Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Touchy Feely (Add Texture) using Simon Says Stamp's The Neighborhood Dies

It's time to get touchy feely this week with Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge theme!  Yes indeed- adding texture is the goal and I went with layers and ripped paper scraps to accomplish this noble purpose.  What emerged was three scrappy tag notebooks.

I loved Simon Says Stamp's The Neighborhood dies the second I saw them.  It was one of those immediate "add to cart" reactions (anyone else out there have those reactions?) and I haven't regretted my purchase.  I started by cutting some of these houses out using my Sizzix Big Shot and some Strathmore Mixed Media paper.  I whipped out one of my favorite watercolor sets (Jane Davenport's Brights set) and painted my house bases.

I decided to make my own pointy roofs (rooves?) out of patterned paper and washi-covered paper scraps (there are some great AALL & Create washi's in the mix).  I stamped the houses with Simon's corresponding stamp set called Printmaking Houses to outline their doorways and windows.

But what to do for the background?  Since we are focusing on texture, I grabbed more patterned paper scraps and sewed them onto some kraft tags.

I liked this background, but knew it would be too busy and colorful if the colorful houses were on top of it, so I toned it down with some white paint.  I added just a touch of orange and turquoise paint, then I flicked on some of Dina Wakley's Gloss spray.  I made another tag in this style as well.

After my tags were painted and splattered, I ripped them up and glued the houses to them.  I wanted some random words scattered around, too, so I stamped text from Inky Antics' Encouraging Words stamp set onto a piece of white cardstock, cut out the words, and glued them on as well.  This is a fantastic stamp set (she said with bias since she created it).

Now I had some backgrounds and houses and still didn't know what to do with them!  I decided to attach them to the front of some tags to make tag books....even though I had already built the backgrounds onto tags that I just ripped up.  I'm rolling my eyes at myself as I write this, but there you have it.  This is the downside of not having a solid plan when you begin a project!  Oh well.  We'll just pretend that I wanted to add yet another layer.  And so I took out three more kraft tags, folded them in half, and painted them.

Now I was ready to attach my house scraps to my tags.  And that's what I did.

From here, I gathered some ledger scraps, book scraps and filler paper and cut it to size.  Then I used my trusty Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the spine and bound the paper to the inside of my notebook covers.

I ended up adding some dark brown and darker teal paint around the edges of the covers to give them a little more definition.  I also added a little white paint and a bit of color to some of the houses.

Here's a close-up of each one:

I quite enjoyed this project even though it came together in a round-about sort of way.  I'm just glad when things come together at all!

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

Simon Says Stamp The Neighborhood Wafer Dies	Simon Says Stamp Printmaking Houses Clear Stamps	Jane Davenport Brights Watercolor Set	AALL & Create Inspire Washi Tape	AALL & Create Power Words Washi Tape	Inky Antics Encouraging Words stamp set	Ranger Kraft Tags #8 Size
Honey Bee Harvest Festival 6x6 Paper Pad	Simple Stories Family Fun 12x12 Paper Pack	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ocean Paint	Dina Wakley Carnation Heavy Body Acrylic Paints	Dina Wakley Sky acrylic paint
Dina Wakley Tangerine paint	Dina Wakley Umber acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Olive Gloss Spray	Dina-Wakley-Ranger-MARINE-Media-Gloss-Spray	Dina Wakley Night Gloss Spray	Crop-A-Dile Eyelet and Snap Punch	Dina Wakley Small Journal Clips
Dreamweaver Palette Knife	Aleene′s Tacky Glue

Don't be afraid to share your touchy-feely-textural creations!  Upload them 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 out the last few days of Stamptember!

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Stitch It using Studio Light's "Art By Marlene" Layered Tag Journal Kit

Happy Monday (is that possible?) and we are going strong with another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week's theme is Stitch It (real or faux).  You don't have to tell me twice to throw some paper onto the ol' sewing machine! 

I used a great little tag kit as the base of this booklet: Studio Light's "Art by Marlene" Layered Tag Journal Kit.  It comes with white pre-cut tags, binder rings, and four edge dies.  I started by cutting some of the tags in half, then using the edge dies on the bottoms of some of them.  The paper is thick and white and held up nicely to water and paint.  I hit these with Infusions, then spritzed that with water, then added paint.

The beauty about Infusions color powder/stain is that when you smear white paint over it, the color still shows through in softer pastel tones, which is what I did here.

Do you have certain stamps or stencils that you use when you feel unsure about where to go next with a project?  Yep!  That is me and I always reach for Tim Holtz's Halftone and Rings stamp set to get the creative juices flowing.  I stamped circles onto my pages, then filled them in with different colors of paint.

I wanted to get stitchy at this point, so I thumbed through Dina Wakley's Collage Collective book and tore out some of her artsy scraps.  I also stamped some text paper using Tim Holtz's Documented stamp set and tore that up as well.  I then sewed the scraps to the pages.

I added more paint and scrappy elements, including Tim Holtz's Fabric Tape, and punched a hole in each card using the mighty Crop-A-Dile.  I added a ring to bind them together.  The quote on the front is from Tim Holtz's Theories stamp set and I've always liked it.

I sewed a little cluster of fabric together and added it to the binder ring for a little more stitchy oomph.

Here are some pics of how the inside pages turned out:

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

Studio Light Art By Marlene Layered Tag Journal Kit	Dina Wakley Collage Collective	Stamper′s Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Theories	Tim Holtz Documented Stamp Set	Tim Holtz Halftone and Rings Stamp Set	Tim Holtz Ideaology Fabric Tape	Crop-A-Dile Eyelet and Snap Punch
Paper Artsy Are You Cerise Infusions Colored Stain	Paper Arrtsy Emerald Isle Infusions Colored Stain	Paper Artsy VIOLET STORMS Infusions Colored Stain	Infusions Royal Blood Colored Stain	Paper Artsy GREEN MAN Infusions Colored Stain CS18	Peeled Paint Flip Top Distress Paint	Tim Holtz Flip Top DIstress Paint 2021 SALVAGED PATINA APRIL COLOR
Tim Holtz Flip Top Distress Paint MUSTARD SEED Ranger	Picked Raspberry Distress Paint	Salty Ocean Distress Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Peacock Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Tangerine paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Umber acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger NIGHT acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Black Acrylic Paint	Dylusions Periwinkle Blue paint	Dylusions Lemon Drop paint
Dylusions Tropical Sangria	Hero Arts EMBOSS WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER	Ranger HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL

I can't wait to see your stitchiness this week, so 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.  Also, don't forget to check out the Stamptember happenings!