Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Not a Card using Stamperia's Sea World Rust Stencil

My oh my!  I am on one crazy notebook kick lately!  Here's a notebook that I made a cover for in response to this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  The theme is "not a card" and since a notebook is NOT a card, I feel pretty justified supporting my notebook-making fetish.  We're also featuring products from Stamperia, so I used their fabulous Sea World Rust stencil to add some texture to my notebook cover.  I can't take credit for the gorgeous face, either, which came from Marlene's Studio Light Mint art elements collection.

I started with Strathmore Mixed Media paper (surprise, surprise), which I finger-painted some acrylic paint onto.  I do this a lot because I figure I'll end up covering it up if I don't like it anyway, but getting some color on the paper is at least a starting point that allows me to move forward past the intimidation of the blank page.

Next I put down the Sea World Rust stencil and used white acrylic paint with it.  I love the instant texture it creates.  Bonus points if you can spot the Mickey Mouse head/ears shape that came out on the right side of the page!

I stamped some letters from Tim Holtz's Documented stamp set onto some paper, then tore off a strip of it and glued it down.  I didn't like the color combo I had going, so I painted some of it over with white (See?  Told you I would do that!) and then added some pink paint using Dina Wakley's Spaced Dots stencil.

While all of that dried, I started working on the girl that would go on next.  I got the girl's face out of the Mint Collection (by Marlene - Studio Light) which is this great little paper pad of drawn elements you can use in your projects.  The beauty is that the drawings have been die-cut around their edges so you just punch them out.  What a plus for us lazy crafters who need a break from fussy-cutting!  I decided on this beautiful girl, but the purple hair did not jive with my color palette.  I painted her hair white and rounded out the hair buns in a tribute to my cute mom, who has beautiful long hair that she's done in elegant up-do's my whole life. 

In this paper elements collection, you get two sets of each doodle, so I included a picture of the before and after here below.  The purple-haired one is the original version.  I also drew a bigger crown for my girl and outlined everything with a black Sharpie.  I also turned some sewn ripped paper scraps into a torso.

Funny that I didn't think purple went with my color palette because as I looked at everything at this point, I felt like the color palette needed some more oomph, so I decided to bring in some purple after all.  I used Distress Crayons to add those subtle purpley tones.  I also brightened up the girl's dress and her crown with some yellows and pinks.  I splattered some Dylusions Night gloss spray on the background.

I glued the girl to her new home, then sewed the cover onto a cheapy lined-paper notebook that I had lying around.

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

Stamperia Sea World Rust Stencil	Studio Light Art by Marlene Mint Collection	Tim Holtz Documented Stamp Set	Strathmore Mixed Media 6x8 Paper	Dina Wakley Spaced Dots Stencil	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon SEEDLESS PRESERVES TDB49630	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon CHIPPED SAPPHIRE
Ranger-Tim-Holtz-Distress-Crayon-WILTED-VIOLET	Dylusions London Blue paint	Dylusions Tropical Sangria	Dylusions Lemon Drop paint	Dylusions Strawberry Daquiri Paint	Tim Holtz Flip Top DIstress Paint 2021 SALVAGED PATINA APRIL COLOR	Peeled Paint Flip Top Distress Paint
Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Night Gloss Spray	Paper-Artsy-Fresco-Finish-MIDNIGHT	Black Permanent Sharpie Marker	Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT SHEET Reusable 15 X 18 Stamp Paint Ink

Let's see what you make instead of a card 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!