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE Media Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley TURQUOISE Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dina Wakley LAPIS Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint	Prima Impasto paint, Crimson	Prima Impasto paint, Azure	Prima Impasto paint, Jade
Dylusions Ink Sprays - Bubblegum Pink	Dylusions Ink Sprays - Fresh Lime	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad

I'm excited to see how you tear it up this week!  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to earn $50 to the Simon Says Stamp store.