Monday, January 22, 2024

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Repurposed Mailing Envelope Pockets using Tim Holtz's Big Number Blocks Stamps

"Recycle" is the theme of the week for our Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  I decided to repurpose some junk mail envelopes into paper pockets to hold some of my flashcards and other ephemera.


This project started with two envelopes, which I slapped some white acrylic paint on, then sprinkled with Infusions color stain and spritzed with water.


I had to wait for the envelopes to dry naturally because I used a heat gun on an envelope like this before and it did not end well!  The heat gun totally melted the cellophane window into a big shriveled wad, so note to self: use heat guns sparingly with window-envelopes!  

Once these dried, I added some stenciling using Tim Holtz's Dotted stencil and acrylic paint.


Once the paint dried AGAIN (a test for my un-patient crafty self), I added some more acrylic paint in different colors and stuck on some washi tape from AALL & Create.  Apologies for the blurry pic.  It was late and I was sleep-deprived. :)


Next I made a collage page to be able to tear into scraps and glue to the background envelopes.  It is a combo of stamping and paint and scribbling.


I tore up some of my collage and glued the scraps to the envelopes.


I wanted some more patterned paper, so I made some myself by stamping this plus sign image over and over onto newsprint paper.  The plus signs are from Tim Holtz's Glitch 2 stamp set.


I cut up some of the plus sign paper and decided I should decorate the backs of the envelopes, too.  I started the process over again with stamping and painting, collaging and adding Infusions and some scribbling.


The next big choice was to cut these two envelopes in half and make them into four smaller pockets.  Always a scary step to make that kind of a cutting choice!  I also added some black paper that I'd heat-embossed with white images from a previous project.


I taped up the sides of the pockets with brown tape and added some last touches of paint.  Here are all four of them from the front view:


And from the back:


And here they are filled with flashcards, library card catalog cards, and vintage recipes:


Now my cards have a stylish place to hang out and those junk mail envelopes didn't die in vain!  Here are the supplies I used that you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

I'm excited to see how you tie recycling into this week's challenge!  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!