Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Sardine Card using Hero Arts' Big Mouth Sardine Tin Die Set

"Have a heart" is this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge theme.  What says love better than sardines?  I thought the new Hero Arts sardine-themed die and stamp sets were adorable, so I made a card with them:

I cut out all the parts I wanted to use and painted the fish with watercolors and acrylic paint.  I stamped the other elements and fussy-cut them out.  I didn't realize there were dies for all the stamped elements until I'd already ordered my stamp set!  That wouldn't been a thousand times easier, so the stamp and die set is what I'll list in the supply section if you're interested in this set.  For the tin, I used silver foil cardstock.

For the label on the tin, I made some subtle painty dots in the background.

All that was left was to assemble!

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

• Hero Arts Big Mouth Sardine Tin Die Set
• Hero Arts Partners in Brine Stamp and Die Set
• Watercolors
• Dina Wakley Paint
• Silver Foil Cardstock
• Archival Ink: Ranger Jet Black Archival, Barn Door
• Dina Wakley Dotted Taps Stencil

Upload your heart-themed projects 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: Hope Came Flying In Notebook Cover using Kate Crane's KCM017 Stamp

"Things with wings" is this week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I usually add wings to houses or carts, etc., but I kept it pretty traditional this time with merely a flying...person/creature/insect?  Not sure what this quirky character is, but I love this image from Kate Crane's KCM017 stamp.

I started with the background elements.  I used a Kate Crane stencil and some Distress Oxide and Distress Spray Stain to create the design.  I made it on graph paper from Amy Tangerine's Paper Play book.

On a separate piece of paper, I painted with acrylics and watercolors and did some scribbling on scrap paper.

As that was drying, I stamped this quirky girl image from Kate Crane's stamp set and colored her with Distress Watercolor Pencils.

I cut part of the stencil into a rectangular frame shape and cut the colorful collage paper to match the size of a small notebook I wanted to stick it to.  I also cut out the girl image and added some wings to her.  I cut a scallopy cloud shape from the Paper Play book.

I assembled everything together and cut out a sentiment from a book to finish it off.  I sewed the cover to my notebook cover and this project was done!

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

• Kate Crane Stencil: PS467
• Kate Crane Stamp: KCM017
• Amy Tangerine's Paper Play Book
• Distress Oxide Spray: Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass
• Distress Spray Stain: Peacock Feathers, Walnut Stain
• Distress Watercolor Pencils: Set 1, Set 3
• Watercolor Paint
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint
• Dina Wakley Round Brush
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink

We can't wait to see what winged creation you make this week!  Upload your project to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Using Foil with Double-Sided Tape

Hello and welcome to another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!  This week's theme is "fun with foil."  I tried something I'd never done before and that is to use foil with double-sided tape.  It worked great, so I was excited about that discovery that I'm sure isn't new to many people, but was new to me.

I'm often looking for lazy ways to incorporate materials into my projects and I'd seen online tutorials about using glue with foil -- you dab some glue onto paper, let it get dry to whatever degree required, then rub the foil on it and the foil will stick to wherever you put the glue.  But for the life of me, I could not get this technique to work this time!  The glue was either too dry or too wet and it just wasn't happening.  It didn't help that I couldn't remember whether the gold side of the foil should be facing up or down.  Helpful hint: the gold or right side of the foil needs to facing up so you are looking right at it when you place it on your adhesive surface.  Motivated by annoyance, I grabbed my double-stick tape, put a piece of it on my paper, then stuck my foil sheet to that.  When I pulled the foil sheet up, it had stuck perfectly to the double-sided tape!  Who knew it could be that easy?  I certainly didn't.  So next I laid down rows of double-stick tape to form a sticky panel and laid the foil on that.  The foil covered it nicely.  With a larger area of gold-foiled paper now, I decided to cut some shapes out of it.  I laid some Seth Apter dies (Roundabout set) on my foiled paper.

I ran them through my Sizzix Big Shot and it cut great!  Now I had some shapes and negative shapes utilizing that flashy gold foil.  I like how there are lines and some splotchy places on the foil where the tape had gaps, etc.  I thought it gave it kind of a rustic vibe.

Next I built the card itself.  I used a deckled frame die to cut the base, sprinkled on some Paper Artsy Infusions powder and spritzed it with water.  I added some paint.  Then I grabbed one of the negative "frame shapes" of the gold foiled paper I just cut and added paint to that.

You know my dot addiction, so I stamped a section of dots (from Tim Holtz's Mixed Media 2 stamp set) on a piece of ledger paper and decided which foil shapes I would use on my project (the ring and the background frame).

But what would go inside the circle frame?  For me, sometimes the background of a project comes easily, but deciding what to put in the forefront as the focal point can be trickier.  I decided to explore my fabric stash.  I recently bought a panel of Tim Holtz's collage fabric, so I brought that out and found a section I liked.  I cut it out and glued it to my frame.

I used my typewriter to type out the word "focus", which I've been thinking about with the new year: how best to focus and spend time on the things that matter more than the things that don't.  I added that to my fabric piece and glued the panel to the background.  This card was done!  And shiny!  Here's a picture of it at an angle catching light to show off all that glorious gold foil

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

• Mama Elephant Deckled Frames Die Set
• iCraft Gold Deco Foil
• Paper Artsy Infusions Color Stain: Rusty Car, Orange County, Lemoncello
• Tim Holtz Mixed Media 2 Stamp Set (Polka Dots)
• Paradise Teal Archival Ink
• Dina Wakley Paint
• Dina Wakley Ledger Paper 1
• Tim Holtz Multi Collage Fabric
• Strathmore Mixed Media Paper

I'm excited to see how you incorporate foil into your projects 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: Notebook Cover using Seth Apter's EM124 and EM142 Paper Artsy Stamps

Welcome to 2026!  Hopefully my brain will catch up quickly when I have to write the new date on things!  But I'm excited about another year and hope that 2026 will bring good experiences to all of us.  We are starting off this year's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with the theme of "something new."  I decided to make a notebook cover using one of Seth Apter's new stamps, EM142.

I started by using another one of Seth's stamps to create a black and white dotted pattern.  I stamped the dots on black paper with clear embossing ink, sprinkled on some white embossing powder, then set it with a heat tool.  Next I stenciled some white paint onto Kraft cardstock using Dina Wakley's Dotted Tape stencil.  I also stamped Seth's new EM142 stamp image onto a piece of white cardstock.

I added color by fingerpainting pinks, yellows, and oranges onto the white dots that I'd stenciled.  I cut everything to the same size as my small notebook cover.  I added black Sharpie coloring to the image I'd stamped, which I often do.  Next I grabbed some floral fabric (Odile Bailloeul Festival fat quarters) and cut it into scallops and strips.

I added the fabric to the notebook cover and did some stitching with my sewing machine.  I stamped some words from Kate Crane's KC016 stamp set and cut those out.

I sewed my creation to the notebook's cover using my sewing machine and glued all the elements to the front.  I added some stamped scribbles using Kate Crane's KCM002 stamp set.  As a final touch, I added some black and white text to the side of the notebook cover courtesy of AALL & Create's Power Words washi tape.

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

• Paper Artsy Seth Apter Stamp: EM124 (dots)
• Paper Artsy Seth Apter Stamp: EM142 (three long bubble spaces)
• Paper Artsy Kate Crane Stamp: KCM002 (scribble lines and dots)
• Paper Artsy Kate Crane Stamp: KC016 (words "good" and "wishes")
• Dina Wakley Acrylic Paint
• Dina Wakley Dotted Tape Stencil
• Odile Bailloeul Festival Fat Quarter Fabric Bundle
• AALL & Create: Power Words Washi Tape
• Black Cardstock
• Kraft Cardstock
• White Embossing Powder
• Distress Embossing Ink Pad
• Heat Tool
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink

What creation with a "something new" theme will you come up with?  We're excited to see your projects!  Upload them to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog for your chance to win a $25 voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store.