Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Scrappy Notebooks using Dina Wakley's Collage Collective

PARTYYYYYY is this week's theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  Party, to me, in a crafty sense, is being able to let loose and have fun and not worry about perfection.  To that end, I created these three scrappy notebooks using a page from Dina Wakley's Collage Collective as a base layer.

Things get busy this time of year, so I decided to make the covers of these notebooks using one of Dina Wakley's collages.  That meant that I didn't have to start from scratch and that's a time saver!  Here's a picture of the printed collage picture I used, which is in Dina's Collage Collective 2, Volume 1.

I decided to tweak this collage with paint and pattern marks (not that I think I'm better than Dina Wakley, mind you).  I made the marks using Scribble Sticks and a black Distress crayon and I slathered on white paint using a palette knife.  Here's how it looked after I was done with it:

What to do next?  I decided to cut this up and make some mini notebooks.  I cut the page into thirds and stamped on some adorable little creatures from AALL & Create's Up Up and Away stamp set.

Then I stamped some text onto paper (courtesy of Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set) and tore up some patterned paper and leftover scraps from previous projects.

I decided to add some painted stars, which I made with white paint and Simon's Scattered Stars stencil.  When this was done, I glued the scraps onto the covers of my notebooks.

And now for the insides!  I stacked up scraps of random paper I had and punched holes in the middle using the Crop-A-Dile.  I used waxed thread to bind the pages together and bind the cover to the pages.

Here's how we were looking on the inside after assembly:

I sewed some fabric scraps into long narrow ribbon, which I tied around the books to keep them closed.  I also glued some fabric scraps to the covers here and there.  Here's a view from the front:

And a view from the back:

Here are each of them individually:

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

Dina Wakley Collage Collective 2, Volume 1	Simon Says Stamp Scattered Stars Stencil	AALL & Create Up Up and Away stamp set	Ranger Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks	Tim Holtz Distress Crayons SET 3	Dreamweaver Palette Knife	Simple Stories Family Fun 12x12 Paper Pack
Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger LAPIS 1 oz Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger Blushing acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Turquoise paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Carnation Heavy Body Acrylic Paints
Dylusions Pure Sunshine paint	Dylusions Strawberry Daquiri Paint	Dylusions Calypso Teal Paint	ranger archival jet black ink pad	*We R Memory Keepers CROP-A-DILE Eyelet and Snap Punch Pink

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How will you get the party started?  Upload your creations to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to party with a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Cold as Ice using Izink Ice Glaze and Introverts Unite Stamp Set

When I heard that this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog theme was "Cold as Ice," I reached for my Izink Ice Glaze and went to town on this abstract journal page.  And yes- why not celebrate all of us introverts while I was at it?

This journal page is just a mess of layers and sewing and ripping and gluing and stenciling and painting and peeling and stamping.  Process pics would've made you and I both a little crazy.  But here's the finished result in all of its chaos.

Izink Ice Glaze is pretty cool (no temperature pun intended) because it's translucent and you can layer it up and still see things beneath it.  The blue splotches, brownish tints, grays and some ghosty purples are all Izink Ice Glaze.  And the Introverts Unite stamp set I bought was too fabulous to pass up.  It spoke to my inner antisocial soul in a delightful way.

Is the page a little busy?  Yep.  Is it all over the charts?  Affirmative.  Does the imagery have anything to do with the introvert statements?  Not really.  But at the end of the day, making this page was a better choice than sitting on the couch with a bag of potato chips.  That's one reason I'm grateful for these SSS challenges: they challenge you to get up and DO something.

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

Introverts Unite Stamp Set	Dyan Reaveley SMALL CREATIVE JOURNAL Ranger Dylusions	Picket Fence Studios Ocean of Fish Stencil	Izink Ice Frostbite Glaze	Izink Ice Whiskey Frost Glaze	Izink Ice Winter′s Night Glaze	Izink Ice Arctic Grape Glaze
Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Lime paint	Dylusions Pure Sunshine paint	Dylusions Tropical Sangria	ranger archival jet black ink pad	Gina K Designs SET OF FIVE COMFORT ACRYLIC BLOCKS With Carrying Case	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink

How will you represent "cold as ice" this week?  If you're living in a cold climate like me, just step outside and freeze to death in about two seconds for inspiration.  Then 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.