Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Sparkle Mode using Stamping Bella's Oddball Edgar Allan Poe Stamp

When I heard that this week's theme for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge was Sparkle Mode (we're also highlighting the Stampendous brand), I decided to find the most NON-sparkly thing I could think of and try to give it some pizzazz.  So what did I land on?  Edgar Allan Poe!!  As an English major and former English teacher, my heart has always gone out to Poe.  Holy cow (or should I say holy raven?) to the life he had.  I couldn't help but think, "Give this man something happy!"  And so my tag was born.

As usual, this tag came together in a round-about sort of way.  I started by cutting a tag out of Strathmore Mixed Media paper, then I stamped Poe onto my tag.  I colored him in with alcohol markers, but did not like how it looked.  To solve the problem, I did what I always do when I don't like something's vibe: I painted over it with white paint. 

I went back to my roots and colored him with acrylic paint and added some polka dots to his jacket.  I added some shading and black tones with a Distress Crayon and a graphite pencil.

And now for the background!  I stenciled some stars on with white paint, then smeared on some blue, teal and purple paint.

I added some olive green tones and drew around the edges of the tag with an embossing pen, then heat-embossed the lines with sparkly silver embossing powder.

To complete this idea of a happy Poe, I made a pointy party hat.  The "happy" sentiment on the brim is cut out of a strip of washi tape.  I also added some text stamping at the bottom and top of the tag and splattered on some Dina Wakley Gloss Spray in Lemon.

I'm not sure what Poe would think of his chipper alter ego here, but I enjoyed thinking about him as I made this tag. 

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

Stamping Bella Oddball Edgar Allan Poe stamp	Simon Says Stamp Scattered Stars Stencil	Tim Holtz Distress Crayons SET 3	AALL and Create Vivre Washi Tape	Stamper′s Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set in Theories	ranger archival jet black ink pad	SNOWFLAKES-Embossing-Powder-Kit-ek32
Ranger HEAT IT CRAFT TOOL	American Crafts Moxy Embossing Pens	Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits Tag Collection dies	Strathmore Mixed Media 6x8 Paper	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Turquoise paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint
Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger NIGHT acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger LAPIS 1 oz Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger LEMON Gloss Spray

It's the perfect time of year to go into "Sparkle Mode," and we'd love to see what you create 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.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: ATC Holder Box using Whimsy Stamps' ATC Book Die Set and Carabelle Studio's Fairy Town Stamps

I was preeeeeeety excited when I learned that this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme was ATC's.  I'd purchased this fabulous set of Whimsy Stamps' ATC Book dies and this challenge was the perfect excuse to use them!  I had a lot of fun making this ATC book-box-holder-thingie.

As with many a worthwhile crafty project, I started with Strathmore Mixed Media paper and cut out the pieces I needed using the ATC book dies and my Sizzix Big Shot.  I glued some Dina Wakley Collage Paper to it (the collection is called Backgrounds) just to get the gears turning and cover some of that intimidating white paper.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see that the whole texture here is pretty scuffy and wrinkly.  I don't mind scuffy and wrinkly, but this particular phenomenon occurred because I had looked at the die wrong and glued the paper upside down to it.  Then I had to peel it off and re-glue.  Note to self: take the time to think about how the die shape will be for the finished product before gluing background paper down.

Next I traced some half-circle shapes onto the background using Dina Wakley's Bumps stencil.  I added white paint, too.

And in came the color!  I smeared acrylic paint around with my fingers and then used a baby wipe to remove it as I went along.  It's a lot of smear-smudging.

I assembled the inside of the box die and glued the components in place.  I stuck down some more Dina Collage Paper (Just Words) and sprayed the insides with some Infusions stain (Royal Blood) and spritzed on some water.  I smeared on blue, green, teal, brown, pink and yellow paint and also used Dina's Spaced Dots stencil to add some light blue circles.  I also tacked on a strip or two of Altenew's Many Dots washi tape.  I used some patterned paper scraps as well from Honey Bee's Harvest Festival collection.

Next I stamped some adorable quirky houses from Carabelle Studio's Fairy Town stamp set and decorated them to add to the inside of my box.

Once these were done, I put them in place,

All that was left was to decorate the cover, so I stamped, decorated and cut out one last house.  I used some AALL & Create washi tape to add the "Be a rebel" sentiment.  I find this sentiment funny because I am soooooooo not a rebel.  But I do like things that are artistically bright and quirky, so I will consider that my way of being outside of the norm if the norm is liking things that are beige and symmetrical.

Here are a couple of final side views of the finished product:

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

Whimsy Stamps ATC Book Dies	Carabelle Studio Fairy Town Stamps	Dina Wakley Bumps Stencil	Dina Wakley Spaced Dots Stencil	Dina Wakley Ranger COLLAGE PAPER BACKGROUND tissue	Dina Wakley Just Words Collage Paper	Altenew Many Dots Washi Tape
Altenew Positivity Washi Tape	AALL & Create BE A REBEL LIGHT 34 Washi Tape aalwt34	Honey Bee Harvest Festival 6x6 Paper Pad	Strathmore Mixed Media 6x8 Paper	UHU Glue Stick	Paper-Artsy-ROYAL-BLOOD-Infusions-Colored-Stain	Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE acrylic paint
Dina Wakley Sky acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Lime paint	Dina Wakley LEMON Media Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Fuchsia Acrylic Paint	Dina Wakley Ranger NIGHT acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Umber acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Ranger LAPIS 1 oz Media Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Ocean Paint	Dina Wakley Olive Acrylic paint	Dina Wakley Eggplant Acrylic Paint	Dylusions Pure Sunshine paint	Dylusions Tropical Sangria	Dylusions Polished Jade paint	Dylusions Strawberry Daquiri Paint

Get your ATC 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.